Does Turning TV Off Shorten Its Life?

Do you often turn your TV off at night before sleeping?

If so, you might have a question, “Does turning the TV off shorten its life?”

There is no harm in turning the TV off at any time. It doesn’t affect your TV’s life, but once you are worried about your TV and turning it off, you need to know and understand many things.

We will discuss all of them in this article with a complete explanation so that you will end this article with no confusion.

So, get straight into the topic:

Table of Contents

Does Turning TV Off Shorten Its Life? — Explanation

Claiming anything to be this bad that it shortens the life of TV is quite a harsh and big claim. Because we see every day that the two TVs of the same brand and model don’t last for the same interval of time.

It obviously depends on the way it is used (to some extent), but it is never guaranteed. That’s why no one can claim that turning the TV off shorten its life (not even its manufacturers or any electrical engineer).

But before anything else, you need to know about turning the TV off directly by pulling the switch out of the electrical outlet.

Is it harmful?

Will it affect your TV’s life?

Turning the TV Off By Pulling the Power Cord:

Just like us, you might also have been scolded at least once while pulling the power cord out of the power outlet.

Elders always stop kids from doing it. Right? But you are not the kid.

When you have an option such as a shutdown button not just on the TV but also on your remote, why would you go for pulling the power cord out?

Is it laziness or carelessness?

Anyways, you might not like it, but elders were right because pulling the cord to turn off the TV instead of using a power button is quite harmful. It’s not a good practice at all.

But is it bad enough to shorten the life of your TV?

No, thankfully, it is not that bad, but we have got some drawbacks to doing this to your TV.

If you unplug the TV’s cord while holding it from the wire, the chances of damage increase by a mile. That’s what you are actually calling a short circuit, which will not just damage your TV but also can cause a fire hazard.

Actually, when you pull the power cord out forcefully, it causes slight havoc in the circuit because the current is still flowing through. Right?

Now, this slight havoc could lead to an electrical arc which will then produce some sparks. These sparks will create a problem for you on a bad day.

Secondly, if you unplug a Smart TV instead of shutting it down, it can harm some software of your TV. A smart TV always follows a certain method to shut down in a specific order.

But when you unplug it without shutting it down, it might cause serious damage. When talking about serious damage, another thing can happen that you will never want, and it is chaos in integrated circuits.

Just like every other electronic, TV is also made of thousands of small ICs (integrated circuits). And when they get damaged, your TV might need some serious technical solution which can be costly.

Effects of Turning TV Off:

Now, let’s get back to the previous topic, as now we’ll just talk about turning the TV off and not unplugging it abruptly. Okay?

Although, there are some effects of turning the TV off on your TV. But it’s just a single side of the paper because turning the TV off is somehow beneficial for your TV as well.

So, let’s discuss both aspects:

Note: All benefits and drawbacks of turning the TV off apply mostly when you repeat this practice quite often. Doing it rarely is not that big deal.

Benefits:

We all have been listening to our parents (or someone less) that we should turn the TV off before sleeping. Right?

So, let’s find out today why they used to say that:

Save Electricity:

We all know how much our parents (especially dads) are obsessed with saving electricity, and that is why they always want us to turn the TV off when not watching.

Well, yes, it can save electricity but not that much. If you are also obsessed with saving electricity or can’t afford to waste it, you should turn the TV off (but not daily) before sleeping.

A Bit Safer:

Turning the TV off before going to sleep is said to be a safe option. But it doesn’t mean that not turning it off is a bad or unsafe thing.

Actually, some new and expensive TVs have a system that prevents fire when having a short circuit. But most TVs don’t have this feature. That’s why it’s a bit safer to keep it off when sleeping.

Drawbacks:

Unfortunately for you, the drawbacks of turning the TV off are more serious than the benefits. So, let’s find them out:

Software Updates:

Most new and modern TVs upgrade their software at night. So, if you turn the TV off, the software will not get updated, and you might be surprised in future to see the damage in the software.

This is the reason why these new and modern TVs are called “Smart TVs” because they upgrade themselves on their own. Upgrade in software is as important for a TV as maintaining the immune system for us.

There are some other system updates as well that TV performs when you are not watching it (especially at night).

Scheduled Recording:

If you are the kind of person who schedules recording of channels on TV using Sky Box (or something like that) at night. You should never turn the TV off because it will ruin your plans.

Damaged TV:

This drawback is completely related to software updates. When your TV misses the upgradation process of software and, eventually, the whole system, it will start making things worse.

And you might end up with a completely damaged TV. If you are super unlucky, your TV might get this much damage which can’t be treated.

Now, in the end, the most important thing you know is that you should never turn the TV off by unplugging the power cord (forcefully).

But when talking about generally turning the TV off, it’s better to turn the TV off on some nights while keeping them on standby on most nights.

Conclusion:

Hence, you know whether turning on your TV shortens its life or not.

You also know many other important things related to the topic. But an extremely beneficial fact or tip you don’t know is that every TV reacts differently when turned off (often).

For example, old CRT TVs don’t have the software and apps like new smart TVs. That’s why there will be no issue related to software in them.

But unlike smart TVs, old TVs don’t use to include a system that saves TV from damage when turned off (especially when unplugged abruptly).

So, need to keep all that in mind!

Related Articles:-

Does Turning TV Off Shorten Its Life? – [Complete Details]

Does Turning TV Off Shorten Its Life? — Explanation

Turning the TV Off By Pulling the Power Cord: