For consumers hoping to shave a few more dollars off their annual electricity bill, TV service from AT&T’s U-verse now come with an additional benefit: the set-top box is Energy Star certified.

According to the Energy Star web site, that means U-verse boxes is at least 30 percent more energy efficient than conventional models. They reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and costs, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which runs the Energy Star program.

AT&T joins DirecTV as the first companies to get Energy Star certification for its boxes. New U-verse customers will get the Energy Star models from Motorola and Cisco. 

Is this a big deal? Well, it’s apparently not a surprise. AT&T said its existing U-verse TV receivers “already exceed the efficiency requirements,” even though they aren’t Energy Star certified.

Its boxes are more efficient because of the technology it uses to get TV service to customers. It uses Internet Protocol technology and doesn’t have tuners inside so its set-top boxes are inherently more energy efficient than most of the competition. U-verse customers are at least 36 percent more efficient than set top boxes from cable TV companies, says AT&T.

According to Energy Star, if all set-top boxes in the U.S. met the ENERGY STAR specification, the nation would save $2 billion a year in energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by the equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions from about 2.5 million vehicles.

Noise from the web:

Green screens: Set-top boxes sap energy even when not in use (The Capital Times)

Set-top box international energy-efficient regulations (Power Integrations)

TV tuner delivers ‘green’ solution for ATSC converter, set-top boxes (EE Times)

STB and Other Set-Top Device in the Home Vendors Thinking Green? (ABI Research)

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