Looking for one of the biggest energy drains in your home? Look no further than the cable box on your TV set.
A study by the National Resources Defense Council released in June found the nation’s 160M set top boxes consumed about 27B kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2010. That cost consumers $3B annually, using enough power to serve all of the homes in Maryland for a year, the activist group said.
The high energy usage led some to nickname the devices “energy vampires.”
Now the cable industry is looking to stake the vampires.
According to Deadline, the federal government is pressing to implement new transmission standards that would make it easier for companies including Apple, Google, Sony and TiVo to sell gadgets that consumers can buy to replace the clunky cable box. Operators also are exploring the idea of using Internet protocals to transmit programming and ensure that it only goes to paid subscribers. For example, Time Warner Cable is working with Samsung and Sony on a Web-enabled TV that wouldn’t need a cable box.
“The energy initiative will promote the development, testing, and deployment of technologies that will enable cable subscribers to reduce and manage energy consumption in the home, including establishing new requirements for both cable video devices and network support systems,” the National Cable & Telecommunications Association said today in press release. “Among other things, these specifications will enable the manufacturing of devices that have “sleep” capabilities to reduce power consumption when subscribers are not actively watching television. After successful field testing of set-top boxes with next generation power management semiconductors, cable operators will begin promoting the deployment of these devices as part of their ongoing efforts to provide functional, reliable and energy efficient services.”
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