Other home entertainment equipment

Set top boxes (digital receivers), games consoles, DVD players, home theatre systems and audio equipment can each use anywhere between $30 and over $300 worth of electricity a year.^[1]

Much of this is wasted when many of these devices sit in standby mode a lot of the time.

This can be reduced by:

• Buying products which have low standby electricity consumption
• Switching products off by using the on/off button or unplugging at the wall, not by using the remote.

Games consoles can use large amounts of electricity when running, and it common for them to be left on constantly and just the screen they are connected to switched off.  This can start to add up on your electricity bill, especially as some houses have more than one games console.

Choosing by the labels

ENERGY STAR® qualified home entertainment products use 1 W or less of electricity in standby mode. That's up to 90% less than some non-ENERGY STAR equivalent products.

Buying ENERGY STAR products will help save you money on your electricity bill.

More information:

• ENERGY STAR mark
• Current list of ENERGY STAR qualified audio equipment
• Current list of ENERGY STAR qualified DVD products
• Current list of ENERGY STAR retailers
• ENERGY STAR specification for audio equipment and DVD products
• ENERGY STAR specification for set top boxes.

Note:

^[1] Isaacs, N,P (ed). 2006. Energy Use in New Zealand Households: Report on Year 10 of the Household Energy End-Use Project. Wellington: BRANZ.