Energy Use of Household Electronics:
Taming the Wild Growth
PER Buildings Program
The Problem
Plug loads for household electronics account for 15 to 19
percent of residential energy use and are increasing as more
households purchase more electronics. This trend is a result
of a rise in the use of these electronic devices at the same time
that federal and state standards have helped to reduce other
loads by improving the efficiency of the building shell, HVAC
equipment, and appliances. Some progress on reducing the
energy use of household electronics has been made, thanks
mostly to Energy Star labeling of electronic products with
lower standby power levels. But public policies and programs
have paid insufficient attention to active-mode energy use be-
cause of a lack of detailed information about the quantity and
types of devices and use patterns in the home.
The Solution
On behalf of the California Energy Commission, reseaſ
from Ecos Consulting, EPRI Solutions, and RLW Analytic
performed field measurements to document the use pal is.
energy consumption, and load profiles for electronic devi s in
homes. This study, which included 50 California homes, shows
that the annual energy use of electronic products is significant
and that most of it takes place in active operation, rather than in
standby mode. The results suggest that policymakers and electric
utilities should further tighten standby mode requirements and
consider creating whole-product specifications that call for high
efficiency when the product is in active operation. In addition,
2- Figure 1: U.S. household plug-load consumption N
Entertainment and information technology loads—such as those from TVs, DVD players,
and Computers—account for the vast majority of household plug-load consumption, with
the remainder attributable to small appliances, telephony products, nightlights, and other
Small devices.
Teleph Lighting Miscellaneous
€180h'On
º, 1% 2^ * Persona
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Information
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31%
Entertainment
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California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research Program
Research Powers the Future -
_/
Technical Brief
WWW.energy.ca.gov/research
policymakers could improve the efficiency of hundreds of low-
power products through the r
egulation of common components
such as external power supplies and battery-charger systems.
Features and Benefits
This field measurement study of household electronics result-
ed in the following conclusions:
Electronics constitute a significant part of household energy
costs. The average amount of energy used by household
electronics in California homes is between 1,000 and 1,200
kilowatt-hours per year, costing each homeowner approximately
$150 per year to operate. This represents 15 to 17 percent of
the electricity used in a typical California home. No similar
- dies have been performed in other areas of the U.S. How-
º
r, if household electronic energy use were assumed to be
e same in the rest of the United States as in California, these
rvices would consume 9 to 12 percent of the electricity used
the average U.S. home. This result makes these products a
orthy target of increased efficiency regulation.
Entertainment and information electronics account for the wast
majority of plug-load consumption. Nearly all of the homes
metered in this study showed the same top two categories of
plug-load electricity use: entertainment—TVs, DVD players,
cable/satellite boxes, and so on—and information technology
(IT) such as computers, printers, scanners, and modems (Fig-
ure 1). Efficiency regulation for these large energy users can
be achieved with product-level specifications. For the miscel-
laneous small devices that constitute the remaining 9 percent
of plug-load consumption, energy use can best be reduced
through regulation of common components such as external
power supplies and battery chargers.
Most of the energy use of electronic devices occurs during the
active mode of Operation. Because entertainment and IT de-
vices are frequently turned on and performing their intended
functions (Figure 2, page 2)—typically drawing high levels
of power—the vast majority of energy use for the products
examined in the survey occurs during the active mode of op-
eration. This indicates that improving active-mode energy
efficiency in consumer electronics, IT equipment, and other
devices containing power supplies should be a high priority
for policymakers. The Energy Star program, which earlier fo-
cused on standby-mode consumption, has already revised its
specifications for monitors and office equipment to address
active-mode energy use and is in the process of doing the same






2- N
Figure 2: Active-mode operation uses most energy
Operation in active mode accounted for almost two-thirds of the 1,063 kilowatt-hours
(kWh) of annual plug-load energy use in the households surveyed. The energy Con-
sumption ascribed to indeterminate mode refers to products such as set-top boxes that
Consume the same amount of power regardless of whether they are on or off.
Indeterminate modes
(182 kWh)
17%
Standby and
low-power modes
(230 kWh)
22%
Active mode
(651 kWh)
61%
\ t _/
for TVs and set-top boxes. The results may also be an in-
dication that Energy Star standby power specifications for
products have successfully curbed power consumption in
that mode. --
Applications
The products tested in this study include those found in
typical households, such as entertainment electronics (TVs,
DVD players, cable/satellite boxes, and so on), information
technology electronics (including computers, printers, scan-
ners, and modems), small appliances, telephony products,
nightlights, and other small devices.
California Codes and Standards
Mandatory standards recently passed in California and oth-
er U.S. states creating requirements for low standby power
of some entertainment products have only just gone into
effect. External power supply specifications that address ac-
tive and standby efficiency of small electronics have been a
1822 O3617 8234
part of the Energy Star program for a few years; these same
levels became mandatory in California in 2007 and will take
effect in other U.S. states in 2008.
What's Next
In a new project of the Public Interest Energy Research
(PIER) program, researchers plan to expand their under-
standing of plug-load energy consumption to commercial
offices by conducting a field measurement study that will
identify overall energy use as a percentage of the total, as well
as office electronics duty cycles and average power levels by
mode. They also plan to develop a standard, repeatable test
procedure to characterize efficiency for all television technol-
ogy types to support the creation of efficiency standards for
TV equipment. Finally, they plan to demonstrate desktop
computers that combine the best components that industry
has to offer to achieve optimal overall system efficiency. The
project will include demonstrations for utilities, emerging
technology groups, industry, and other stakeholders of both
market-ready and emerging technology versions of these
high-efficiency machines.
Collaborators
The organizations involved in this project are Ecos Consult-
ing, EPRI Solutions, and RLW Analytics.
For More Information
For more information on this project, please contact the
California Energy Commission researcher listed below.
More PIER Technical Briefs can be found at
www.energy.ca.gov/research/techbriefs.html.
Contacts
California Energy Commission, Bradley Meister,
bmeister@energy.state.ca.us, 916–653-1594,
www.energy.ca.gov/research/buildings
Laura Moorefield, Ecos Consulting,
lmoorefieldøecosconsulting.com, 970-259-6801 ext 310
DC C Uſ, 3 }
... º. f* f.
About PIER
This project was conducted by the California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research (PER) Program.
PER supports public interest energy research and development that helps improve the quality of life in California
by bringing environmentally safe, affordable, and reliable energy services and products to the marketplace.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor
California Energy Commission
For more information see www.energy.ca.gov/research
Chairman: Jackalyne Pfannenstiel
Commissioners: Arthur H. Rosenfeld, Jeffrey Byron, Karen Douglas
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*Research Powers the future”
CEC-500-2008-064-FS
September 2008
Vice Chair: James D. Boyd eptember