If you are wondering how much power does my TV consumes in a month, and whether your wife watching TV all day long is increasing your electricity bill or is it something else, then this article is for you. In this article we will see how to calculate power consumption of a TV

Most LED TV’s has rated power between 60 watt to 150 watt. Generally speaking larger the screen size higher is the rated power. A 100 watt TV running for 12 hours everyday will consume 1200 watt hours = 1.2 kWh (units) of electricity in a day and 36 kWh of electricity in the entire month.

Imp Terms Related to TV Power Consumption:

There are few terms which you should know to correctly calculate power consumption of any television and understand the results. These are as follows:

• Watt (W) : Just like you measure your height in feets and inches, your weight in kilogram or pounds, in the same way wattage a.k.a watt is the unit of measurement of power. For example a 10 watt led bulb, 150 watt television. 1 kilowatt = 1000 watt To know more you can read this blog.
• Units (kWh) : Units (as described in electricity bill) also known as kWh or Kilowatt Hour is the amount of energy consumed by a device in an hour. For example if a 5 watt light bulb runs for 10 hours it consumes 50 watt hours of electricity. 1 unit = 1 kilowatt hour (kWh) = 1000 watt hour. To know more you can check out this article
• Tariff (Amount/kWh) : Electricity tariff is the amount your electricity provider charges you for one unit of electricity It’s measured in your countries currency / kWh. For example $ 0.5 /kWh, ₹ 12/kWh.

Calculate TV Power Consumption:

To calculate power consumption of your TV (or any device for that matter) you need to know three things viz., wattage of your TV, operational hrs and electricity tariff.

Most TV available in the market has wattage from 80 watt – 400 watt, this value depends on the size of the TV (32 inch inch, 44 inch, 56 inch and so on) and type of TV (CRT, LCD, LED, QLED, Plasma and so on).

How To Know Your Television Wattage:

To find the wattage of your TV just look at the small silver sticker on the back of your TV. It will give you wattage, input voltage and other technical specification about your Television.

If you can’t find it then just go to amazon and find a TV similar to your TV and check it’s wattage in the product description or visit your television manufacturer’s website. If you are using a LED TV then the wattage should be less than 150 watt.

You can use the below chart to get a rough idea of your TV rated power.

For our calculation lets say you have a 50 inch LED TV from Samsung that has a rated power of 100 watt and you use it everyday for 12 hrs, then how much electricity will you get for using it?

A simple equation to calculate this is:

Power consumed (kWh) = Wattage of the appliance (kW) x operational hrs (Hrs).

For your TV,

• Power = 100 watt,
• Operational hours = 12 hrs, so let’s feed in the value,

Power consumed by your TV in a day (kWh) = 100 watt x 12 hours

= 1200 watt hours.

= 1.2 kWh.

Now to calculate amount of electricity bill you will get for using this TV for 12 hours in a day and 30 days in a month, you can use this simple equation,

Power consumed by TV in a month (30 days) (kWh) = power consumed by TV in a day x 30

 = 1200 x 30.

 = 36,000 watt hours.

= 36 kilowatt hours (kWh).

Electricity bill (Rs) = Power consumed (kWh) x Tariff (Rs/kWh)

Monthly electric bill for using 100 watt LED TV every day for 12 hours = 36 (kWh) x 12 (Rs/kWh).

= Rs 432.

The below TV power consumption calculator will do all the calculations for you, just type the wattage of your TV, operational hours and electricity tariff and you are good to go.

Now just for fun let’s see how much electricity bill you will get if you let your 100 watt (0.10 kW) TV ON for entire day (24 hours) throughout the month (30 days).

Electricity bill / month (Rs) = Power consumed x Tariff

=.0.10 (kW) x 24 (hrs) x 30 (days) x 12 (Rs/kWh).

= Rs 864.

So even if you let your 100 Watt LED TV run continuously for the whole month you will get an electricity bill close to Rs 864 for using it.

The above calculate result will have 5 % – 10 % error and everytime you use your TV your setup box, speakers or something else is also hooked up which also consumes power hence, if you want to calculate your TV exact power consumption then use a Kill A Watt Meter.

Calculate power consumption of a TV using kill a watt meter:

Kill A Watt meter is a simple device used to calculate power consumption of any device.

You can check it on amazon using this link. Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor

To use a Kill A Watt meter to calculate the power consumption of your television, first connect the TV plug to the Kill A Watt meter and then plug the Kill A watt meter in your wall socket.

Then start using your TV and you can see in real time how many kWh (units) of electricity your TV is using.

To get exact power consumption value it is advisable to take the reading for 3-7 days.

Check out this tutorial video from altE to understand how to use a kill A Watt Meter to track your appliance energy consumption.

Factors Affecting TV Power Consumption:

Not all TV consume the same power, the following factors play a vital role in power consumption of a television:

• Age of TV : Older CRT models require 400 watts or more, doubling the monthly electricity bill of our above example.
• Size of TV : Larger the size of the TV, higher is the power consumption. A 15 -inch LED TV screen consumes as low as 15 watt, which brings your daily costs down to a negligible number. Whereas a typical size 30-inch LED TV, consumes about 50 watt of power. So the size of your TV screen has direct impact on your electricity bill.
• Screen type: LCD screens have nearly the same power profile as LED’s, while CRT and plasma screens typically use about three times as much energy as their energy efficient LED cousins. If you are still using CRT or plasma then switch to LED you will see a massive reduction in your electricity bill.

How To Reduce TV Power Consumption:

You already have a good TV an don’t want to buy a new energy efficient one then follow these simple tips to reduce your TV power consumption. Mind you none of thee will drop your electricity bill by 30-40% but will surely help you save some money.

• Lower the backlight setting : The backlight is by far the biggest drain of your power, and the lower you can get your backlight, the less power your TV will consume. Placing your TV in a dark or dimly lit environment will help you avoid needing a bright backlight.
• Turn the TV OFF : It may sound basic, but some people leave their TVs running all the time. Leaving a TV on constantly will result in much higher costs than if you turn the TV OFF.
• Turn OFF TV accessories : Turn OFF all the system connected to your TV when you are not using it. Example, home theater, DVD or blue ray player, PlayStation. They all consume power in standby mode.
• No Standby Mode : Turn OFF your setup box and TV when not in use (not even in standby mode, turn it off completely)
• Always ON Feature : Turn OFF always ON features that you don’t use like voice control, point and change, bluetooth.

Conclusion on TV power consumption:

To calculate power consumption of a TV all you have to do is multiply it’s rated power (watt) by the operational hours. And to calculate electricity bill in a month for using the TV you have to multiply the power consumed by your TV in a month (kWh) with your electricity tariff (Rs/kWh).

To save electricity make sure you go use energy efficient TV like LED, LCD, QLED and not CRT, Plasma TV, turn of the TV and all it’s accessories when not in use (not in standby mode) and change the brightness to an optimal level and switch off always turn on features like voice control.

TURN OFF THE TV WHEN NOT IN USE

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If you have any doubt about TV power consumption then write down in the comments section I will try to answer it.

References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt
• https://www.khanacademy.org/science/electrical-engineering/introduction-to-ee/intro-to-ee/a/ee-standard-electrical-units
• https://www.samsung.com/in/tvs/
• https://www.lg.com/in/led-tvs