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A new Consumer Technology Association (CTA) study, Energy Consumption of Consumer Electronics in U.S. Homes in 2017, finds tech devices in U.S. homes now account for 25 percent less residential energy than they did in 2010 even as the number of these devices in U.S. homes has increased 21 percent since that time. This landmark energy efficiency ach...
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... In this work, we did not perform a sensitivity analysis about the carbon footprint of electronic devices and their energy consumptions. Yet, these values are markedly different depending on the brand and model of electronic devices (Malmodin et al., 2014;Urban et al., 2017). Beyond the use of different methodological approaches, the carbon footprint and the energy performance of electronic devices depend on their technological level, where their components are manufactured and assembled, their sizes, power, and the quantities of materials that are used, among other considerations. ...
Information and communication technologies (ICT) needs significant quantities of resources and energy to produce and power all of the infrastructure that is related to the use of digital data and the users' electronic devices. To inform Internet users of the impacts of ICT on the environment and the benefits of changing their behavior, we propose a simple, multi-criteria and flexible approach to quantify three environmental impacts caused by the use of digital services in Canada. Our approach consists of quantifying the electricity consumption that is related to the use of digital services and electronic devices. We also consider the carbon footprint of the main electronic devices that are needed to use digital services. The proposed approach was tested through a hypothetical case study including three digital service user profiles, three levels of data transmission and storage performance and three electricity mix. Overall, the main sources of impacts are, in order of importance, the manufacture of electronic devices, the use of electronic devices, and viewing of video streaming. Some iconic digital activities, such as sending emails, contribute very little to a user's annual impact. The results also highlighted the importance of the methodological choices and the data sources used to quantify the impacts of digital services, such as sources of electricity production, energy performance of digital data transmission and storage, and users' behavior. The relevance and limitations of the proposed approach are discussed extensively in the article. Finally, it is essential to establish a shared action plan between citizens, states and companies to build a digital industry that is compatible with planetary boundaries.
... A breakdown of average household energy use is seen in Figure 2 where heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and water heating take up 70% of energy consumption. In addition, the proliferation of power hungry miscellaneous electric loads (MEL) such as televisions and desktop computers accounted for 143 TWh used in the 2017 year, or about 10% of total US electrical consumption [13]. With this knowledge it is obvious then that thermal energy management requires priority to achieve the vision of a 100% renewable energy society being considered in many localities [14 ˗ 17]. ...
Photovoltaic solar panels remain one of the most commonly available avenues for acquiring renewable energy for small-scale end users but despite their promising potential their implementation continues to remain outside the realm of possibility for most. The combination of high upfront costs, long payback periods, and complex installation requirements results in a disincentive to purchase the technology and relies on significant appeals to morality as a driving force as opposed to purely economic incentives. An alternative implementation of photovoltaic arrays for small scale use combined with grid power supplement is herein proposed that better matches energy consumption profiles in the household and seeks to reduce cost and complexity. The system comprises a hydronic thermal storage system acting as hot water supply, furnace, and air conditioning for power regulation and distribution in combination with electrical distribution to home appliances using minor modification to the power supply. Currently used batteries, charge controllers, and inverters are eliminated and replaced with a single specialized outdoor central air-conditioning condenser unit that distributes electrical and thermal energy but would not supply electricity onto the grid. Examination of minor electronic modifications on common switched mode power supply topologies has found that regulation of a wide range of variable voltage solar electricity input is currently possible and does not cause overheat or other harm to the power supply. The proposal provides a workable solution to alleviate financial and technical burden on the individual and promotes the vision of a 100% renewable energy society while working within economic constraints.
... brightness of display). Due to lack of data, we were forced to disregard this performance gap which, however, merits further analysis (as also pointed out by (Urban et al. 2017)). ...
Worldwide, household electronic appliances represent a very dynamic market segment, accounting for a significant share of household energy demand. In Switzerland, household electronic appliances consumed 5.3 PJ (1.5 TWh) or 8.2% of the residential sector’s electricity demand. According to historical trends, improved energy efficiency has been counteracting increased size, enhanced functionality and growing numbers of consumer electronics. A stock model is developed to describe the evolution of the appliances in use and the corresponding energy use. Apart from analysing past trends, we develop scenarios for the future based on simplified assumptions for energy efficiency improvement and penetration rates. We find that the competing aforementioned trends may keep the total energy demand of this product category at today’s level until 2035. Our energy efficiency cost curves show that the current energy saving potential is close to 1 PJ or 18% but that the related measures are not cost-effective when taking today’s perspective of a consumer who is faced with the choice among energy-efficient products currently offered on the market. Based on our findings for today’s commercially available portfolio of products, it therefore currently does not seem reasonable to recommend proactive, consumer-oriented policies for household electronic appliances (such as rebates). Instead, the findings indicate that producer-oriented policy measures should be pursued, ensuring continuous R&D and implementation of energy efficiency technologies including standby loss minimization related to connected appliances and wireless charging.
... The literature on gaming energy use has focused almost exclusively on game consoles (Urban et al. 2017;Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony Interactive Entertainment 2017). Until recently, only one formal study had looked in depth at gaming on desktop computers (Mills and Mills 2015), and no work had been published regarding gaming on laptops or with television-linked media-streaming devices such as Apple TV or Android TV. ...
... Not surprisingly, Mid-range and High-end desktop computers emerge as the highest per-unit energy users (with notable exceptions, however). After a period of increases in recent years, consoles have achieved absolute reductions in energy use for some time (Urban et al. 2017) and in most cases consume less energy than desktop computers on a per-unit basis. ...
... The great strides made by console manufacturers [50% or more gaming power reductions achieved during the lifecycle of the 7th-generation console systems (Urban et al. 2017)] provide another "existence proof" that energy efficiency can be improved, absolute energy use reduced, and user experience and market acceptance of the products simultaneously elevated. These qualitative patterns can also be seen for best-in-class PCs, although increasing users' performance aspirations (e.g., frame rates) have tended to cancel out potential reductions in absolute energy use in many cases (Walton 2016(Walton , 2017. ...
Rising computing power, improved graphics quality, higher-resolution displays, and streaming delivery have rendered computer gaming an increasingly energy-intensive activity. However, the role of gaming-related energy use, and how it varies across platforms, has not been substantively examined by the energy or gaming research communities. We measured the energy consumption of 26 gaming systems representing the spectrum of technology, price, and performance. Among the findings, energy use varied widely by hardware, but equally widely depending on which of 37 game titles or 11 benchmarks were run. Cloud-gaming energy use in datacenters and networks is markedly higher than that for local gaming. Virtual-reality gaming can use significantly more or less energy than gaming with conventional displays, depending on hardware and software choices. In aggregate, we find that gaming represents $5 billion per year in energy expenditures across the United States or 34 TWh/year (2.4% of residential electricity nationally), with 24 MT/year of associated carbon-dioxide emissions equivalent to that of 85 million refrigerators or over 5 million cars. Targeted hardware and software strategies can reduce the gaming energy use by approximately half, while maintaining or improving metrics of user experience. In addition to system designers, gamers and game developers can play a significant role in managing the energy required for gaming.
... Urban and Roth (2017) 14 Morrison (2018) ...
Although video content is increasingly viewed on a vast array of devices, a considerable amount of time is still spent watching content on a standard television. The average U.S. household has more than one TV1, used not only for viewing of programming and movies, but with video gaming systems and streaming music and music videos as well. The sheer number of televisions in North America and around the world add up to substantial energy consumption as well as emissions linked to electricity production. Peripheral devices used with the television (cable boxes, Blu-ray players, DVDs, DVRs) add to power consumption, and often when no picture or sound is being delivered. Technological improvements over the past several decades have dramatically reduced power requirements of televisions, even as screen sizes have doubled and picture resolution sharpened. Energy efficiency of peripherals has also been improved. Yet, continuing pursuit of ever larger, brighter screens appears likely to reverse recent progress in reducing energy expenditure for television viewing. In some respects, energy consumption associated with an individual TV is quite modest (for instance in comparison to a water heater). However, considered from the perspective of cumulative impact of televisions in general, consumption can be viewed as rather large. In either case, there are several things that individuals can do to reduce energy use and waste linked to television viewing.
... Consumer electronics are among the most dynamic energy end-uses in buildings. Relative to other end-uses, their characteristics typically change quickly due to product innovation, short product cycles and lifetimes, evolving usage patterns, and rapid technology adoption that can strongly influence device power draw [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Consequently, device characteristics have again changed appreciably since the last comprehensive evaluation (for the year 2013 [1]). ...
... Relative to other end-uses, their characteristics typically change quickly due to product innovation, short product cycles and lifetimes, evolving usage patterns, and rapid technology adoption that can strongly influence device power draw [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Consequently, device characteristics have again changed appreciably since the last comprehensive evaluation (for the year 2013 [1]). Such rapid changes make it essential to routinely develop up-to-date and accurate energy assessments. ...
... The sum of the UEC over all modes equals the total device UEC. Prior studies describe this methodology in further detail [1][2][3][4][5][6]. ...
The ownership and usage patterns of consumer electronics continue to evolve rapidly, spurring the need for updated device-level energy use estimates. This report summarizes the preliminary findings of a comprehensive energy analysis of consumer electronics in U.S. homes for 2017. Twelve device categories were studied in depth. Using a bottom-up approach, we drew upon energy consumption studies, public measurement databases, power measurements, and manufacturer product specifications. To improve usage and ownership estimates for televisions, computers, monitors, and video game consoles, we fielded three U.S. telephone surveys. Based on the analysis, about 3.5 billion devices in 119 million homes consumed 148 TWh.
... After these experiences, a few new monitoring initiatives were launched, and always outside the European Union [19][20][21][22]. This is quite strange, since the mandatory energy certification obligation for televisions was introduced in EU at the end of 2011 (European Union 2010), and the previous campaigns underlined that information technologies and entertainment loads were key contributors to the power demand [6]. ...
... As suggested by previous studies [20], the TV power depends above all on display type, screen size, and year of purchase (to which a specific energy regulation is associated). ...
Energy labels are a powerful instrument to influence the electricity consumption of appliances and lighting devices in households. However, the real consumption data depend on a number of different factors, including marketing policies, purchase preferences, technology development, and last but not least behavioural habits. While white appliance consumption trends tend to change over a longer period, the use of entertainment devices changes quickly. A number of different devices (digital versatile disc (DVD) player, decoder, game console, home theater, video recorder) are normally connected to the main television set, and these devices change rapidly, and, at the same time, new behaviors are emerging. There is an increasing gap between, on one hand, the higher consumption of televisions and connected devices and the number of regulations developed for their regulation, and, on the other hand, the lack of knowledge on the real onsite consumption. In order to fill this gap, in 2017, a measurement campaign was promoted and developed in some households in northern Italy. The consumption of 28 main televisions and 14 entertainment systems was measured on a daily basis for at least two weeks. Standby consumptions were measured as well. On the basis of outcomes evaluated, it results that these devices are responsible for 9.3% of total electricity consumption as an average of 5.6% for televisions and 3.7% of the attached devices. Standby consumption is still considerably high (3.6% of the total electricity consumption), especially for satellite decoders. Some interesting correlations were studied highlighting the effect of the introduction of the energy labels or the increasing size of the TV over time. The main results obtained were compared to those of previous monitoring campaigns launched in Italy.
... Finally, there are various papers and reports that cover different aspects of MELs, as summarized in the Literature Review section of this paper. Many MELs-specific papers are wide-ranging and provide one or more key inputs for a variety of MELs (Urban et al. 2017); however, in most cases no single paper or report will provide all of the key national-level inputs for Scout or a similar energy demand model. This creates opportunities for inconsistencies in definitions, costs, stocks, and other assumptions. ...
Miscellaneous energy loads (MELs) comprise a significant and growing portion of total building energy consumption. However relatively little is known about the products that make up MELs end uses, and MELs are modeled with less granularity than major end uses in energy demand models such as the U.S. Department of Energy's Scout energy efficiency impact analysis tool or the U.S. Energy Information Administration's National Energy Modeling System (NEMS). This paper identifies differences in the way MELs versus major building end uses are modeled, and then reviews potential sources of MELs baseline technology data that could be used to improve their characterization in energy demand models. Case studies of dry distribution transformers, hot water circulation pumps, and Japanese-style automatic bidets are presented to compare and contrast the level of baseline data available for different end uses. We show that there is potential to use data from energy conservation standards and other sources to significantly improve representation of some MELs in energy demand models, while other emerging MELs require further data collection before they can be modeled precisely.
... A recently published study evaluated 17 different consumer electronics product categories in US households and, based on a bottom-up approach, it realized that approximately 3.8 billion consumer electronics devices consumed about 169 TWh in 2013 (Urban et al. 2014). This represented about 12% of the US household electricity consumption in which TVs, computers, and set top boxes product categories together represent about 65% the energy consumed. ...
... By the 1980s, remote control became a selling feature in multiple appliances and equipment for home and office. People got used to remote ICT and CE equipment, 1990-2030(Gadgets and Gigawatts 2009 Fig. 2 Disaggregation of annual electricity consumption by mode of operation of 17 consumer electronics category products (Urban et al. 2014) functions and additional convenience features such as continuously on displays, and so standby functionality quickly spread beyond consumer electronics and office equipment to microwave ovens, washing machines, dishwashers, and even rice cookers. One other revolution occurred in the 1990s when the Internet created the capacity for devices to interact through network connections. ...
In the last decades, it has been recognized that energy consumption in low power modes for electrical and electronic products is an important issue. There is a need to expand energy efficiency efforts beyond simple standby modes into the new more complex area of networks, thus tackling the new paradigm of living based on the Internet of Things. The European project SELINA carried out a large scale in store monitoring campaign, measuring about 6300 different equipment. Since then, there is no reference to other similar market surveillance studies being carried out in Europe. In Asia, a market surveillance campaign performed by the Asia Pacific Partnership with measurements on a regular basis has been very successful. SELINA results show that 18.5% of the measured products present power values higher than the 2010 EC 1275/2008 regulation threshold in off-mode, and for standby this value reached 31%. When a comparison is made with the 2013 EC 1275/2008 regulation threshold, these values increase twice. The Asia Pacific Partnership results alert policy makers that low passive standby does not guarantee low active standby. Several studies indicate that consumer electronic products are becoming more efficient and their energy consumption is decreasing. However, because the ownership of appliances is also increasing, these improvements in energy efficiency do not seem to have significant impact in the overall consumption of the households. In addition, there is evidence that not all appliances in the market reach the performance announced by the manufacturers. Recent measurements carried out by the Natural Resources Defense Council on flat screen TVs revealed that their real energy consumption seems to be higher than announced in the label. This shows the urgent need for measurement campaigns, since no market surveillance is being carried out on regular basis, and trusting the manufacturer’s data seems to be unreliable.
Computer power management settings can potentially save substantial energy by putting computers into low-power modes when not being used. However, previous research shows that sleep settings are often disabled in office desktops. The Power Management User Interface (PMUI) feedback app was designed to give users feedback on their computer idle states and to encourage enabling of sleep settings. Unlike current energy feedback devices, PMUI is a standalone free software application that does not require installing additional equipment. PMUI was field tested in 407 computers (303 treatment subjects and 104 control subjects), with a minimum 1-month baseline period and 2-month treatment period for each subject. At baseline, only 13% of computers had computer sleep settings enabled, but 56% of subjects reported the settings were enabled. Findings suggests user confusion about settings that is correlated to lack of use and lack of knowledge. Subjects exposed to the PMUI application were significantly more likely than control subjects to enable their computer sleep settings and to reduce the delay time. Treatment subjects’ computers subsequently spent less time idle and more time in sleep mode than control subjects’ computers. Overall, these results provide strong evidence that feedback on computer states can effectively induce desktop users to improve their power management settings and thus save energy, without the need for separate plug meter devices to measure energy usage.
