How Many Watts Does a TV Use

Earlier this year, the Energy Information Administration announced that residential electricity is projected to gradually increase in the coming years. From 13.66 cent per kWh, electricity prices are expected to rise to 15.45 cents per kWh this year and a penny in 2024. As the effect of inflation endures, it only makes sense that you be more conscious of your electric consumption and also consider alternative energy sources. 

Although heating and cooling systems make up for the majority of a household's energy bill, commonly used appliances such as refrigerators, televisions, microwave, and dishwashers also add to your energy costs. And it’s key to know how much watts these electric devices consume so you can manage your electric consumption better and you can also determine how much electricity you require if you’re looking to backup power for your whole home, such as a solar generator.

In this article, we’ll take a look at how many watts does a TV use, how can you compute its consumption and some useful energy-saving tips. 

Let’s get onto it…

How many watts does a TV use?

The wattage or the amount of electricity that TVs use depend on a few various factors like size, model, resolution, type of use (whether you’re using it for gaming, watching or streaming), and how long you use them – but we’ll get into that later. 

To give you an idea, modern, newer TV models *those that are inverter or are ENERGY STAR certified*, use around 58.6 watts when turned on and an average of 1.3 watts when on standby mode. For conventional TV models, they consume about 117 watts when running and 0.5 watts while on standby.

A quick estimate, if you have a TV that’s 40 inches or bigger, you pay anywhere between $9.69 to $30.50 in electricity costs monthly. The amount will be higher, if you have an older TV model or if you use your TV for longer hours.

Factors that Affect a TV’s Energy Consumption

As mentioned, the amount of wattage a TV uses depends on several factors, which we will take a closer look into. 

Model Type / Screen Type 

• CRT - Before the arrival of the new millennium, the only TVs that were known to mankind were the bulky TVs or the cathode-ray tube (CRT) televisions. While these were already replaced by more advanced TV models, there is a recent clamor for CRT TVs from avid retro gamers due the “authentic” gaming experience these TV sets provide. However, you might want to hold off scouring Craigslist or Facebook marketplace for this model since these models can use up to 120 watts, or double the consumption of much newer TV sets.

• Plasma - This type of model offers superior color than LCD TV's and has better refresh rates and response times. However, plasma TVs that are in larger sizes use a huge amount of energy, which is around 500 watts. If you’re still using a plasma TV, you might consider switching to a newer model to save on electric costs. 

• LCD - This TV model is more energy-efficient than the older types of TVs; however, uses less color contrast and saturation than the others. On average, an LCD TV uses anywhere from 70 to 200 watts.

• LED - An LED TV basically uses the same technology as an LCD TV, but uses less power, where a 40-inch set only needs 50 watts. 

• OLED - This is the latest TV technology that utilizes organic light-emitting diodes. However, compared to an LED, a 60-inch OLED TV will use 100 watts when running versus 88 watts of an LED in the same size.   

TV Age

Like with the majority of electronic appliances, the older they get, the higher it costs you to run them. CRT models can use up to 120 watts versus an LED TV that uses 24 to 28 watts for smaller sizes and a maximum of 90 watts for larger TV sets. 

TV Size

Another factor that contributes to the amount of electricity a TV uses is its size. The higher the inches, the more electricity it will draw from the grid. A 24-inch LED TV uses 24 to 28 watts, while a 50-inch panel uses 50 to 60 watts.

For an easy estimation of how much watts your TV uses, you can refer to the table below. 

How can you compute the energy cost of a TV?

If you’re curious to know exactly how much running your TV costs, you need three key information, which are the TV’s wattage, hours you use it, and the electricity rate in your location (tariff). 

Let’s take this for an example: Your TV has a wattage of 100 watts and it typically runs 10 hours a day. 

1. The first step is to get the estimate of the TV’s consumed power using this formula: 

TV wattage (kW) x hours used (hrs) = Consumed Power (kWh) 

100 x 10 = 1000 (Wh) or 1 (kWh)

1. The next step is to calculate the power your TV consumed in a month.

Daily power consumed x 30 days = power consumed in a month 

1 x 30 = 30 (kWh)

1. Finally, compute how much using your TV costs monthly using this formula:

Power Consumed (kWh) x Tariff (cents/kWh) = Estimated costs of running the TV

30 (kWh) x 10.42 (cents per kWh) = 312.6 cents or $3.12 per month

With our example, you can estimate that your TV amounts to $3.12 in your monthly electric bill excluding other appliances that you commonly use in your household.

*Note that we used the average electricity rate in the US, which is 10.42 cents per kWh at the time of this writing. To know more about the electricity rate in your area, you can use this table from EnergyBot.

Energy-Saving Tips

Compared to running larger household appliances, running your TV doesn’t take up the majority of your electric bill. However, while they don’t hog electricity as much as your air conditioner or heater, being smarter on how you use your television will still make a difference on your electricity expenses. 

Here are a few energy-saving tips when using your TV:

Optimize the TV’s Brightness Setting - You may not realize it, but your television’s backlight setting is the biggest drain on energy. By lowering the backlight setting of your TV, you can also lower its energy consumption. Placing your TV in a dimly lit room will reduce your need for a backlight. You can also turn on your TV’s built-in light sensor so it will automatically optimize its brightness setting.

Unplug from the Socket - Yes, your TV still draws in power even if it’s not turned on. Majority of electric appliances use up to 5% of electricity when they are on standby mode. Although the amount of electricity used is small, imagine how much energy vampire makes up your monthly energy bill – we’re guessing a lot. So what's the sure way to be more energy efficient? Unplug your TV and other electronic devices when not in use.

Use the Shutdown Timer  - If you find yourself dozing off often when watching TV, one way to save energy is to turn on the shutdown timer, which is usually a built-in feature on most modern televisions.

Skip the “Always-On” Feature - Yes, it’s more convenient to turn on your TV with a voice command, all thanks to the features of smart home devices. However, by turning off the “always-on” feature, you can save up to 50% of the energy consumed by your TV.   

Powering TV with Solar Energy

The best solution to lowering the amount that you pay for electricity is to use alternative, renewable sources, such as solar. And if you’re looking to power your TV and other commonly used appliances using energy from the sun, it’s key that you choose a solar generator that can address your needs.

You can check out Nature’s Generator Powerhouse collection that can single-handedly deliver all your home power requirements due to its split-phase 240V/7200W or single-phase 120V/7200W (combined) pure sine wave inverter. On top of that, Nature’s Generator Home Power Eco-System is expandable (add solar panels, wind turbines, Power ods, etc.) to fit your needs. 

If you want to know more about our solar generators, you can always reach out to our support team and we’ll be more than happy to answer your questions. 

 * We want to give credit where credit is due. Professional writer, Ishna Sablaya, contributed research and content to this blog titled: How Many Watts Does a TV Use Thank you, Ishna, for your contributions!