How long a television lasts – and what it uses in a year

A good television should last eight to ten years. Whether it manages that depends less on luck than on a few habits – and on knowing what the energy label means.

Burn-in on OLED

The issue has become smaller, but has not disappeared. OLED pixels age with the brightness they deliver; if a logo or news ticker sits in the same place for hours every day, a shadow can remain. Current sets shift the picture minimally, dim fixed elements and run maintenance programmes at night. Important: leave the television connected to the mains and switch it off with the remote, not at the power strip – otherwise the maintenance programmes never run. For households with a news channel on for hours, Mini-LED remains the more carefree choice.

Brightness

Full brightness for years shortens the life of any technology. The ambient light sensor turns it down automatically in the evening; that spares eyes, panel and electricity bill.

Updates

Manufacturers supply updates for premium sets for several years, fixing bugs and keeping apps current. Enable automatic updates. If a television drops out of support after five or six years, a streaming box turns it back into a current device.

Cleaning

Only a dry or slightly damp microfibre cloth, without pressure, without glass cleaner, without alcohol. The surface of modern panels is anti-reflective and delicate; cleaners leave streaks that never go away. The remote control also appreciates a cloth once a month.

Power: reading the label

Since 2021 the new energy label runs from A to G, and almost all large televisions land in E, F or G. That is not an alarm signal but the stricter yardstick. What matters is the consumption in kilowatt-hours per 1,000 hours printed on the label. A 65-inch OLED uses roughly 100 to 150 watts in normal viewing, more in HDR; a Mini-LED set of the same size at full brightness about the same. At four hours a day that adds up to around 150 to 220 kilowatt-hours a year – about as much as a modern refrigerator. Eco mode saves a third, often at the picture's expense; the light sensor is the better choice.

Standby

Current sets use less than half a watt in standby. Functions such as "quick start" or a voice assistant in standby raise that to several watts – switch them off if you do not use them.

Warranty and repair

In Switzerland the statutory warranty of two years applies; manufacturers and retailers sometimes extend it. With panel damage a repair is usually not worthwhile; power supplies, ports and software, on the other hand, can be fixed. We help with the assessment before a set is thrown away.

The rule of thumb

Sensor on, power strip out, updates automatic, cloth instead of cleaner. That way a good television lasts until you replace it out of appetite for something new, not out of necessity.