HD tv question

[animasinsulinpu]

Hey, all. Last week a guy from Quest to change my cable to Direct TV. He told me that he has a 52" HD tv and he said that he did a test on it's energy comsumption and said that the tv takes as much energy as his air-conditioner on the roof. Is this true???.....Bill in Az....

 

[panthera]

Depends on the TV

If it is an early plasma with an inefficient Dolby Surround and the horrible power supplies early cable boxes had, it might well consume over 1KW in use.

At least, that is what the German version of Consumer Reports found some earlier Home Theater systems were consuming.

That is ridiculous, but I don't think it approaches a roof-top system.

 

[toggleswitch2]

That's an evaporative cooler in proper-spaak,

~He said that the tv takes as much energy as his air-conditioner on the roof. Is this true???.....Bill in Az....

MAYBE if he is dicsussing simply a swamp-cooler which is nothing more than a whole-house fresh-air-intake fan and a humdidifer.

 

[nurdlinger]

air-conditioner on the roof

It is possible. In my Tucson subdivision, built in the middle 70's, there is no natural gas service. All-electric homes. Since there doesn't have to be a gas furnace in some closet, all the HVAC gear is up on the roof. BTW, I have both a swamp cooler and a heat pump.

 

[Cybrvanr]

I have found most flat-panel televisions from 42 inches and above to consume anywhere from between 300 watts up to about 1000 watts. It usually depends on the size of the set, and the technology they use. Plasma TV's tend to draw more power, and can be found in sizes above 50 inches. The big 65 inch models can pull amost 800 watts or more. The smaller 42 inch models can still pull about 400 watts. The beauty of a plasma TV however is that the darker the picture, the less power it is pulling off the line. LCD televisions typically pull less maximum power than the same sized plasma, but they pull the power continuously, no matter how bright the scene is being shown. This is because the LCD backlight operates at the same brightness no matter what type of scene is being shown. A small 37 inch LCD TV can pull almost 300 watts, while the larger 50 inch models can pull up to about 500 watts depending on the model.

All of the flat-panel models out there pull considerably more power than any of the old tube TV's of the same size. If you are concerned about power consumption, the best bet is to look at the back of the display sample at the store and see what it's spec plate says. The only problem is that by getting a television that consumes less power, you may end up sacrificing picture quality. This is because less power consumption can lead to a less vivid picture.

Now, how do they compare with an air conditioner? Well, I have a small 5000 BTU air conditioner in my garage that consumes about 600 watts or so....about the amount a 50 inch plasma would consume with an all-white scene. This also leads to another thought. Yes, flat panel televsions to produce a LOT OF HEAT! Sitting in front a big TV can be like sitting in front a fireplace with all the radiant heat that it produces.

If

 

[DADoES]

It'd be rare that an "early" plasma incorporates Dolby Surround into the display, being as they mostly didn't include either speakers or a tuner.

My 42" Panasonic plasma is 6.5 years old. It's 720p, not true HD. As cybrvanr says, wattage draw varies depending on what is on the screen, how bright is it. 165 watts when turned on and "idling" with a completely black screen. 245 watts with a blue screen. RJ has a 50" 1080p Panasonic, maybe 2 years old. He recalls it maxes-out at ~500 watts on a white screen. A whole-house central air conditioner (roof-top unit) surely takes much more.

 

[ttuee2006]

Wow.....

Just so we know.....even a 1 Ton A/C unit (and let's face it....anything smaller would be a window unit.....you very rarely find central units less than 1.5-2 tons minimum) draws about 20 amps on a 120V circuit.

20A X 120V = 2400W

Let's be reasonable here....No TV is going to pull that much!

 

[toggleswitch2]

Actually,

1 ton of cooling is 12,000 BTU.

And I know for a fact that Friedrich made a 10,500 BTU unt that uses only 7.5a on 115v.

Here is the KS12L10 with 11,600BTU which consumers 9.0a @ 115v

Sorry I hate to bust chops, but I have been corrected so many times, it was my turn. Please allow me this indiscression.

http://www.friedrich.com/products/LineModels.php?line=QM

 

[toggleswitch2]

~Yes, flat panel televsions to produce a LOT OF HEAT! Sitting in front a big TV can be like sitting in front a fireplace with all the radiant heat that it produces.

Isn't pretty much all electrical wattage consumed ultimately turned into heat?

 

[qsd-dan]

Isn't pretty much all electrical wattage consumed ultima

Yeah, if power source is extremely inefficient.

Personally, I can't stand the picture of a flat panel screen; it makes objects look very odd and unrealistic, especially people. I like my screens squared off. It presents a much more realistic picture. It'll be a very sad day when my 38" CRT TV dies

 

[mattl]

If you look at the ratings of various TVs on Cnet they test power consumption, out of the box and properly calibrated. 50" plasmas run in the 300 watt range often less when properly calibrated.

 

[DADoES]

You mean odd like this, with the aspect set wrong so a 4:3 picture fills the 16:9 screen? I don't care for that, either. Unfortunately, it's how many people (and electronics stores) set their displays.

 

[DADoES]

Or odd like this, with the aspect set properly for the 4:3 source material? Looks OK to me.

 

[ttuee2006]

Modern AC's

Nice to see they made some revisions! The last window unit I saw was in the early 90's when they still used piston compressors. Apparently the new scroll compressors are MUCH more efficient!

I know this house has a scroll compressor in the outside unit (Ruud Achiever). It's only a 2.5 ton unit, but it has a running load of 20 amps on 240V for the compressor alone!, well 18.7 amps actually....let's round to be easy! (Taken from the rating plate) It's fused at 30 amps in the breaker box.

Considering that 2.5 tons is pretty well standard for homes in the 1000 square foot range here, that's a lot of current for a TV to have to consume to match or beat a central unit.

 

[animasinsulinpu]

WOW!!

Thanks all you guys for your vast wisdom about this stuff. I will think about it for awhile before getting one. I found out that if you want HD tv for free, just put your glasses on. It works for me....Bill in Az....

 

[sudsmaster]

I think I put the Vizio 42" LCD on the watt meter when I first got it. It uses about 250 watts, as I recall. But my memory is a bit hazy... will have to recheck it someday.

In any case I only turn it on when I'm in that room (living room) and want to see something on the big screen or in HD.

The broadcast 1080i by the way is very nice. I'm sure 1080p would be even better, but I'm happy with the quality.

 

[tolivac]

I remember looking at the nameplate on the back of a Panasonic HD 52" plasma set and the plate indicated a max of 6A at 120V.Central AC systems for homes draw anywhere from 6A-20A at 240V.they have the TV beat-The TV can make up if it is run for more than 8Hrs per day-some household this is the case-and the TV will add up more than your kitchen fridge.Also that Panasonic set had several muffin blowers at the top of its cabinet-and thea air blown out was almost as warm as the air out of the back of an older tube color TV-these drew less power-"Instant on" tubed sets would draw more power since the tube filaments were on even when the TV wasn't in use.This allowed the TV to come on instantly when turned on.On new sets we have the problem of the current draw for the remotes and to presereve adjustment memories in the sets when off-something for the knob and switch adjustments.