Ideal Bite

I wanted to comment on today's Bite on TVs. I work for a website that recommends TVs (and am therefore part of the problem) but to atone for my sins, I did some research on TVs and resource usage. Here are a couple tidbits: * Go for LCD over plasma; inch-for-inch they provide significantly lower electrical usage as they run ... even less than your old tube TV per square inch, but * The larger the TV, the more power it uses. If you had a "big" tube TV it would be considered small by today's standards. Men: avoid the instinct to have a unit that is bigger than your neighbor's. Women: keep telling us men that size doesn't matter. We have a 26" LCD TV in our living room; it uses a great deal less power than our old tube, and it is plenty big. Just because you can get a 52" TV doesn't mean you should. 37" is plenty big for most living rooms and smaller is fine. * Try to set up your TV and other devices to go through a power strip, and (really) turn off the TV and cable and everything else. Otherwise, these boxes all run on standby, sapping a small but constant stream of juice. * Do whatever you can to recycle your old tube TV. The average tube TV contains (get this) 4 lbs. of lead. Some of it is relatively safely encapsulated in the glass, but most of it is in lead-based solder. Tom

Great comment Tom, I want to add that for those of you (like me) who are too cheap to pay for cable and need a converter box, look for one that is Energy Star rated. From Energy Star's website: "If all DTAs sold in the U.S. met the ENERGY STAR specification, over the lifetime of the products Americans could save approximately 13 billion kWh and $1 billion in energy costs — reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking more than 1 million cars off the road. "Products qualifying for ENERGY STAR must consume no more than 8 watts in On Mode and 1 watt in Sleep Mode and automatically power down after 4 hours or less of user inactivity." Happy shopping.

Maybe I'm an alien, but where in today's tip was the idea that maybe you could just do without a TV? Since quitting TV about 4 years back I have been so much happier and so much more productive. I still know what's going on locally and in the world (I have radio and the internet), but I no longer watch the fear-inducing TV news 4 times a day, and I have so much more time to live my life, instead of wasting my time watching other people live their lives (when you really think about it, how dumb is that?)

Well said, Phil! I'm mildly ashamed to say that I'm reluctant to get rid of the TV, simply because I LOVE watching movies at home. But TV? They can have it. I have better things to do!

I sometimes watch movies I borrow from the library,other than that I'm t.v. free for yrs. and definately don't miss it. I don't spend money at video stores,and don't have cable. We get no channels,and I think that's awesome! I don't want my three yr. old inundated by t.v. messages. When I do watch a movie,I do it at night,with headphones on so she's not absorbing all the sounds,feelings,etc. from the shows I watch. T.V. takes up so much time,what a waste! Almost everyone is so disconnected from nature,and the t.v. addiction in America is a big reason why,plus online addiction etc. Technology was supposed to help us,but often I feel it hasn't.

Thanks, Tara, but please don't apologise for not wanting to ditch the TV. I will still rent a film from time to time and watch it on my laptop. I just know that if I had the facility to turn on a TV I would not have the will power to control my viewing. It would sometimes go on and 5 hours later I would wonder why I had just sat and watched 5 hours of crap. I know some people can truly control their TV habits, but I think they are a tiny minority.

Hey... I like Scrubs! I admit to being a TV addict in the worst way. My Tivo is always full, even during the writer's strike. (I got to watch more educational-type shows and rediscover shows I didn't have time for before.) I still go out and have a life, make dinner and get to not stress about missing a show or being late for a show! I can't believe they didn't mention TiVo and other DVRs. I do need to set up a switch for the TV, stereo and computers to save energy. Good reminder.

If you are a tv addict like me try going to www.mcconmedia.com