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STB and Other Set-Top Device in the Home Vendors Thinking Green?
Author: Robert Clark, Principal Analyst, Multi-Channel Video Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:46:17 EDT It was only last year that Energy Star and a handful of STB brand name vendors and component manufacturers got together to begin a green program for set-top boxes. The agenda included a definition of STB in Energy Star's program context, test procedures to measure power and energy consumption, agreement on who all needs to contribute to a successful program in the STB ecoysystem, a plan for collection of test data and commitment from stakeholders - and a timeline for next steps. Gallup polls prior to 2007 were showing 88% of those consumers surveyed as having interest in energy efficeincies in their consumer electronics amongst other home appliances and utility elements, with spending on electricity having become the highest share of total consumer spending since the energy crisis of 2000. Also during that timeframe (interesting considering our current state of economy) was 47% of consumers were planning to spend less on discretionary items like HDTVs, PCs, and major appliances due to higher energy bills, and 80% of consumers rating energy efficiency as important to their purchase decisions. Then there was this finding: "88% of consumers agreed somewhat to completely that it is important for electronics along with other home devices to have the Energy Star label". It was estimated then that the average US home had 2 TVs, 1 VCR, 3 phones and 1 DVD player, and that a home could save more than $125 over the products' lifetime if they were Energy Star certified. That dollar amount was expected to double with "active" power, and even triple with increased usage of electronics. Maybe those figures weren't big enough to cause an STB vendor's rush to be green, but there wasn't the kind of brand recognition and corporate capital there is now for proclaiming going green. The EPA did follow suit in 2007 with new STB and DVR specifications. The aggregate picture for STBs in the US was daunting: Then-installed US STBs accounted for 20 TWh per year...13% of the total electricity for CE devices (not including digital TVs)...and collectively accounted for 11% of US residential electricity consumption. Did the brand name and other tier vendors in that original grouping, or others after the fact answer the critcial questions (and the bell) and implement solutions to these questions: 1) How quickly would STBs turn into DVR-enabled products further adding to energy consumption? (ABI has these answers in its STB report series). 2) What projections are there for energy use in the next five years? And 3) What are the industry best practice energy savings features that, if broadly adopted, could result in a significant deviation from current energy usage growth in this product and anywhere in the world? Any STB vendor and component manufacturer representatives reading this blog, or anyone else who is in the know can respond back to ABI and get exposure via the STB report series. View More Blogs From Robert Clark |
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