Swedx's TVs are wood, but are they green?

What to do? You want a snazzy new TV but you're concerned about your carbon footprint. Swedx's LCD TV encased in real wood might be the answer -- but just because it's partly made from a renewable resource, does that mean it'll take your carbon footprint that all-important notch lower?

The new 19-inch TVs feature HD Ready panels made by Samsung and come with a choice of three solid-wood finishes: ash, beech or sapele, and are available now from Dixons. For £350, it's not an unreasonable offer -- and our friends at Crave are wild about the Samsung panels.

But check out sust-it, an energy consumption comparison site, which lines up the older 40-inch Swedx next to a standard Sony 40-inch -- no wood in this one. Turns out the Swedx could use up to a tonne more CO2 in its lifetime than similar models!

Sust-it compared running costs and found that the Swedx could consume 547.5 kwh/year costing £91.58, while the Sony only used 370.11 kwh/year costing £58.71. So by choosing the more energy-efficient TV, in this case the Sony, you could save nearly £200 (£197.22) of electricity (at current prices) if you kept the TV for six years.

Bad news for Swedx.

"When I first came across these TVs I thought 'what a great idea,'" says Ross Lammas from sust-it. "It's only when we added them to our database that the real picture came out. It's a pity that the green credentials of the wooden case don't match that of the insides."

Ouch. But hey, their heart's in the right place. It also goes to show how important clear labelling is, not to mention consumer awareness.

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