On today's reality TV shows, someone usually gets booted off the island or kicked out of the house. In the real world of TVs, it turns out that consumers are getting the boot - to the tune of $1.2 billion in increased electricity bills. In a new report, NRDC and its consultant ECOS Research determined that televisions from 3 major manufacturers consumed more energy (in some cases, more than double the energy) than the amount claimed by these manufacturers.  

According to NRDC's Noah Horowitz, "The extra electricity required over the lifetime of these TVs (32 inches and above) would be enough to power all the homes in Los Angeles for a year and create an additional five million metric tons of the dangerous carbon dioxide pollution fueling climate change."

NRDC's testing of TVs suggests that some manufacturers may have designed their TVs to detect when the special video clip used in the ENERGY STAR and ENERGY GUIDE test procedures is being played, and "to 'optimize' their TV's performance to reduce power." One TV's power consumption dropped 58% when the test clip was played, compared to when real-world content was played.

For more TV reality, read the NRDC blog post or the report. 

Blog post by Andrew deLaski

September 6, 2016

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released a revised proposal for home furnace minimum energy efficiency standards, the latest step in a long-running docket to update the original standards which took effect in 1992 and have been largely unchanged since then. Under the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNOPR), most new furnaces would reach an efficiency of at least 92%. The big difference between this proposal and the original proposal issued last year is that DOE has created a class of small furnaces and proposed to leave the standard unchanged at 80% efficiency for these products. ASAP and ACEEE along with several manufacturers, utilities, and consumer groups endorsed the concept of a separate class for small furnaces.   ASAP is supporting DOE's proposed small furnace breakpoint of 55,000 btu/h, but recommending that DOE increase the minimum standard for larger furnaces to 95 AFUE.

Read the blog post

By Chris Granda

Read more here about DOE's latest lighting market forecasts, the latest NEMA data on the current market, DOE's new LED test procedure, and the surprisingly large energy use of some "smart" LED light bulbs.

Swimming pool owners will see a huge drop in their monthly utility bill thanks to a consensus agreement between industry, efficiency proponents, and other interested parties for the first national efficiency standards for pool pumps that was approved today by a US Department of Energy advisory committee.

With more than 5 million in-ground and 3.5 million above-ground pools in the U.S. the national energy and financial savings from more energy efficient pumps will be significant. Based on DOE's analysis, the standards will save more than 400 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity over 30 years of sales or the equivalent amount of electricity used annually by 37 million U.S. households, making it one of the biggest energy savings standards completed this year. Most of the savings will come from switching from single speed pumps to variable speed pumps, which can change their speed as needed, speeding up to clean the pool or slowing down and saving energy when filtering the water.

Read the press release  

Cooking products: (8/17/2016)

The US Department of Energy (DOE) issued a proposed rule for new standards for residential cooking products. The proposed standards are based on straightforward measures that would significantly reduce energy waste while maintaining all the features available to consumers today. In particular the proposed standards would cut standby power consumption.   Read the blog post

Walk-in coolers and freezers: (8/30/2016)

A long process to establish the first efficiency performance standards for walk-in coolers a nd freezers is now just one step away from  a successful conclusion. Today the US Department of Energy (DOE) issued proposed standards for certain types of walk-in cooler equipment based on a negotiated agreement between manufacturers and efficiency advocates.

Read the blog post

In a memo submitted to DOE on September 20, 2016, NEMA, the lighting industry trade organization, corrected previously submitted data, indicating that they  understated 2015 shipments of rough service incandescent lamps by over 4 million units.

For more information on the five categories of incandescent lamps subject to market tracking see " Which one of these is not like the other? " in ASAP's May 2016 newsletter.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has been busy...

On September 9, 2016, CEC released proposed efficiency standards for computers, computer monitors, and signage displays. The standards focus on reducing wasted energy in idle mode, when a computer is turned on but not in active use. Stakeholders will have another opportunity to comment on the proposal before the Commission takes a final vote by the end of the year. For more details, read the CEC press release and NRDC's blog post. 

CEC is nearing the end of a 3+ year process to set standards for pool pump motors and portable electric spas. CEC's June 2016 proposal expands the scope of coverage for pool pump motors and sets standards according to the size and type of motors (those sold in combination with pool pumps or sold separately as replacements). The portable spa standards would reduce standby power use, set new test requirements and require labeling. If adopted, the standards would take effect January 1, 2019 for pool pump motors and January 1, 2018 for spas. 

CEC initiated a rulemaking for landscape emitters (also known as land scape irrigators or lawn sprinklers) on August 31, 2016.   

ASAP is working to update it's model state standards and savings analysis.  Contact Marianne DiMascio if you are interested in state standards opportunities.

To learn more about standards development across the globe, check out CLASP's Global standards and labeling database.