How Many Amps Does a TV Use? Full Guide

We’ll go over as much information about how much electricity televisions use as we can, and we’ll even give you some advice on how to lower the amount of electricity your TV uses.

When TVs first came out, all you did was watch your favorite programs. But they’ve evolved into much more than that since then. They can be used to stream movies, play video games, and browse the internet. But, with all of these new features, just how many amps does a TV use?

A 50-inch, 0.95-amp, 120-volt TV is typical in the United States. When determining the average TV amperage, it is important to take into account the model, screen size, screen type, and other features.

You can read more about how much energy your TV uses below.

How Many Amps Does a Television Use?

The amount of amps a television uses is determined by the size, type, and settings of the TV as well as other elements. But if you have the average American TV size of 50 inches, expect it to use an average of 0.95 amps at 120 volts assuming that the settings are at their default.

Among the home appliances that have changed significantly since their creation are TVs. Despite the fact that new features consume more energy to operate, TVs are becoming more energy-efficient thanks to new technologies.

And usually, we don’t have a specific number of amps that cuts across all TVs. Therefore, the precise power consumption varies from model to model. This is why a 50-inch Samsung TV might have 135 watts while a TCL TV of the same size only has 79 watts!

The market’s most popular TV brands include just these two. As you can see, there is a significant difference in power usage even with the same screen size. Therefore, a TV’s electricity usage depends on a variety of factors.

But fortunately, you can easily check the wattage rating of your TV. On the side or back of the TV, the maker typically makes a note of it. The product manual also contains a reference to it. The amperage can then be calculated using the wattage, but more on that will be covered in one of the sections below.

Factors That Affect TV Power Cost

Screen size, viewing hours, brightness level, and TV type are a few variables that have an impact on how much power a TV uses. Although there are many other factors at work, these are some of the most crucial ones.

Let’s look at each of these factors:

The Screen Size

The part that draws the most power is your TV screen. No, it’s not just because it is the biggest; it’s also because it is the component that performs the bulk of the work. Therefore, the power consumption increases along with the screen size.

Watching Hours

It’s pretty obvious what this one is. The longer you watch TV, the more energy it uses. As a result, watching TV for longer than two hours per day will use more energy than watching it for five hours.

Brightness Level

Your TV’s brightness level affects power usage as well. The brighter the screen, the more power it will use. Therefore, turning up the brightness on your TV will result in higher energy consumption than turning it down.

The TV Type

Older TV types like CRT and Plasma are less efficient than newer types like LCD, LED, and OLED. Consequently, you should prepare to pay more for energy if your TV is older. I therefore strongly suggest the latter technologies.

Internet Connectivity

If you monitor your phone’s battery life, you’ll see that it consumes more power when you’re online. This is due to the fact that it must process and receive data from various servers. The same is true of your television. Your smart TV will use more power than it would if it weren’t online.

How to Calculate Amps Your TV Uses?

Simply examining the typical amp usage of TVs won’t suffice if you want to be as precise as possible. Instead, you need to calculate the amount used by your specific model.

The crux of the calculation is:

amps = watts/volts

Power outlets are typically set to a constant 120 volts in most homes. The volt component of the equation will therefore stay the same, as you already know. Therefore, all that is left to do is figure out the wattage, which can typically be found on the TV’s back, on the box, or in the manual.

Once you’ve determined how many watts your television consumes, you can use the figures to calculate how many amps it consumes. Consider the case where your TV requires 200 watts. 1.66 is the result of dividing the wattage by 120 volts. Therefore, 1.6 amps of energy are used by your television.

How to Reduce Your TV’s Energy Usage?

Hopefully, learning about your television’s amp usage and energy costs came as a welcome surprise. However, if you’re now desperately looking for ways to lessen the amount of energy you use to watch your favorite shows, you’ve come to the right place.

Thankfully, more recent televisions have a variety of settings that can lower their power requirements while in operation. We suggest:

• Reducing the brightness — Your TV will require more power to operate the brighter the screen. Reduce the brightness manually using your remote.
• Turn it off when not in use — Don’t simply leave it idling all day! When not in use, unplug it completely or turn the outlet off.
• Use the built-in energy efficiency features — Energy-efficiency settings are available on smart TVs. They enable you to change the device’s power-saving mode. The auto-brightness function, however, frequently dims the screen at random intervals, which may reduce your user experience.
• Alter the contrast — The amount of energy used by your television can be significantly decreased by lowering both the contrast and brightness.

Summary

A TV’s amperage ranges from 50 to 400 watts depending on the model, technology, and screen size, with an average amperage of 0.95 amps.

Newer TVs typically come well-equipped and require few amps. The average American television uses 0.95 amps, but if you have an older model, it might use more. Our tips above will undoubtedly be useful to you if you want to conserve energy while watching television.

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