The US ENERGY STAR program looks only at energy efficiency and not other sustainability factors. The program uses a metric called Total Energy Consumption (TEC).

There were only four models rated at 50 TEC or less this year, less than half as many as a year ago. Apple TV, with two of the four models, is by far and away the most efficient, helped by its very low stand-by power consumption.

The European Union has a program for STB energy efficiency and we've listed the manufacturers that signed its Code of Conduct. There are also three European STB models that received the German Ecolabel.

We derived the following table from the ENERGY STAR database.

The EU has a Code of Conduct on Energy Efficiency of Digital TV Service Systems. Partners include:
Advanced Digital Broadcast SA
Matsushita Electric (UK) Ltd
Nokia
Pace Micro Technology PLC
Philips
Pioneer Europe N.V.
Proximus
Swisscom
Technicolor

Blue Angel gives its German Ecolabel to three models of the Telekom Mediareceiver series: 601 Sat, MR 401 Typ B, and MR Entry/MR 201.

More about STBs and Green ICT

2018

We derived the following table from the ENERGY STAR database. We expect power improvements with each generation, which is why we reduced the cut-off point to 50 TEC for this listing.

* This is Apple TV 4th Generation. The recently announced Apple TV 4K is not in the database, but we have posted the Apple TV 4K environmental specs.

2013 Rankings

About twenty set-top boxes (STBs) or cable, IP, or satellite from seven manufacturers came in at less than 65W. This is a big improvement from two years ago, when our top twenty cut-off was 100W.

Apple TV is by far and away the most efficient, helped by its very low stand-by power consumption. We derived the following table from the ENERGY STAR database.

[1] IP = "internet protocol" STB to receive content through home/office LANs. DTA = "digital transport adapter" so analog TV sets can receive DTV (digital television) signals.