According to a recent study from the Natural Resources Defense Council, cable and satellite television boxes are one of the biggest users of electricity, compared to other household devices. Although lots of different devices still burn energy when they’re turned off, cable TV boxes are only second to air conditioners when it comes to running up the electricity bill.

According to a 2011 study from the Natural Resources Defense Council, cable and satellite television boxes are one of the biggest users of electricity, compared to other household devices.

Although lots of different devices still burn energy when they’re turned off, cable TV boxes are only second to air conditioners when it comes to running up the electricity bill.

Andrew McAllister, a member of the California Energy Commission is quoted as saying: "It is a classic case of market failure. The consumers have zero information and zero control over the devices they get."

Companies that make the cable boxes aren’t facing a demand from users for a more energy efficient product, even though the technology is available to lower the energy consumption through the use of microprocessors.

One of the reasons cable boxes use so much energy is that they operate almost continuously even when the TV is not being watched, so that the digital video recorder, or DVR can record television shows.

The only way to cut down on the amount of energy used by cable and satellite boxes is to unplug them completely, but then it takes time to reboot, and users wouldn’t be able to rewind a show because the device wouldn’t be prerecording.