Good for the environment and the bank balance

There are several factors which have caused the continuous rise in the share of private electricity consumption attributable to TVs that has been recorded in recent years. The periods during which televisions are switched on has been steadily increasing and is not just as a result of the rising average viewing time. In addition to TV programs, televisions are now also switched on to watch films on DVD or Blu-ray, play on games consoles and surf the internet. Overall consumption is boosted by the fact that more TVs are in circulation. Even if it is assumed that a new TV is purchased every five years, there are currently more than 213 million TVs in use across Europe. With an average growth rate of around 10%, the TV market has been experiencing a continuous upward trend for the past five years. There has also been a clear development towards bigger TV screens in all the countries that are included in the study. While the sales share of televisions with 40-inch and larger screen sizes stood at 17% in 2006, this increased to 27% in 2010.

Trend shift to greener TV market

When it comes to energy efficiency, a marked shift has become apparent in the trend over the last two years. The total energy consumption of sold televisions has fallen, despite the fact that sales have increased in volume terms, and particularly of those with bigger screens. In the early days of flat screen TVs, these devices had a comparatively high electricity requirement. Since 2009, the average power consumption per device has been steadily decreasing; from 141 watt in 2008 it had fallen to 118 watt last year. This development is evident across all television sizes, although some larger television models continue to be heavy electricity users.     

In this respect, the energy labels will be of particular interest to consumers, because energy-saving TVs not only make the consumer feel "green”, but also offer financial advantages. Over a period of seven years, the consumption of a 42-inch TV which is switched on for around four hours a day accounts for around 30% of overall electricity costs. Although these figures relate to Germany, consumption is comparable in other European countries. An analysis of the ten 42-inch TV models which were sold most often in Germany in December 2010 revealed considerable savings potential for consumers. The purchase cost of an energy-efficient model was EUR 50 more than for a TV with higher electricity consumption. However, the calculated savings of the more efficient model across a seven year period totaled around EUR 200 purely as a result of lower electricity consumption. It therefore makes financial sense to pay attention to the electricity consumption, which will be made a great deal easier by the new labeling in future.

The survey

ECO Reporting is a market analysis conducted by GfK Retail and Technology. As part of the retail panel, the published power consumption data of products in the consumer electronics and major domestic appliance segments is continually compiled and monthly reports configured. The evaluation identifies the variance in energy efficiency between different products, models and manufacturers. The latest survey compiled data from between 2005 and 2010 from 15 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. At the world’s leading conference for Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting, EEDAL 2011, taking place in Copenhagen from May 24 to 26, GfK experts will give detailed presentations of developments in the fields of major domestic appliances, consumer electronics and air conditioning systems.

Further information: Thilo Heyder, GfK Retail and Technology, tel. +49 911 395-4520, thilo.heyder@gfk.com