Flat-screen TVs to face energy-efficiency rules in California

Flat-screen TVs to face energy-efficiency rules in California from the LA Times.

Wow!
LCD -- liquid crystal display -- sets use 43% more electricity, on average, than conventional tube TVs; larger models use proportionately more. Plasma TVs, which command a relatively small share of the market, need more than three times as much power as bulky, old-style sets.

I thought these comment was pretty, umm, weak - my comment in italics.

Mike McMaster, president of Wilshire Entertainment Inc., worries that a rush to impose TV efficiency standards "would be basically the end of our business."

"It would kill dealerships because people would buy on Amazon and have them shipped in and maybe not pay sales tax," he said. "If a customer wants a 12-cylinder car or a 60-inch plasma that uses this much energy, they're going to get it."

87% of large screen TV's already meet the requirements, my guess is most Plasma Models don't and cheaper models. Plasma's weigh more than LCD's and are a better cost for larger screens, but LCD's are catching up.


"The passion is correct. The proposal is not," said Doug Johnson, senior director of technology at the Consumer Electronics Assn. in Arlington, Va. "We can accomplish this without regulation as a result of innovation and voluntary approaches."

Looking at cars, the only time that higher mileage cars have been built is when the price of gas is higher, or the government mandated fuel standards.


If 30% of televisions fail to meet standards and can't be sold, California could lose $130 million in tax revenue and 15,800 jobs, Shawn DuBravac, an economist with the Consumer Electronics Assn., testified at a Dec. 15 Energy Commission workshop.

Again, 87% of current stock meets the standard, and it should go up by 2011 because engineers will start designing for this.

Larson said. "Every dollar spent on energy efficiency returns $2 in savings,"

Over what time period? Is it a 1 year payback, or ?