Measurement methodology investigating home entertainment consoles and comparison against energy star and harmonic standards

Abstract

People are spending more time being entertained at home now than ever before. It is currently common to find a home entertainment console containing an LCD or Plasma television, DVD player and surround sound amplifier in many homes. The number of home entertainment devices is increasing, yet our understanding of the effect that they have on power quality is incomplete. This study determines the power consumption of home entertainment equipment as well as the effect that such devices have on harmonic distortion levels. A methodology is developed for the measurement of the power consumption of home entertainment equipment including television sets, DVD players and home theatre. The results are compared to the Energy Star standard to determine if the power consumption of these devices is within the limits imposed. The methodology presented consists of three parts, performing measurements, generating results and comparison to energy and harmonic standards. The developed methodology includes steps for mathematically combining the measured voltage and current waveforms of individual devices. The goal is to determine total current and voltage waveforms for a combination of devices. The methodology also describes how to analyze the resultant synthesized waveforms so as to determine the power consumption at each harmonic. The levels of current harmonics for individual devices and groups of devices are determined and then compared to the EN6100-3-2 standard to ascertain if they are within the limits imposed. The power consumption and current harmonics of each combination as well as individual devices were analysed. Using the developed methodology, four case studies were conducted, grouping different home entertainment devices together. It was found that the power consumption of LCD television sets are below the limits imposed by the Energy Star standard while for Plasma based televisions it was above these limits. Current harmonic levels for CRT based televisions were found to be above the limits imposed by the EN6100-3-2 standard while those for LCD and Plasma based televisions the levels were below the limits. The research concludes that the current harmonics of new LCD and Plasma based televisions does not pose any concern for power quality.