STB Energy Use ‘Well In Excess’ of Threshold for Federal Standards, Say Efficiency Advocates
The 160 million set-top boxes installed in the U.S. consume 27 billion kilowatt hours a year and cost consumers more than $3 billion annually in electric bills, eight advocacy groups said. They urged federal standards to curb STB energy use. In comments to the Department of Energy, the groups cited a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council that found that the boxes consume as much power when they're turned off as when they're in use. The DOE made a tentative finding that set-tops and network equipment are covered products under the Energy Act, potentially subjecting them to energy conservation standards and labeling requirements.
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A DVR STB consumed on average about 35 watts when on and 34 watts in standby mode, the groups said: “As a result more than 2/3 of the annual energy consumed by STBs in the U.S. occurs when the consumers are neither watching nor recording a show.” So consumers are spending $2 billion a year to power their STBs when they're not being used, the groups said. The comments were signed by the NRDC, Appliance Standards Awareness Project, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, National Consumer Law Center, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
Both the DOE’s estimates and the NRDC’s study show that the average annual per-household energy use of STBs and network equipment is “well in excess” of the 100 kWh/year threshold for federal conservation standards, the groups said. As for the definition of STBs, the group said the EPA’s Energy Star specification provides an “excellent starting point for developing product classes for different types of STBs.” The DOE also should take note of the “potential shift” to multi-room STBs for homes with multiple TVs, they said. When “properly implemented” the multi-room configuration can “dramatically reduce household STB energy use for home with multiple TVs,” they said.
Set-tops must use state-of-the-art power management software that’s used in portable devices like laptops and smart phones, the groups said. There are similar services that both STBs and smart phones provide, including tracking use for billing, restricting access to paying customers, always being ready to provide service and receive an update and download a show or display content, they said. “The big difference in implementing services on these devices is that there is a finite amount of electricity in the battery of these portable products, and designers optimize their devices to maximize battery life as compared to the endless supply of electricity a residential STB has via the wall socket."
The STB user and not the service provider pays for the energy used to operate the devices, the groups said. “This ’split incentive’ is largely responsible for the scarcity of energy-efficient set-top boxes as service providers have been reluctant to pay slightly higher prices for a more efficient set-top box,” even if it results in dramatic energy savings and lower electricity bills for their customers, they said.
In developing standards and test procedures for STBs, the DOE must factor in the consideration that “installation of STBs by service providers increases risk that energy savings modes will be circumvented,” the groups said. Even if a box is designed to operate efficiently, a professional installer can override default settings that would save a large amount of power, they said. One way of preventing circumvention of standards is to “set up alternative test procedures that assess an energy use penalty for boxes in which the energy savings features can be overridden by an installer or user,” the groups said.