Electricity bills expected to rise with uptake of 4K TV
21st December 2016 | Residential Energy
Household energy bills from watching television are likely to increase for the first time since 2011. This is because the uptake of 4K sets is increasing rapidly, according to a report, the British Gas Home Energy Report 2016. Two million homes are expected to own a 4K, or ultra high definition, TV by the end of this year, with that figure soaring to nine million by 2019.
The bonus of more pixels and therefore greater picture clarity requires up to a third more energy than HD TV. Consumers are therefore predicted to pay an extra £82m in electricity costs by 2019. The report is based on data analysed by the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
The report shows that the average household spent £14 in 2001 on powering its TV for a year. This increased to £20 in 2008 – an increase of 43%. Costs then fell back to £18 over the next seven years, driven by more energy-efficient TV sets.
However, last year the average 4K TV used 33% more energy than an HD TV. This makes the 4K television set more than three times that of a laptop and five times of a games console.
British Gas Smart Energy spokesman, Daniel Colford, said, “TV has long been considered the nation’s favourite pastime and as such people will always look to upgrade to the latest technology to improve their viewing experience.
“With living rooms now awash with technology and entertainment gadgets, many of which routinely use power even if on standby, we recommend taking a closer look at each device to see how its energy use can be reduced and getting smart meters installed to monitor overall household energy consumption.”
The report recommends consumer turn the TV off completely rather than leave it on standby, choose 4K TVs with energy efficient modes and check the household smart meter to see how much energy is being used by devices.
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