How Much Electricity Does A TV Use? (When Off)

How much electricity does a TV use when off? It would make sense to assume that when a TV is not being actively used, it will not be drawing any power. However, this is very rarely the case.

In fact, a better rule of thumb to follow is that if your TV is plugged in at all, then it is probably drawing at least a little bit of power, though it may not be enough to actively affect electricity bills, it is still something that you should be aware of.

How Much Electricity Does A TV Use? (When Off)

The exact amount of electricity that your TV consumes while it is left on standby varies wildly, as there are a lot of different factors that can influence this.

The type of TV, the age of the TV, the energy rating of the TV, the size of the TV, and the company that made the TV all play a role in how much electricity your TV uses when it is in standby.

A better way of looking at it is to look at the amount of power it draws in comparison to when the TV is being actively used.

Typically, when a TV is in standby mode, it will use anywhere from 2.25% to 5% of the power that it would be using if it were being actively turned on.

In other words, most modern TVs will use no more than five watts a year when they are in standby mode, which is only pennies in the eyes of most electric companies.

Despite this, it is still a good idea to make sure that the TV isn’t drawing more power than it otherwise should, as the electricity leeching can build up over time and it causes wear for the wiring in the house.

Keep in mind that older TVs, especially CRT TVs tend to be far less energy efficient than the sleek flat screen TVs of today’s time. If you are using an older model TV, you can expect that it draws more power when it is in standby mode.

The overall amount that it draws will still be the equivalent of a few extra pennies on the electricity bill, but if you are worried about unnecessary energy consumption, CRT TVs tend to be one of the worst culprits of this in relation to other TVs.

Standby Versus Off

A lot of people leave their TVs in standby mode. This allows for the screen to be darkened, for there to be no audio, and for the TV to generally look as if it is fully powered down.

There may be a single flashing light to indicate that the TV is still on, but that depends on the way that the TV was made. Many people equate this to the TV being powered off when this isn’t the case.

In standby mode (sometimes referred to as sleep mode), the TV is still technically on and it is still drawing power, though it is a significantly reduced amount of power.

When the TV is off, there will be no flashing lights to indicate that anything is drawing power. You usually have to go into your settings or press and hold buttons to ensure that the TV is completely powered down.

Additionally, turning the TV back on again tends to take a little bit of time and the TV usually goes through a loading screen or something similar as it turns itself fully on again.

When you completely power down the TV, it will not use electricity nearly as much, if at all. Some older TVs may still leech electricity, but it will not be a comparable level to leaving the TV on standby.

What Else Affects How Much Power the TV Uses?

Other factors that go into how much power the TV is drawing include the size of the TV, the type of screen that the TV is using, the energy certifications of the TV, and the company who has made the TV.

For example, TVs that are larger with more energy-demanding screen types are naturally going to draw more power than TVs that are more modest in size and have screens designed to be energy efficient.

CRT and plasma screens are the most energy-hungry in terms of how much power they draw while LED and LCD screens tend to be very modest and efficient in how much energy they need, usually taking about one third of what the other screens would require.

The energy certifications of the TV will vary around the world depending on manufacturing standards, but within the United States, the Department of Energy makes use of the “ENERGY STAR” logo to inform people about how energy efficient an appliance is.

On average, TVs with this logo meet the standards for energy efficiency set by the Department of Energy and will use about 25% less electricity than TVs that were not able to earn this certification.

If you want to make sure that your TV is energy efficient, then you should keep an eye out on these factors.

How Can You Reduce Electricity Leeching?

There are a few ways that you can try and make sure that your TV is not drawing any electricity when it is not being used so that you can keep the electricity bill at a minimum and so the wires are not being overused.

For one, you can make sure that you completely power off the TV and the things that are connected to the TV. Depending on the TV itself, the only way to do this may be to simply unplug the TV.

After all, if the TV isn’t plugged into any power source, it cannot draw any power. If you have a newer TV, you should look into the settings a little bit.

Most modern TVs will have settings that you can adjust to affect how much power the TV uses because of the overall movement to be more environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

It will take some time to find the combination of settings that is best for your personal use, but once you have, you can rest assured knowing that your TV is as energy efficient as it can possibly be.