High crude oil prices spur demand for energy-efficient electronics

These days when customers walk into electronics stores, the first question they ask is how much electricity the fridge, washing machine or laptop computer they are contemplating buying consumes. With crude oil hitting new record highs and electricity costs jumping, consumers are becoming preoccupied with keeping their power bills down. Electronics makers that develop energy efficient products and market them effectively to customers may get an edge in a gloomy global economy. From washing machines that use steam instead of hot water, to fridges that use low energy compressors, to low power computer screens, electronics firms are furiously developing energy efficient products and heavily promoting lines already on the market that use less electricity than competitors' brands.

Front-load washing machines save electricity by using gravity to move water instead of agitators like top loaders. Some new models from LG and Whirlpool use steam instead of hot water, cutting water and power use by over 70%. Among refrigerators, which consume 30% of power in a typical home, new linear compressors use up to 40% less power and make less noise. LED displays save 40% of the power used in CCFL backlighting. LED is also set to replace incandescent lamps in buildings and on streets.

- It took many years and oil prices well over $130 and now over $140 to get to this point, but it does look like we are finally starting to see a general shift in behaviour. I have been predicting for years that for cars, mileage would become more important than horsepower, and for computers, wattage would become more important than megahertz (or gigahertz for that matter, as it is nowadays).

And so here we are. The local car forums, at least the couple that I visit, are abuzz with talk about fuel consumption figures, and how people are ordering hybrids, and how one ought to drive to get better fuel efficiency. There are always some petrol-heads who go for the 200+ hp engines but the "cool factor" is rapidly vanishing. With petrol prices going sky high and reaching for the stars, owning a 2L or larger engine is turning from "cool" to "blue" (ie, the colour on the owner's face at the petrol counter).

And the geek types are now talking less about clock speed and more about wattage. TDP (Thermal Design Power) instead of GHz. Many of them are now bragging about how they are building PC's that do not require turning fans or fancy cooling systems. Just heat sinks, ma'am. Low noise, low power. Google "silent PC" or "quiet PC". In just a few years, we have gone from 10 cooling fans in a PC casing as a sort of badge of geekdom to zero fans.

And finally, of course, it's always best to turn the things off completely when you're not using them. One can argue about using less power with more efficient appliances, but you can't really argue with zero watts.

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