Flat Panel TVs Increase Utility Bills

An appliance that consumers energy and increases your utility bills in a flat-panel television. While flat-panel televisions may be pretty to watch, but some models consume a lot of energy per recent studies completed by CNET.com. CNET rated both LCD televisions as well as plasma screens.

And the TV that was the biggest electricity hog tested was the largest TV available for sale, that being  Sharp's 65-inch LCD TV, which will increase your utility bill by an estimated $230 annually to power, the Web site said. That's almost $20 per per month on your utility bills, which assumes the television is watched about eight hours a day.

The LCD television set that was recognized for the least energy use was a Philips 42-inch set, which costs about $29 per year to power.

The United Kingdom's Energy Saving Trust shows that plasma TV screens use about four times the electricity that “old-school” tube televisions use.

On the other hand, LCD — Liquid Crystal Display — TV sets consume less electricity than plasma sets at smaller sizes according to the trade group Flat Panel TV. They went on to say that the advantage in utility bill savings shrinks as the size of an LCD TV set increases. Regardless of the size, manufacturer or type of TV set you choose, look for the Energy Star energy saving, which means the set uses less electricity than average and will keep the amount you pay on your utility bills as low as possible.

Additionally, new upcoming technology and improvements may help improve the energy efficiency of flat-panel sets and plasma screens. TV manufacturers already have manufacturers some types of LCD TV sets that use LED — Light-Emitting Diode — energy saving technology, and many other TV sets use energy-saving features.