Using your radio
Last updated Wednesday 30 April 2008
TV's ain't made for listening
Some 1.5 million Brits currently listen to digital radio stations through their TV and the number is increasing. But unless you find the radio station's logo an object of particular beauty, powering the TV screen is a total waste of energy. Listening to an Energy Saving Recommended digital radio instead would save the average listener around 16kg of CO2 a year.
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Saves about 16kg of CO2 a year
961 Bloomers are doing this
CO2 reduction 
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How will it make a difference?
Pub Fact
- 8.5 million adults a week listen to BBC radio digitally
- 22% of British BBC radio listeners tune in through their digital televisions at least once a week and about 12% listen to stations through their computer
- 74 million hours a week are spent listening to digital radio
- After 2012, powering TV's will absorb half of the energy used by 'consumer electronics'
- As yet, there is no set date to turn off the analogue radio signal
- If we all stopped listening to radio on the telly and tuned in by Energy Saving Recommended radio, the combined saving would be 29.5 GWh of electricity; equivalent to the electricity required by 7,000 homes for a year
- It's worth noting that many digital radios use four times the energy of analogue radios, so you could always swap back to FM radio instead of DAB if your chosen station is not DAB only
What's stopping me?
"But isn't everything going digital soon?"
The UK will officially switch to digital TV broadcasting in 2012 but there's no date set for switching off the FM signal. If your preferred stations are available on an analogue dial, there's no need to buy more energy intensive kit - and certainly no need to listen through a TV.
How do I do it?
- If you do decide to buy a digital radio, look for Energy Saving Recommended (ESR) models with the lowest power consumption. On average they use only 40% of the power of a non-ESR digital radio when playing
- Turn digital radios off at the wall socket when you're done listening, as many still use power when plugged in, even if they are switched 'off' on the radio itself
- Listening to radio while working on your computer adds little to the computer's normal energy demand
- Try a wind-up digital radio
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