Ha! The green-crazy European Union is looking to ban energy inefficient TVs, including large plasmas, in the interest of saving Mother Earth. Nope, not joking.
New regulations, which are set to be agreed upon this spring, would set minimum standards of energy efficiency. As we found out last week, plasma TVs aren’t exactly models of energy efficiency: a 42-inch plasma uses 822 kilowatts of electricity per year, while a 42-inch LCD uses only 350. A 32-inch CRT, not that anyone wants a CRT anymore, uses still less, at 322 kilowatts per year.
What does this all mean? Simply, that TVs that go over the EU’s limit on acceptable electricity use wouldn’t be allowed in Euroland. (It’s not that the regulations target plasmas specifically, rather that plasmas are the least energy efficient, hence more likely to get the banhammer.)
Gotta keep the Eurocrats busy, I suppose.
Plasmas do kick off quite a bit of heat, ever stick you hand back there? Some of the newer ones are supposed to be better, so I wonder how recent that estimated number is. What about LED backlit LCDs?
Jim
I can think of worse, more environmentally unfriendly ways of warming-up a house in the dead of winter than a huge TV.
Jon
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I really think the Euro’s bitch about anything they get a chance to.
They’re the most whiny group of people in the entire world. HIV/AID’s infected Africans whine less then they do.
God I wish I just make a huge theoretical bonfire and burn all their soapboxes.
Congrats Marc M., the comment matched the avatar.
It is sad to see how these measures, which might seem small by themselves, but that all together, will help all of us live in a healthier environment, have such bad criticism.
This is not meant to reduce the consumer’s choice but instead to put pressure on the TV makers to produce better energy efficient products. But don’t worry, you will also benefit from this, sooner or later, even if you just keep driving around your petrol thirsty SUV’s all day :)
Greetings from Europe.
Hey Marc M, you sure are whiny :)
Good luck with your “theoretical bonfire” too.
I’m glad you feel free to make sweeping generalisations about 27 countries. In that vein, my retort is that you’re a stereotypical American — you probably think “Euro” is a country and can’t point to it on a map.
By the way, it’s “AIDS” — if you’re going to be insulting about a serious world health issue, at least get it right.
What you might not realise is that this proposal is, basically, from politicians, not the entire European populace. Last time I checked, my friends with plasma TVs weren’t whining about them at all.
Sort of like gas mileage limits but for TVs.
>> Gotta keep the Eurocrats busy, I suppose.
Well, at least it would be for a good cause…..