Crt Flat

Are Flat Screen monitors significantly more energy efficient than CRT types to actually lower your elec. bill?

I have a Compaq 16 inch Crt Monitor (MV740) and I really want to know if it is that cost effective to go out and buy a Flat Panel monitor of the same size (or slightly larger) to reduce my energy consumption because, hey, oil prices are not going down anytime soon and the electricity bill is just on an upward swing!

looks like you've already gotten some really good information here so I'm just going to chip in two cents regarding average lifespans of equipment. You should keep in mind that it's not uncommon for a $90 CRT to have a lifespan exceeding 7 years. Last time I checked flat panel monitors where still having longevity issues due to single screen elements burning out over time, leading to dead pixels on your screen. It's possible that the industry has addressed this problem but if so I haven't heard anything about it. Point is, flatscreens are nice and might save a little electricity but they're still substantially more expensive than their bulkier cousins and don't tend to last as long.

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