The biggest energy hog in your house is probably sitting right under your TV. That little ol’ set-top box could be using up more electricity in your house than your refrigerator or central air conditioning, according to a new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The 160 million devices combined use up $3 billion in electricity a year, 66% of it when no one is watching and no shows are being recorded. That’s because it’s cheaper for cable companies to have them designed to run full-blast all the time, rather than waste money making ones with power-saving modes.

In the short-term, you can cut your power drain by plugging all your media producing boxes – TV, DVD player, cable, etc – into one power strip and turning it off when not in use.

And in the long-run, you can also lobby your cable company and the FCC to add power-saving modes to cable boxes.

Better Viewing, Lower Energy Bills, and Less Pollution [Natural Resources Defense Council
via MoneyTalksNews]

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