Dinogy - Energy Blog » Save Power with an LCD Monitor

Switching to flat screen LCD monitors can save you more than space on your desk... They also run at typically one third the power of those big clunky CRT monitors.

For instance my ViewSonic VX2025WM 20" monitor consumes around 35 Watts of power. That is pretty good for a monitor of that size. Compare that to a Sony Trinitron Multiscan 520GS 21" CRT Monitor, which consumes 160 Watts under normal operation.

Using the average price of electricity in the US 10.6 cents per kilowatthour we can figure out how much it cost to run each monitor a year.

CRT: 160W * 8 hours * 365 days = 467200 Watt hours / year
LCD: 35W * 8 hours * 365 days = 102200 Watt hours / year

Now if we divide those numbers by 1000 we get the values in Kilowatt hours (KWh).

CRT KWh = 467200 / 1000 = 476.2
LCD KWh = 102200 / 1000 = 102.2

Now to figure out the cost multiply by the price per kilowatthour:

CRT $ per year = 476.2 * 0.106 = $49.52 / year
LCD $ per year = 102.2 * 0.106 = $10.83 / year

So using the two example monitors you would save $38.69 and 365,000 Watts each year.