tv on standby

[stevie-p]

How much power is saved by leaving the tv on standby compared to switching it off,iv heard conflicting remarks.

[Backdrifter]

It's the other way around - switching it off saves power compared to leaving it on standby. There may be conflicting ideas about exactly how much power (and therefore money going to pay your bill) is saved, but I think it's pretty well agreed that it's a noticeable saving. And cumulatively, with millions of people leaving TVs etc on standby, it means less power being used globally. But even if you poo-poo the concerns about global energy use - and people do - it seems logical to me to want to use less and save some of your own money.

[Ethel]

Standby is still on - it's just like muting the sound.

You can't hear it, but you can see it's still on.

Turn off the screen to standby - you can't see it or here it, but it is still there, using your electricity.

Not as much as if it were on, but still...

[MrsJo49155]

A colour TV on �stand by� uses 24% of the energy it uses when it is fully on. Therefore for every 4 hours you leave it on standby this equates to one hour watching it. It therefore makes sense to turn it off when you are not using it and thereby reducing your own electricity bill.

This also applies to your computer. If left running 24 hours per day it would use �59 worth of electricity over a 12 month period . Just leaving on a computer monitor overnight wastes enough energy to laser print 800 A4 pages !!! Two thirds of the energy used by a PC/VDU is used by the VDU. Screen savers may save screens but not energy.

[BillyNoMates]

I doubt some of these figures.

Modern equipment (manufactured in the last 5 years) uses virtually no power on standby.

Unfortunately not all manufacturers adhere to any rules simply because there aren't any.

There is a push to have a EU wide standard for such things.

Until then, yes, perhaps switching off is a good idea. But some devices are not designed to be constantly switched on and off.

[Backdrifter]

Things that can be switched off should be, not 'perhaps', Billy, but you're right about some devices having to be left on - stereos and other AV gadgets with built-in clocks and/or memories for example are never off. Yes, I'd heard about the push for new EU standards; I gather in some countries they already manufacture devices with no standby function.

It's good if recent designs feature low-power standby facilities but this will take some time to kick in, especially as (I assume) most people don't change their TVs and stereos for some time.

It niggles me seeing PCs left on overnight, usually for no reason other than that the user doesn't want to wait for it to fully boot up in the morning. I know somwtimes it has to be left on for remote access. But sometimes I walk past office blocks at night, and not only are most of the PCs left on, but all the lights are too. And you can see the rooms are empty. It's just waste, and most of us think nothing of it, which I find worrying.

[emma_26]

well i heard that it uses more power to switch on from cold than if left on standby??? rather like boilers that heat water, better to leave on constant so it maintains temp than to heat up a tank full of cold water??? not sure