California moves forward to ban energy inefficient TVs

September 18th, 2009
By: Tamara Chuang
OC Register

In an effort to ban the sale of energy inefficient TVs, the California Energy Commission today released its final draft to amend the state’s Appliance Efficiency Standards code.

The change would reduce TV energy consumption by 33 percent by January 1, 2011, and then 49 percent by 2013. A final vote is expected in November.

The changes affects TVs sold after Jan. 1, 2011. To date, 850 TV models already meet the 2011 standard, while 231 meet the 2013 standard, according to the commission.

TV companies have already improved the efficiency of their TVs. Irvine-based Vizio has a whole green effort, starting with last fall’s EcoTV, which exceeds Energy Star 3.0 requirements by 15 percent. A second TV, the VF551XVT, uses 50 percent less energy than current Energy Star standards.

Samsung plans to release the Luxia brand, which uses 40 percent less power than traditional LCDs. Available TVs in that line appear to use the latest LED technology to brighten screens and use less energy. Sony has the Eco Bravia line, which  also use 40 percent less energy then the rest of the company’s LCD TV line.

**UPDATE: Mitsubishi TVs, also based in Irvine, also reports that it is ahead of the regulations. The company’s LaserVue TV  operates at 135 watts, which is one-third the power of today’s LCD TVs, and one-fourth the power of plasma TVs.

The Energy Commission will hold a public hearing on October 13 in Sacramento (here is a link to < http://www.energy.ca.gov/appliances/2009_tvregs/documents/2009-10-13_hearing/2009-10-13_NOTICE_ACTION.PDF >  the meeting). Consumers and businesses can express their sentiment by sending an e-mail to docket@energy.state.ca.us . A vote is expected November 4.