Does it hurt a TV to be on for long periods?

[kennydies]

The TV in my house is always being used by someone and can by on for long periods.

Does it actually harm the TV to be on for long periods, discounting screen burn?

[kenfowler3966]

There are pros and cons and you have to make your own choice.

Pro:
Electrical components fail early through repeated cycling through cold (off) and on (hot). They much prefer to stay at a stable temperature.

No delay when selecting a program

Optimum setup of the picture can be achieved and maintained as it tends to vary depending on component temperature. (I recall tests on dvd players and the testers left them on for over 24 hours to get stable temp. and better sound? They recommmended never turning them off, and same for amps due to this slight improvement after this time left on.)

Con:
Excessive use of electricity
Contribution to global warming
Fire risk.
Components have a life and all will eventually fail, particularly the CRT tube which will only have so many hours of acceptable contrast etc even if no components pack up. I seem to recall about 30,000 hours? but stand to be corrected. This equates to about 12 years normal usage of about 6 to 7 hours a day, or 3.5 years on 24 hours a day!

Personally my tv is on or on standby all evening fro about 4pm till 12pm, and off the rest of the time.

[JPC]

With one exception, I agree completly with Ken, who has done an excellent job of replying to your question.

The exception are CRT's!!..... They are far more robust than they used to be, and the life expectancy is now much greater....

CRT's used to suffer from inter-electrode leakage quite a lot and could easily be damaged or blow filaments if they were switched one and off in a short period of time, such as happens with electricity interruptions,.... which in some areas is quite sever...

Electricity Companies now require that all electrical equipment be designed to withstand rapid on/off/on/off of power supplies and this has resulted in much more robust build of not just CRT's but all components in a TV..

This has led to a much longer life expectancy than before!

As long as a TV's vents are not blocked up, then its perfectly OK to leave a TV on all day.

One thing I would advise is....

DO NOT SWITCH THE TV ON AND OFF WITH THE PHYSICAL SWITCH ON THE TV!!

Over a period of time this operation tends to produce hair line fractures in the circuitry behind the switch.... which causes intermittent problems, the most common of which is the TV switching itself off, or on, or change channels, by itself.....

Its always best to use your remote to do the switching.

Kind regards John.... (Retired Field Service Engineer)