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Now that there is a recession on, you might want to kick back and take in some television. After the initial purchase of a TV set, all the entertainment on the boob tube is free, unless you subscribe to cable or have a satellite. You can theoretically watch as much basic programming as you want and you won't owe anyone a dime. Well, except, of course, the electric company, and you could end up owing them a lot. A sufficiently large and advanced TV set can rival the fridge for energy output. How can you save money and electricity?
Here are some tips for greener TV watching:
- Don't sleep with the TV on. Maybe the sinewy and wizened frame of Murder She Wrote's Angela Lansbury helps you slip off to dreamland, but it's not a very energy-efficient method of snoozing. It wastes electricity. Scientists have also discovered that sleeping with a TV or radio on is bad for you. They've dubbed this sleep "junk sleep." A person who sleeps with a TV on is more likely to be exhausted during the day and find that their brain may not function at peak levels. If you have a tendency to fall asleep in front of your TV, set the sleep timer to save energy.
- Turn the TV off. So many people keep the TV on all day. They always have it blaring in the background. This practice needs to stop. It's wasteful.
- Unplug the TV when not in use. The TV sips energy even when turned off. 5% of your home's energy is lost to "phantom energy usage." Stop this energy loss by unplugging the TV when you are done with it.
- Turn down the brightness. Televisions are much brighter than they need to be. This is so that they will sell in stores. Many TV's have a home setting and a store setting. Set your TV to the home setting. Depending on brand and model, this can save up to 30% of your TV energy usage. If you don't have these settings just turn down your brightness and possibly your contrast. For best viewing results, turn down your lights to get better picture quality and to save more energy and money.
- Use power saver mode. If you television has a power saver mode, you should obviously use it to save power.
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