Why is modern power demand so high?

[ElFenix]

Will the government ever take a stand and make some kind of requirement about wall warts and efficiency? Most of them are pretty good, but some are terrible. The AC adapter for my computer speakers is always warm, and it draws about 10 watts. It reminds me of the AC adapter for my Sega Genesis. That thing was always really hot. So much wasted power and needless stress on the grid.

i think there are some standards on the way. the other thing being tackled is device sleep when not in use. cable boxes in particular were notorious for not actually turning anything off when the user hit the power button on the remote. the only thing that changed was the box's response to buttons other than the power button.

 

[jagec]

Are we all kinda ignoring the fact that tvs aren't heaters? They are not designed to produce heat and as newer technology has come out the energy produced as waste heat will have reduced by what I can only imagine is a lot. The heat produced by a 60" plasma has no relevance what so ever to the heat produced by a 20 year old TV and neither number can be used to imply which device uses more power.

Thermodynamics...unless you live in an all-glass house and have your TV facing outwards, darn near 100% of the energy that ANY appliance consumes ends up (eventually) as heat in the house.

A 240W 50" LCD uses exactly as much power as a 240W 32" CRT TV, and they both add 240 watts of heat flux to the house while they're on.