Categories: Technology

Netflix, Spotify & Co: This is how you save energy when streaming

Streaming content via Netflix and Co. consumes electricity. With these tricks you don’t have to miss movie nights in times of energy crisis.

Rising prices, possible energy shortages in winter: there are many reasons to reduce your own electricity consumption. If you want to reduce your costs in the long run, you don’t necessarily have to miss home entertainment and streaming services like Netflix or Spotify.

The energy advice of the German Consumer Advice Center has collected some basic tips to reconcile leisure, environmental awareness and energy saving. Our article summarizes the easiest ways to save money on video and music streaming in just a few easy steps.

You can do this to save energy

  • the Autoplay function deactivate with providers such as Netflix – this works through the settings.
  • download music with streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music on the smartphone or computer instead of always listening to them online via the cloud. Downloading also consumes a fraction of the data volume used in repetitive streaming.
  • If possible, a Wired connection (via LAN) instead of using a wireless connection (WLAN) to the Internet (especially for laptops and the TV).
  • the reduce video quality – if you lower the resolution and only stream in 720p instead of 4K or full HD resolution, you use less energy.
“In short, end devices with large screens consume more power than small ones, and web browser tabs and windows should generally be closed when not in use.”

A general tip: use electronic devices as long as they work. If you’re buying new consumer electronics, you should also: pay attention to energy efficiency labelssuch as the EU energy label or «TCO Certified».

The digital footprint
It is difficult to determine how many greenhouse gases are caused by streaming. One thing is certain: videos streamed in high quality over the mobile Internet without prior download require the most electricity, writes the energy advice center of the consumer advice center:

● Streaming a movie for an hour is roughly equivalent to the emissions of driving a small car one kilometer long.
● Every day a high-quality video stream of 3.5 hours generates 65 kilograms of CO2 per year.
● 250 gigabytes of files stored in an online cloud, for example as a backup on a hard drive, cause 31 kilograms of CO2.

According to a study by the Think Tank Shift Project, video streaming is responsible for at least one percent of global CO2 emissions. In 2018 alone, it was more than 300 million tons, which is roughly equivalent to Spain’s annual CO2 emissions.

sources

  • Verbraucherzentrale-energieberatung.de: Stream – save energy

(dsc/t online)

Source: Watson

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