Buying a TV? Look for orange if you want to be greeen

OK, pop quiz: Which TVs on the market are more efficient — Energy Star or Energy Forward TVs?

I bet I know what you’re thinking: Energy Forward?

Huh?

Yes, in addition to the blue Energy Star logos splattered all over the market’s energy efficient TVs, there are now little orange “Most Efficient” Energy Forward stickers featured on super-efficient TVs, designating them as the best of the best in efficiency.

Do we need this?

Yes.

Supersized flatscreen TVs are bigger and brighter and more energy-sucking than their older big-tube counterparts.

Flatscreen models sometimes use energy even when they’re off.

We owe this new Energy Forward designation to the Portland-based nonprofit utility-funded Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, which created the designation in collaboration with Energy Star in late 2009.

This year NEEA wants you to buy — or at least consider buying — an Energy Forward TV for the holidays to save the planet some energy and reduce your energy bill or at least keep it from increasing.

NEEA estimates that its Energy Forward campaign has saved the region enough energy to power more than 10,000 homes each year on a continuous basis.

Yeah, that’s a lot.

It can also save you money: The technology website CNET recently reported that there is a $50 difference in annual electricity costs between the least efficient and most efficient 55-inch flat-screen HDTVs around.

That means that you could save hundred of dollars over the life of your TV, all part of the big picture.

Even though Energy Star updates its requirements frequently to make them more strenuous as technologies improve and change, this is one way to look even more critically at your energy consumption and take your greenness to the next level with orange.

Cool, I say.

Energy Forward TVs can be purchased at Best Buy, Costco, Kmart, Sam’s Club, Sears and Walmart, and a range of regional and independent retailers throughout the Northwest.

Go to www.energyefficientelectronics.org to find more information on Energy Forward, including a complete lists of retailers and super energy-efficient TVs.