Use a voice assistant to turn on your TV? Might want to check your power bill…
Can you Utilize Alexa or Google Assistant to turn your TV on with voice commands? Well, pay attention — you may be doubling that TV’s electricity usage.
That’s the very striking takeaway from a new report out this week in the Natural Resource Defense Council. Inside, the green-minded nonprofit takes a close look at the energy efficiency of smart speakers like the Amazon Echo, Google Home Mini and Apple HomePod, as well as press streamers such as the Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Google Chromecast.
The Good news is that all of those devices get high marks. For instance, the report points out that speakers that are smart typically consume only marginally more and a few watts while in standby mode when activated. In an average year, a second-gen Amazon Echo will consume about 15.2 kilowatt hours (kWh), which adds up to less than $2 to your annual energy bill. That number drops to 12.3 kWh for your Google Home Mini — or less than a buck and half per year.
The issue comes if you sync one of these wise speakers upward with your smart TV to control it with your own voice, a feature that is supported by a growing number of models. Especially, the NRDC found that TVs Like those which can be turned on using a voice command will While they wait for that command in consume more power standby mode.
The choice to link a smart speaker to a new TV can easily double its energy usage.
How much? Typically, TVs in standby mode consume less than a Single watt, but a number of the ones the NRDC synced with a smart speaker consumed more than a whopping 20 watts in standby mode. Within the course of 12 months, that’d add up to a total energy usage of 248 kWh, which would include about $30 to your home’s annual energy costs. Disable that link with the wise speaker, and that amount falls to 106 kWh, or about $12 per year.
“The decision to link a smart speaker To a new TV can easily double its energy use,” the report reads. “Over the 10-year life of the TV, this adds up to almost $200 in extra electricity costs.”
The report analyzed 2018 version TVs from Samsung, LG, TCL, Sony, Westinghouse and Vizio that encourage Amazon Echo voice controllers, in Addition to models from LG, Sony and Vizio that encourage voice controls through Google Home ($99 in Walmart) Smart speakers. Of these, Sony, Westinghouse and Vizio all saw their standby power consumption spike as high as 22.9 watts. LG, Samsung and TCL didn’t appear to find any spikes at all.
“This increase only Happened with TVs that may be awakened and commanded by voice control,” the report explains. “Those that couldn’t be awakened by voice preserved low standby power levels”
Siri, meanwhile, is only beginning to offer voice controllers for brand new, HomeKit and AirPlay-compatible smart TVs, including ones from Vizio.
The The silver liner this is that the NRDC contacted the TV makers and discovered that a few were working to fix the issue, with normal standby manners of 1 or 2 volt shirts when the TV is connected using a voice helper. But the NRDC adds that needs to be carried out.
“With Smart speaker use expected to continue to conceal, we hope our report Functions as a wake-up call and that TV manufacturers make the necessary Design changes to achieve low standby energy levels when their TVs are Connected to a wise speaker,” finishes Noah Horowitz, an NRDC director Who co-authored the report?”This way we all can enjoy the advantage Of waking and controlling our TVs with only our voices and prevent wasting Massive quantities of electricity and needlessly rising consumer energy bills.”
