Finding the Greenest Set-top Boxes

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 07/28/2011 - 22:43

The US ENERGY STAR program looks only at energy efficiency and not other sustainability factors. Twenty set-top box (STB) units for cable, IP, or satellite from seven manufacturers came in at less than 100W in the program's Total Energy Consumption (TEC) metric. Apple TV is the most efficient, helped by its very low stand-by power consumption. The unit has a number of other sustainability features, as well. Here is the list we derived from the ENERGY STAR database.

Type Manufacturer Brand Model Model TEC Comment
IP Apple Inc. Apple Apple TV A1378 10.03 [1]
cable HUAWEI Technologies Co., Ltd DTA Digital Transport Adapter DC732 28.47
cable Pace plc Pace DC50Xu C0813339500 28.91
cable Pace plc Pace plc DC50Xu C5353381400 29.94
cable Zinwell Corporation Briteview Set top box BV-980H 32.21
cable Pace plc Comcast Digital Cable Transport Adaptor DC50X 33.70
cable Pace plc Pace DC50Xu C0823339600 42.11
cable Motorola Motorola DTA 100 45.44
cable Cisco Cisco Digital Transport Adaptor DTA30 47.30
cable HUAWEI Technologies Co., Ltd HUAWEI Digital Transport Adaptor DC730 48.18
satellite DIRECTV DIRECTV DIRECTV Receiver D12-700 55.50
satellite DIRECTV DIRECTV DIRECTV Receiver D12-300 59.60
satellite DIRECTV DIRECTV DIRECTV Receiver D12-100 64.60
satellite DIRECTV DIRECTV DIRECTV Receiver D12-500 74.40
IP

Motorola

Motorola VIP1002 IPTV STB 82.96
IP Motorola H&NM, Inc IPTV STB VIP1200WB VIP1200WB_NA 90.75
satellite DIRECTV DIRECTV HD Digital Satellite Receiver H25-100 91.54
IP Motorola H&NM, Inc IPTV STB VIP1200NA VIP1200 94.88
cable Pace plc Pace plc DC550D C1583340700 97.05
satellite DIRECTV DIRECTV DIRECTV HD Receiver H25-500 98.30

[1] Apple publishes Environmental Reports for its products. Among other features, Apple TV is PVC-free and BFR-free.

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