Adding heat to the hot summer is like adding insult to injury.

This summer has been the warmest ever in the northern hemisphere and it is still not over. Whether this is an effect of the global warming or not can be left for discussion but it is certainly an illustration to what global warming will bring us in the future. Power failures comes from summer peaking due to air-conditioning and reduced power output due to the temperature rise in the cooling water to the condensing power stations. And on top of all this we are adding more and more heat (to be cooled) to our homes and offices with electronics.

Plasma TV sets have a power requirement up to 10 times that of a traditional one and they are gaining market, see table and graph below. The strive for reduction of standbypower (Maximum 1 W per unit) is well offset by use of more units. Consumer (home) electronics is exploding. There is a need for better guidance to consumers but also better discipline from manufacturers to reduce power-demand. One initiative that slowly gains terrain is the "top-ten" search tool in which the best (from an energy perspective) products can be found.

It is certainly disturbing and maybe unrealistic to think that all customers in the future should also make energy-budgets along with their other purchasing criteria but why can not all these WEB-sites that advertise their assistance to find the lowest (purchasing-)price instead provide us the lowest (life-cycle-)cost for the equipment? Because as it is today I may very well find out that I am myself adding heat to be cooled from my home on the increasingly warmer summer days.

Table: TV-sets

Limiting values for good product

Tube LCD Plasma

Price €

580

-

2300

Energycost € (10 years)

496

800

1196

Efficiency Index (see note below)

2,24

2,98

4,21

Diagonal measure (cm)

-

94

107

Power in use (W)

170

280

450

Standby power (W)

3

5

1

       

Power range among good products (W)

30-110

75-96

175-310

Source: www.topprodukte.at

Note: Der Effizienz-Index gibt den Energieverbrauch im Verhältnis zur Bildröhren-Diagonale an (Leistung On in Watt geteilt durch Bilddiagonale in cm).

(click image to enlarge)

Figure: Market sales of TV-sets (JRC Ispra)

Log in to post comments