The gap the median doesn't show
The headline finding first: every model that does report a standby figure confirms, not corrects, the 0.4 W this site's TV calculator already uses. Nobody's marketing a number the full census disagrees with. What the single median hides is the shape of the whole distribution and a real gap in the data itself, both covered below.
Australia's energy rating registry, the same data.gov.au dataset behind this site's TV running cost calculator, records a standby-power test result for most currently registered TVs, but not all of them. Of the 4,723 models we checked (every model marked ‘Available’, deduped to one row per brand and model the same way the calculator's own data pull already does), 778 of them, 16.5%, roughly 1 in 6, carry no standby-power figure at all: a blank field in the registry, not a zero. That's not proof those models are secretly worse, we genuinely don't know either way, and that's the actual finding: about one TV in six registered for sale in Australia has never had its standby draw published anywhere a shopper (or a site like this one) could check it.
Among the 3,945 models that do report a figure, the median is 0.4 W, the same confirming figure named above.
The 10 thirstiest TVs still registered, and what they actually cost
Ranked by real reported standby watts, highest first, deduped down to one row per genuinely distinct design (several brands register the same physical TV under four or five separate colour-code model numbers). Even the single worst design in the entire registry is a rounding error next to a router's 7–10 W, run the same 24/7 basis, on this site's own standby power cost guide.
| Model | What it includes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| BLAUPUNKT, 24 in (1.01 W) | Standby only, run 24/7 all year | $2.43 (ACT) to $3.38 (SA) a year |
| JVC, 98 in (0.98 W) | Standby only, run 24/7 all year | $2.35 (ACT) to $3.27 (SA) a year |
| JVC, 74 in (0.85 W) | Standby only, run 24/7 all year | $2.04 (ACT) to $2.84 (SA) a year |
| Kogan, 100 in (0.76 W) | Standby only, run 24/7 all year | $1.82 (ACT) to $2.54 (SA) a year |
| BAUHN, 70 in (0.72 W) | Standby only, run 24/7 all year | $1.73 (ACT) to $2.40 (SA) a year |
| EKO, 55 in (0.71 W) | Standby only, run 24/7 all year | $1.70 (ACT) to $2.36 (SA) a year |
| EKO, 42 in (0.67 W) | Standby only, run 24/7 all year | $1.61 (ACT) to $2.24 (SA) a year |
| MYVI, 32 in (0.63 W) | Standby only, run 24/7 all year | $1.51 (ACT) to $2.10 (SA) a year |
| Kogan, 85 in (0.60 W) | Standby only, run 24/7 all year | $1.45 (ACT) to $2.01 (SA) a year |
| Kogan, 24 in (0.60 W) | Standby only, run 24/7 all year | $1.44 (ACT) to $2.00 (SA) a year |
Standby watts are the government registry's own test figures (not estimated). Reference electricity rates for 2026–27.
OLED doesn't cost more at idle, and nothing comes close to a router
Split the tested models by panel technology and the medians are identical: 0.4 W for LED and 0.4 W for OLED, no premium-panel penalty at idle. The two techs' ceilings tell a different story: the highest standby figure recorded for any LED model is 1.01 W, while not one OLED model in the entire registry reports more than 0.5 W, exactly half. If anything, the premium tech is the more standby-frugal one, the opposite of what ‘bigger, brighter screen’ assumptions would suggest.
Put the worst real result in dollar terms and it barely changes the conversation this site's own standby power cost guide already had: run every hour of every year, that single worst-in-market TV costs $2.43 (ACT) to $3.38 (SA) a year, a fraction of a single router or modem's $17 to $33, the guide's own headline finding for the one household device that's genuinely worth switching off. The census doesn't overturn that guide's advice, it gives it a much bigger receipt.
Looking up your own TV
A top 10 answers what the worst case is, not what your own set draws. The model finder on our TV running cost calculator searches all 4,723 of these models by brand and model number, and it reports each one's own registered standby figure, including saying so plainly when the registry holds no standby test for it. It reads the same file this page was counted from, so what you see there and what you read here are two views of one dataset.
Common questions
How many TV models does this census actually cover?
4,723 currently registered TV models on Australia's own government energy rating registry (data.gov.au, the same dataset behind this site's TV running cost calculator), filtered to models marked ‘Available’ and deduped to one row per brand and model.
Why would a registered TV have no standby-power figure at all?
The registry doesn't say, and this census can't guess on its behalf: a blank field isn't the same claim as a tested zero, and treating it as one would overstate what's actually known about that specific model. Practically, it means a shopper comparing two otherwise-similar TVs can only check the standby figure of the one that has it published; for the other, the model's own spec sheet or a plug-in power meter is the only way to know.
What's the highest standby draw of any TV currently registered in Australia?
1.01 W, a 24-inch Blaupunkt model, the highest of any model with a reported figure. Even that worst case costs only $2.43 (ACT) to $3.38 (SA) a year run 24/7, a fraction of a router's $17–$33.
Is the bottom 10 dominated by any one brand?
No single brand. The ten highest reported standby figures span six different brands (Blaupunkt, JVC, Kogan, BAUHN, EKO and MYVI), from a 24-inch set up to a 100-inch one, so a high standby figure tracks the individual model rather than a brand-wide design choice.
Sources
All figures in this census: a direct pull of the energyrating.gov.au registration database's Televisions resource (tv_2026_07_25.csv snapshot), the same dataset behind this site's TV running cost calculator, filtered to ‘Available’ models and deduped by brand and model. Router/modem comparison figure: this site's own standby power cost guide, sourced from MyConnect. Electricity rates: AER Default Market Offer and each state's regulated reference tariff, current for 2026–27. Registry pulled and analysed directly for this guide, July 2026.