Posted 25 November 2023
Buying a newer TV to save money (replacing old plasmas and inefficient LCD TVs that are used a lot)
If you have a plasma or an older LCD TV you may not be aware of the power they are using (250-300W), and if you are using them a lot (e.g. 4 hours per day), you might benefit from moving to newer, more efficient tech.
The Savings
I hope to save about £88 per year (roughly the cost of a new TV in 2-3 years):
Old TV: Second hand 50 inch plasma (free). Power: 300W. Use: 4 hours per day. Cost per year: £131.40 (365x0.3x4x0.3)
New TV: Second hand 50 inch LED TV. Power: 100W. Use: 4 hours per day. Cost per year: £43.80 (365x0.1x4x0.3)
Electricity is roughly 30 per 1kWh. Two old TVs were 5-10% of my bill!
Old TVs Versus New TVs
Old (say 2012) LCD TVs can use 250W (my plasma was 300W). Check the back of your TV for max power and specifications online (e.g. max power might be 130W, but actual use at 110W).
Modern TVs use roughly 60-100W (even 2014 3D TVs use a small 110W), costing perhaps £26-48 per year.
Each 50W reduction saves £20 per annum.
TV prices
Checking your use
If you want to monitor your use, a power consumption meter costs about £7 from eBay. Digital timer plugs cost around £6 on eBay if you have other devices you want to turn off on a schedule (digital means no annoying ticking).
Obviously it's not worthwhile to replace a TV that is only used occasionally, sitting in a corner unloved!
The Savings
I hope to save about £88 per year (roughly the cost of a new TV in 2-3 years):
Old TV: Second hand 50 inch plasma (free). Power: 300W. Use: 4 hours per day. Cost per year: £131.40 (365x0.3x4x0.3)
New TV: Second hand 50 inch LED TV. Power: 100W. Use: 4 hours per day. Cost per year: £43.80 (365x0.1x4x0.3)
Electricity is roughly 30 per 1kWh. Two old TVs were 5-10% of my bill!
Old TVs Versus New TVs
Old (say 2012) LCD TVs can use 250W (my plasma was 300W). Check the back of your TV for max power and specifications online (e.g. max power might be 130W, but actual use at 110W).
Modern TVs use roughly 60-100W (even 2014 3D TVs use a small 110W), costing perhaps £26-48 per year.
Each 50W reduction saves £20 per annum.
TV prices
- For those on a limited budget, unwanted second-hand 43 inch Tesco TVs on Gumtree go for £50 (for example) and could save more than their cost in a year.
- If you can afford it, you might want a more expensive new feature-rich TV you'd find on this site (e.g. £200 or so for a reasonable new 43 inch TV).
Checking your use
If you want to monitor your use, a power consumption meter costs about £7 from eBay. Digital timer plugs cost around £6 on eBay if you have other devices you want to turn off on a schedule (digital means no annoying ticking).
Obviously it's not worthwhile to replace a TV that is only used occasionally, sitting in a corner unloved!
Community Updates
9 Comments
sorted byI fear you're never going to be happy going from a Plasma to a super cheap £400 TV though which may have a worse picture.
I've just bought a new TV a top of the range 55in Neo QLED it's an expensive set at £1600 but it comes with a 5yr warranty and a 10yr screen burn warranty so this TV should easily last me atleast 5yrs and probably alot longer unless it break.
My point being it's a quality of life thing I upgraded to one of the best none OLED TVs on the market with very similar picture performance to a top of the range Oled and with all the latest technology inside, it's power consumption is stated as Maximum 196W and Average 82W and when buying a quality of life product power consumption has never crossed my mind I just wanted a decent TV.
I'm in no way knocking your post though I'm just questioning the logic in buying the worst possible cheapest and crappiest TV just to save a little on electricity when in my opinion I'd want to actually enjoy it but your usage must be rather different.
displayspecifications.com/en/…1ef (edited)
We've a 10 year old Plasma that cost us £1k and the picture is as good as day one but as you mentioned, there is a time to replace by the savings it will make. I still use it as our bedroom TV.
I wouldn't buy something because it had 4k and was cheap. I'd want to see the picture and compare it to my Plasma.
In saying that, I signed up (but never received) the invite for the 4K TV from Amazon that went hot the other week. I'd have bought that in a heartbeat.
Choose wisely as it's something you'll be watching for the next 10 years imo. It's something I wouldn't scrimp on.
I think a newer TV is an easy energy efficiency win. A 2/3 year payback (or less second hand) is great, especially if you combine it with an improved TV with 4k etc.. (edited)