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ENERGY STAR's Audio/Visual Spec Gets Some Teeth

June 29, 2010 - Last fall I wrote about ENERGY STAR's new Audio/Visual (AV) spec, version 2.0 (see: ENERGY STAR Amplifies Energy Savings with New Audio/Video Efficiency Specs - Part I and Part II). At the end of next month the spec's Tier 2 requirements will go into effect. This could have a big impact on consumer AV products, requiring new energy efficiency performance including auto power down, sleep mode, and amplifier efficiency.

For the most part, the Tier 1 spec had the biggest effect on non-consumer (known in the spec as commercial) products, since the only requirement placed on consumer products was that their standby power consumption be under 1 W. However, with Tier 2, consumer products and commercial product requirements become the same.

The following table shows how the requirements align on July 30, 2010.

Table 1: Summary of Energy Efficiency Requirements

  Product Requirements
Tier 1 Nov 2009 Tier 2 July 2010 Tier 3 March 2012
Consumer AV Products Standby power consumption limit = 1W
  • Sleep mode power consumption limits (base, IP networking)
  • Auto Power Down requirements
  • Product function power consumption limits (display, IP networking, optical disc player)
  • Amplifier efficiency requirement (small, medium, and large)
  • Idle power limits for all products if option to disable APD
  • Sleep mode power consumption limits (base, IP networking)
  • Auto Power Down requirements
  • More stringent product function power consumption limits (display, IP networking, optical disc player)
  • More stringent amplifier efficiency requirement (small, medium, and large)
  • Idle power limits for all products if option to disable APD
Professional and Commercial AV Products
  • Sleep mode power consumption limits (base, IP networking)
  • Auto Power Down requirements (for Digital Signal Processors, this is the only requirement)
  • Product function power consumption limits (display, IP networking, optical disc player)
  • Amplifier efficiency requirement (small, medium, and large)
  • Idle power limits for all products if option to disable APD
Source: ENERGY STAR

Products in ENERGY STAR's consumer AV category include:

  • cassette decks
  • CD players/changers
  • CD recorders/burners
  • clock radios
  • DVD & Blu-ray Disc* products
  • equalizers
  • laserdisc players
  • mini- and midi-systems
  • minidisc players
  • powered speakers
  • rack systems
  • stereo amplifiers/pre-amplifiers
  • stereo receivers
  • table radios, and tuners

*Blue-ray Disc players are new to version 2.0.

For specific Tier 2 requirements see ENERGY STAR's Home Audio & DVD Key Product Criteria page.

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0 Replies  |  Created on Jun 29, 2010 09:49 AM by Power Integrations Engineer MrGreen
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