CEE Proposes Super Efficient Television Specification

CEE Consumer Electronics Committee is in the process of finalizing a proposal for a CEE television specification for consideration by the CEE Board of Directors in the coming weeks. The goal of the specification is to provide members with another tool to advance the efficiency of televisions, which currently are a major—and growing—end use of electricity. This specification also comes at a time when programs are experiencing declining savings from other products.

A new ENERGY STAR® television specification will be effective on November 1 of this year. That specification will apply for the first time to on-mode power, whereas previous specifications only looked at standby power. During the course of participating in the review and comment period for the ENERGY STAR specification, Electronics Committee members noted an additional opportunity for capturing energy savings when they compared the large difference in energy use among TV models as screen size increases.

For example, a television with a screen area of 1,538 square inches may use up to 391 watts of on-mode power and still qualify for ENERGY STAR, while a slightly larger model from the specification data set uses only 160 watts. In addition, the CEE specification would provide an opportunity to garner additional program savings during the transition to all digital television signals in February 2009, when many consumers are expected to replace their televisions.

This is the first CEE specification being developed under the CEE Consumer Electronics Initiative, which was approved by the CEE Board in June 2007. The specification is a key element of a larger focus on supporting member needs for consumer electronics program designs. CEE plans to publish a guide to promoting energy efficiency use of consumer electronics early this fall, with program approaches recommended by members.

Because this is a relatively new industry to efficiency programs, the CEE process for specification development has been tailored to initial industry engagement. In early June, CEE distributed a discussion draft for the specification to TV industry stakeholders. Rather than proposing a specific specification level for comment, the draft provided background on CEE and efficiency programs, and information on how a CEE television specification would be used. It then sought responses to a set of questions designed to inform the specification development process and asked for the voluntary submission of data by manufacturers.

On July 25, based on the performance data in hand and analysis by the Committee, CEE distributed a specific proposal to industry for further comment. The proposal includes a CEE Tier 1 at the ENERGY STAR level and a CEE Tier 2 at 15 percent above ENERGY STAR. The Consumer Electronics Committee is also exploring development of a Tier 3 level, which it will be working to identify and seek comment on this fall. The CEE specification is proposed to incorporate all other requirements of the ENERGY STAR specification, including standby power, definitions, and product testing (including automatic brightness control). Like the ENERGY STAR specification, CEE specification would identify performance levels applicable to all technologies.

Industry comment on the specification is sought by August 22. Barring the need for additional time for review and comment, CEE Board of Directors will consider the final specification proposal from the Electronics Committee during the first week in September. If approved, the effective date of the specification would be November 1, 2008.