Do they really have to ban plasma TVs???
Are the Conservatives in the UK going nuts???
THE Conservatives will propose banning plasma screens and other energy-guzzling electrical goods in a report to be unveiled next week.The proposals target white goods like fridges and freezers, as well as TVs, personal computers and DVD players that use too much energy or operate on stand-by.
The ideas come from a Conservative group set up by David Cameron to develop policies to protect the environment and although the measures to make household electrical appliances more energy efficient are not binding on Mr Cameron, they are thought likely to be warmly received by the Tory leader.
The group will also suggest scrapping Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of the nation’s success in favour of a model that measures people’s happiness drawn up up by Friends of the Earth.
posted by GayandRight @ 10:57 AM
2 Comments:
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I remember back in the old days--before the Earth's crust cooled, admittedly!--when you turned on a TV or a stereo or the like you had to wait a few seconds for it to "warm up"; it was when the 'instant-on' feature appeared in the mid-'70s that standby power drainage began to be an issue. Consumer Reports at the time had a little story on the instant-on craze and noted that it cost about $32 per year to power a TV set with this feature, and that was 30 years ago. I expect it's less than that now, but there are literally dozens of things in the average home that consume power in this way so the net amount of power lost to standby consumption has increased dramatically (20% of the average home consumption I think I remember reading somewhere, but I have no idea where).
I understand that the Dept. of Energy in the US is working on regulations to limit standby power consumption to 1 watt per appliance, enough to operate a clock in a VCR, for example, but not enough to keep all those chips nice and toasty and ready for action. Although it would mean a return to the days of waiting a few seconds for an appliance to begin operating--and would thus be a minor inconvenience--it should reduce standby power consumption dramatically.
So, Fred, I have to disagree with you on this one--I think the Brits are on the right track, they're just going about it in a bumbling and ineffective way.
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