February 2009 is the deadline for the United states to convert to digital television (DTV). The end of analog television will force the millions of households (HH) who depend on over-the-air (OTA) signals and don't want to upgrade to digital TV sets to purchase digital-to-analog converters. The Federal government is already preparing to subsidize up to 34 million converters. (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html)

At a 2W power consumption in sleep mode, these boxes could add a minimum of 1.6 gWh to the United States' daily energy consumption.*

In addition to the OTA issues, cable subscribers who feed TV sets and VCRs directly with analog cable taps (at least 32 million HH) may have to rent boxes from their cable companies. The elimination of analog cable signals could drive a similar spike in energy consumption. The FCC is currently looking at this issue.

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* (2009 update) The EPA's current estimate breaks down to 8 gWh day if conventional boxes are used. Click here for the EPA estimate and information on its Energy Star specification for DTV converters.