Cut it.
- Intro
- Reducing electricity consumption I: Lighting
- Reducing electricity consumption II: vampire/standby power
- Reducing electricity usage III: Major appliances
- Renewable energy for the home
- Cutting the cord
- Reducing heating and cooling costs
- Reducing water consumption
Greetings! Today I'm going to take a bit of a detour, and focus less on how to directly save energy, and how you can
indirectly do so while saving a crapton of money.
In short, I'm going to talk about cutting the cord, or ditching your satellite/cable TV provider.
Yeah yeah, I already hear some of you chiming in. You don't own a TV! It rots your brain! Blah blah blah. Fact is, TV is awesome, from the top dramas to the stuff the kids watch. I mean, Adventure Time and Regular Show beat the shit out of the Space Ghost and Thundar the Barbarian crap I watched as a kid in the '80s. Not to mention the glory of sports in full HD splendor. Yup, I love my TV. This is truly a golden age of television. (Unless you're watching the Kardashians or Jersey Shore. If so, then yup, your brain is rotting.)
So if you don't have a TV, good for you! You are everything that is wholesome and virtuous in life. For the rest of us degenerates, let's talk about the downside of our addiction: the inherent energy inefficiency of modern cable and satellite boxes, as well as all that money we spend on product that we can find for much cheaper. So head on below the fold as I talk about how we are finally at a point we can cut the cord.
Fact is, TV has gotten expensive. Industry analysts expect the average cable bill to reach $123 per month by this coming year, and even basic cable packages are chiming in the $50 range. With content providers playing hardball with the cable and satellite companies, those costs will only increase.
Those costs are, in large part, due to the economics of bundling, where you pay $6 per month for ESPN whether you watch sports or not, banking $7 billion every year before they sell a single ad. Sweet deal for them, not for you if you don't watch sports. In fact, nearly half of your cable bill goes to sports channels, many of which you'll never watch even if you do watch sports.
But it's not just sports. If you don't watch CNN, or Fox News, or TNT, or USA, or Nickelodeon, too bad. You're paying for them as well. Yup. You're paying almost $1 per month to Fox News whether you like it or not. YOU are helping pay Bill O'Reilly's salary! It's downright offensive.
This has put cable and satellite providers in a jam. With fees rising, the number of subscribers is falling. Some of that is "cord shaving," which means downgrading to the lowest possible cable tier. Once upon a time, I had the highest tier possible with DirecTV, paying $150 or so for the privilege of watching pretty much five channels. Now I'm on the second lowest tier for the privilege of watching still only five channels.
But many more are taking an even more drastic step, one increasingly attractive with the rise of streaming services: cutting the cord entirely.
Before we get into the details of cutting, let's talk about why this fits into my ongoing energy efficiency series: cable and satellite boxes are horrifically inefficient, in many cases surpassing the refrigerator as the biggest energy hogs in a household. The NRDC notes:
In 2010, set-top boxes in the United States consumed approximately
27 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is equivalent to the annual output of nine average (500 MW) coal-fired power plants. The electricity required to operate all U.S. boxes is equal to the annual household electricity consumption of the entire state of Maryland, results in 16 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and costs households more than $3 billion each year.
That's some crazy shit for something used for only a fraction of the day!
Even though I upgraded to DirecTV's latest and most efficient receiver over the summer, my DirecTV infrastructure sucks up 42 watts of continuous power draw, or just over 1 kWh per day—about seven percent of my daily total usage, for something that is on 3-4 hours a day. Cable boxes, particularly those with DVRs, are equally inefficient. When I cut the cord, the 365 kWh I shave off my annual consumption will save me (at my average $0.19 rate) about $70, and that's before I even tally the savings in programming (which will be dramatic).
So let's remember my rules of energy conservation:
1. I do what I do to save the world. That's my top priority, but ...
2. Saving money is important! The upgrades have to make financial sense.
3. Don't sacrifice comfort.
Number three comes heavily into play here. Any plan to cut the cord would have to retain my ability to watch the programming that I and my family enjoy. And it would have to allow the kind of flexibility (mainly time-shifting) that we've all come to expect. No one in my house gives a damn when anything airs live except for sports. We watch what we want when we want. That can't change.
So I've laid out the following plan, to be implemented in the spring when my current contract with DirecTV expires.
Broadcast Networks
Over 100 million households pay for the broadcast networks to be included in their cable or satellite package. Turns out, you can get those guys for FREE with this thing called an ANTENNA. It's true!
Start with this handy tool from TV Fool, which tells you what broadcast channels are in range of your home. Obviously, some of you in remote rural areas have less choice, but the bulk of us living in urbanized areas (or near them) have tons of options.
As to what antenna to use, note that I haven't got one yet, but the internet consensus is pretty unified around the Mohu Leaf. So that's the one I'm going to get.
This roundup has some good additional options.
For me live TV has three big problems: 1) you can get some sports over it, but I'm not local to my (Chicago) sports teams so I don't care if I can watch the 49ers or Raiders, 2) I don't watch live TV. I mean, an antenna will be fine for the Super Bowl or the Academy Awards, but generally, we time shift everything and watch it whenever we want, and 3) I need to pause TV when watching. A show I can't pause is a broken show. There are DVR services for live TV, but none appear to be worthy of consideration, at least considering my own personal use patterns.
There is the Tivo Roamio which generally gets high marks in online reviews. It's not even the $200 cost that bothers me, but the ongoing $15 monthly fee. Ostensibly, that fee gets you the program guide and makes it easy to select and record shows. But given streaming services, I'm not using live TV to watch shows, but to catch the odd major live event. I'd rather spend the money on Hulu+ than pay $15 for a glorified cable guide, except without all the cable channels.
Then there is Simple.tv which looks great in theory, but the reviews are not great. In short, it's adequate for watching on small devices like a tablet, not so great for streaming to the big TV. And I'm all about my big TV. The Nuvyyo Tablo looks promising, but again doesn't have an HDMI port, so it streams to your TV via a Roku box or Chromecast. Image quality is supposed to be pretty good regardless, but it's still an "early adopter" device not ready for primetime.
Finally, there's the Channel Master DVR+, which at $400 (with internal storage) is pricey, but at least doesn't require a monthly subscription. Also, it has a decent channel guide, so you can see what's playing and what's coming next. The reviews make it sound like a first-generation device, rough around the edges. This cord-cutting stuff is bleeding edge, and if you're too cheap to pay a monthly fee for channel guide info (like me), there are clear tradeoffs to be made.
Given that 95 percent of our TV consumption is via streaming service, I'm betting I can get away without a live TV program guide and recording. But if it becomes an issue with me or my family, the Channel Master or Tablo (whichever has improved the most) might be the way to go.
REGULAR PROGRAMMING
Remember how I started my energy conservation process by doing various audits? An audit of my light bulbs and and audit of my electrical devices? Well, I did an audit of our key shows to gauge whether cutting the cord was a viable option.
Sports is a big one for me, of course, and I'll address it further below. But beyond that, here's a sampling of what my family watches, and how we watch those shows:
Adventure Time
Kids
Adventure Time (DirecTV)
Regular Show (DirecTV)
Spongebob Squarepants (DirecTV)
Doctor Who (Amazon)
Flash (Hulu)
Sarah Jane Adventures (Amazon)
Wife
Amazing Race (DirecTV)
Biggest Loser (DirecTV)
Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
Me
Doctor Who (DirecTV)
Orphan Black (DirecTV)
Sherlock (purchased on iTunes)
Grimm (Hulu)
Arrow (Netflix and Hulu)
New Girl (Hulu)
All told, over half of our content was already being consumed on one of the three streaming services we use: Amazon Instant Video (via FireTV), iTunes and Netflix. More than half, actually, because I'm not including other shows we watch peripherally, like
Cheers, which I just started rewatching from the start on Netflix. We already have little trouble moving between the various services when looking for something. First we check to see if it's on Netflix, then Amazon Prime, then Hulu, and if we still haven't found and REALLY want to see it, we buy it on iTunes. So moving everything to streaming wouldn't be a stretch. (Though I'll be first in line when someone develops a unified directory of streaming programming. I'd even pay a few bucks a month for it, but just a few.)
Next, I checked to see if the stuff we were recording off DirecTV was available on our streaming services. Some, like Spongebob, are already on Netflix. Some, like Adventure Time and Regular Show, are on Netflix, but only the first couple of seasons. But Cartoon Network streams the latest episodes on their website, so we can pull up on a table and airplay it (via AppleTV) to the big TV. It's an extra step, kinda annoying, but not too onerous. For the kids it's already second nature anyway. So the kids are kosher.
For my wife and her small stable of shows, Biggest Loser is on Hulu, while Amazing Race ... yeah, that one was harder since Hulu only hosts older seasons. But CBS is about the debut their own streaming service for $6 per month. I can just subscribe during the months that Amazing Race is on. Or I can buy each season for $20 on iTunes. Probably that, the simplest option.
As for my shows, the difficult ones are the BBC shows—Doctor Who and Orphan Black, and I would have to buy those ($33 and $20, respectively). So let's keep a running tally: So far, it looks like $73 in purchases of shows I can't stream anywhere else.
SPORTS
Ahh, sports. The biggest reason not to cut the cord. In fact, sports is the reason I have DirecTV—it's the only provider that offers the full NFL package, a must for this Bears fan living in California. I also pay for the full NBA package, as well as a sports package upgrade that includes BeIn sports (which airs La Liga, Serie A, and Champion's League soccer) and NBC Sports, which gets me the Tour de France and other key cycling races.
In the past, it would be impossible for me to cut the cord because of sports. It's the reason why DirecTV pays billions for rights to the NFL, knowing suckers like me will be trapped into their service. It's why the likes of ESPN are bidding billions for NFL, NBA, and other sports rights, ensuring that fans will have few places to go. And no, I'm not the kind to go to a sports bar to watch my out-of-town teams. Ew.
But things are changing, and doing so rapidly.
Soccer
I can get BeIn with DishWorld, Dish TV's new streaming service. Their $10 DishWorld sports package gets me BeIn and their extensive soccer catalogue.
Cycling
DishWorld also gets me Universal sports, which airs the Vuelta a España as well as a few smaller but important races. The big one, the Tour de France, is on NBC Sports which offers the race as an expensive streaming upgrade (around $30 last year). However, this is an big European race. A bunch of European networks stream the race for free. And given that I can understand the commentary in either English, Spanish or German, I have a bunch of options to choose from.
NBA
The NBA has its own streaming service, NBA League Pass. If would be a great option if it wasn't saddled with myriad restrictions. It doesn't include the post-season. It doesn't include nationally televised games on TNT and ESPN, and since my Bulls are currently good, it seems like all their games are nationally televised. Also, as someone who adores HD-quality sports, the NBA's streaming quality is serviceable at best.
Currently, the go-to option for cordcutters is BallStreams.com, a quasi-legal-ish operation out of the Netherlands. It's operated for years, the NBA knows about it, and yet it continues to operate apparently unhindered. Why? Maybe the Dutch just don't give a damn what the NBA thinks. Or the NHL for that matter, since BallStreams got their start streaming NHL games.
I've been testing out a friend's account and it's quite fantastic. It costs $100 per year, so cheaper than the heavily restricted NBA League Pass, which costs $125. The big danger is that the NBA figures out how to shut it down mid-season. But really, all the NBA has to do is offer a legit streaming option without the billion blackout dates and then people wouldn't feel compelled to use higher-quality offshore services. I hope this is it, but the NBA's future streaming plans are still opaque at best.
MLB
MLB's streaming service is the gold standard by which all other sports streaming services are measured. The NBA could learn a thing or two. If you've ever used CBS' excellent March Madness college basketball streaming site, well, it's run by MLB's online operation. They also run ESPN's streaming service.
Seriously, everyone should just have these guys run their streaming and the world would be a much better place.
NFL
If you are local to your NFL team, you're in luck: You can get the games for free over the air. I'm not, so I've been stuck with DirecTV's NFL package. But there are now alternatives available for those like me.
If you live in certain areas, you can get the NFL package without DirecTV service:
The service is only available to those who: 1) live in apartment buildings where DirecTV service is unavailable; 2) live in metro New York, Philadelphia or San Francisco; or 3) attend college at Michigan (Ann Arbor), Alabama, Washington, Texas (Austin), USC, Florida, Colorado (Boulder), Syracuse, Ohio State or Harvard.
I actually tested
signing up, and as an address, I put in my home address plus "Apt 1" and it seemed to be happy to accept me, though I obviously didn't try and submit payment.
If that doesn't work (or you don't meet the requirements above), the other option is to buy NFL Game Pass, a service for football fans living outside of the United States. And yup, that means you have to trick the NFL into thinking you live outside this country. They don't care if you pay with a US credit card with a US billing address, just that your internet traffic comes from outside these borders. The whole process is a bit complicated, but there's good info on how to do it here. Essentially, you use a VPN to pretend to come in from the UK or whatever, and once you're in, you're in. You can turn off the VPN and watch normally. Seems like an easy lift.
As a bonus, NFL game pass subscribers can watch games otherwise blacked out by the NFL, such as nationally broadcast Sunday Night, Monday Night and Thursday Night Football. They additionally stream playoff games and the Super Bowl. (Some sample VPN services, Unblock.us, Datho VPN, and Hola.)
ESPN
ESPN won't allow you to stream content without having a cable subscription. (Even DirecTV isn't good enough for them.) But there is an easy solution: borrow a login and password from a friend who still uses cable. Maybe even chip in a few bucks to make it worth their while. And voila! You now can stream ESPN on your AppleTV or Roku or FireTV or whatever. I plan to use my office account since we have Comcast cable there.
COST SAVINGS
Current annual costs:
DirecTV: $900
NFL Sunday Ticket: $240
NBA League Pass: $120
Sports Pack: $168
Hulu+: $96
Netflix: $96
Electricity: $70
Total: $1,690
Ouch. Here's my projected costs after cutting the cord:
Hulu+: $96
Netflix: $96
NFL Game Pass: $120 ($70 for package + $50 for VPN service)
BallStreams: $100
DishWorld: $120
Shows on iTunes: $73
Total: $611
So cutting the cord will save me $1,079 per year. That's crazy! So even if we end up buying a few more shows on iTunes, out of convenience or because we can't find them streaming anywhere else, we still come out way, way ahead.
Given that we're already used to hunting for programming in our various devices and services, cutting the cord won't radically change our television viewing habits. The NFL stuff might be the biggest pain in the butt, but I can deal with that for the energy and cost savings of cutting the cord. We're only talking 16 games a year.
DEVICES
Roku 3: $78
Netflix
Hulu+
Amazon Instant Video
HBO GO
ESPN
Dishworld
Amazon FireTV: $79
Amazon Instant Video
Netflix
Hulu+
HBO GO
ESPN
Apple TV: $99
iTunes
Netflix
Hulu+
HBO GO
ESPN
Google Chromecast: $30
Netflix
Hulu+
HBO GO
ESPN
In short, all these devices carry the big 2: Netflix and Hulu. They all carry HBO, which is important to certain people, especially since they'll soon unbundle from cable and allow standalone subscriptions to cord cutters. (Game of Thrones is the most pirated show in the history of the world, after all.) They all carry ESPN, because all sports freaks need ESPN. They all carry a bunch of other stuff you will probably never watch.
I've got the FireTV and AppleTV. From a UI perspective, the FireTV's voice recognition is stellar. AppleTV is long on the tooth and desperately needs a refresh, but is still fine if you operate within the Apple ecosystem (like me). And you can use it to stream from your Mac or iOS device to your TV.
The Roku is the little engine that could—surviving in a market contested by the biggest giants in consumer tech (Apple, Amazon, Google). CNET just reviewed the batch and gave the thumbs up to the Roku. I'll be getting one for my DishWorld service and who knows what else, since it has the biggest app library of any of its competitors.
Note that gaming boxes like the Xbox and Playstation allow you to stream many of these services like Netflix. However, they are such huge power hogs that it makes far more sense to use one (or more) of the boxes above. They generally draw 1-3 watts each, quite impressively.
That about covers the cord cutting stuff. With about a grand in annual savings, I should have enough in the kitty to get one of those killer OLED TVs in a few years (as they drop in prices), yielding even bigger energy savings over my current plasma.
See? It's all related! Cut the cord, save on programming, save on energy, use those savings to buy more efficient TV, save more energy and money! It's like a virtual cycle of awesomeness.
Hope this helps. TV is awesome! You just shouldn't have to pay as much as you are for it. I'm certainly done doing so.