Do flat sreen TVs use significantly more power than Normal tube types?
Actually an LCD uses less than a Tube (CRT) or a Plasma. Most LCD’s use a Compact Flourescent bulb for their lighting but the nicer Samsungs use LED, this is the most efficient method out there with the exception of OLED displays but those are about 10x the cost of a regular LCD. LED DLP is also a great choice if you are energy conscious. You should be aware though that NO TV is particularly energy efficient, and you will never make back the cost of the electricity for the difference in price between them. LCD’s have less Lead than CRTs CRT’s have less Mercury than LCDs Plasma’s have more of both than either. Plasma is probably the worst TV environmentally.
In general, plasmas use the most electricity, and LED-backlit LCD TVs use the least. LCDs are often seen as more energy-efficient than CRTs, but at larger sizes they too use a lot of electricity, almost as much as comparably-sized plasmas in fact. A 52-inch LCD will use somewhere in the ballpark of 200 watts, whereas a 27 inch CRT might use 100 watts, and a 52-inch CRT rear-projection TV will use about 200-250. Even the most power-hungry plasmas typically don’t use more than 600 watts. Electricity is usually 8 to 9 cents per kilowatt-hour. Say you went from a CRT television using 200 watts to a LCD using 100 watts. That’s a difference of 100 watts. Assuming you watch your TV 8 hours a day every day, that’s a difference of 24 kilowatt-hours per month, translating to a savings of about $2 a month on the electric bill.
