Reducing Standby Power Waste in the Great White North, Eh?
February 17, 2009 - It was a very cold and white day when I arrived in Toronto last Friday to attend Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan’s) Standby Power workshop. The Office of Energy Efficiency wants to amend the country’s Energy Efficiency Regulations which first came into effect in 1995. The purpose of this meeting was to give stakeholders an opportunity to hear firsthand about the mandatory standby power performance standards that are being proposed.
Canada is not the first country to develop maximum standby power levels for energy using products. Just last month, the European Commission announced the passage of a comprehensive horizontal standby power regulation as part of its Ecodesign Directive affecting a long list of energy using products (EuPs). NRCan’s product list is not as ambitious, covering only compact audio products, televisions, video products, printers (small and standard size format) and multi-function devices (i.e. printer/fax/scanner/copier combination units).
| Table 1 - Proposed Canada Standby Power Consumption Limits | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Product Type | Tier 1 Limits (2009) | Tier 2 Limits (2011) | |
| Compact Audio Products | = 2W | = 1W | - in Standby Mode |
| Televisions | = 4W | = 1W | - in Standby Mode |
| Video Products | = 3W | = 1W | - in Standby Mode |
| Printers (Small and Standard Size format) | = 2W | = 1W | - in Standby Mode |
| Multi-Function Devices | = 4W | = 2W | - in Standby Mode |
While NRCan’s proposed standard harmonizes with California’s existing standby levels for the country’s near term Tier 1 levels and Europe’s 2011 levels for Tier 2 levels (also taking effect in 2011), the meeting was anything but dull. There were some lively discussions about the proposed levels, especially from the printer manufacturers who were present. Their main concern was the exact wording of the definition of “standby” that NRCan intended in using. As the features of some EuPs have gotten more complex, so has the definition of standby, ranging from OFF (the unit is wake-able only by a user activating the ON/OFF switch on the unit or its remote control) to a passive standby mode (the unit is OFF but networked and with a fast Wake on LAN capability) to an active standby mode (the unit is OFF but capable of software updating or data downloading onto an internal disk drive as found in many set top boxes). Other agencies have resolved this by stating that for certain EuPs, standby is basically its OFF mode.
For more information on NRCan’s proposed standby power standard and /or to get involved, contact NRCan’s Bruce Strathearn at: bstrathe@nrcan.gc.ca
For more information on Canada’s energy efficiency programs, go to:
http://www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/media/newcom/2007/200704b-eng.php
MrGreen
