United States-MEPS-Television

Country / jurisdiction: United States · Year: 2011 · Status: In force · Level: National · Type: Voluntary

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides television efficiency levels and product specification information on its ENERGY STAR website. Manufacturers meeting these requirements are allowed to display the ENERGY STAR label on complying models. Get a list of ENERGY STAR-certified televisions.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 23.7 requires the purchase of EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) registered products. All EPEAT-registered products meet ENERGY STAR requirements, but not all ENERGY STAR-qualified products are EPEAT-registered. Federal buyers should purchase products that are found in both the EPEAT registry and the ENERGY STAR-certified televisions list. In addition to meeting ENERGY STAR requirements, EPEAT registered products have other environmentally beneficial attributes (e.g., reduction or elimination of hazardous materials and end-of-life management).

In October 2013, DOE issued a final test procedure rule, replacing the obsolete TV test method (for analog televisions) which was repealed in 2009. The California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted new television standards in November 2009. The standards established the first-ever active mode power usage limits with a two-phase implementation. Tier 1 became effective on January 1, 2011 and Tier 2 became effective on January 1, 2013. Tier 1 requires a maximum of 1 W standby power, and active mode power less than or equal to 0.2 x (screen area) + 32 for televisions with a screen size smaller than 1,400 inches (58 inch diagonal). Tier 2 requires active mode power less than or equal to 0.12 x Screen Area + 25. In addition, the CEC standards require that TVs provide a minimum level of brightness in the “home” or default mode in which energy use is measured to prevent gaming of the standard. (If the home mode is too dim, consumers will switch to other modes that would erode energy savings.) The standards also require a minimum power factor of 0.9. Connecticut adopted standards for televisions in 2011 and Oregon in 2013.

The 2012 ASAP/ACEEE report, The Efficiency Boom, modeled a potential standard for televisions based on ENERGY STAR version 5.3 which became effective in September 2011. The ENERGY STAR criteria require that the default factory settings are set to the more efficient levels (home setting rather than store display setting), and curb energy associated with the downloading program guide data. ENERGY STAR uses a formula (similar to California's) based on the screen size to determine how much energy a TV can use in active mode. The criteria also include a maximum cap on active mode energy use, regardless of size. The ASAP/ACEEE estimate eliminated the cap for the purposes of a mandatory standard (and simply extended the formula for larger televisions). The standard results in nearly 30% savings. There are not expected to be any incremental cost associated with this standard.

Official source: http://www.appliance-standards.org/product/televisions