Standby...

Research by the Energy Saving Trust estimates that an average home spends £35 year powering appliances that are left on standby.  This is energy being used by certain appliances when they are not actually in use but have not been switched off at the plug.  In Britain alone this could result in over £900 million worth of energy wasted every year. 

Recent regulations specify that all electronic products sold in the EU after 2010 cannot have a standby wattage of greater than 1watt.  Whilst this is undeniably a step forward our love of gadgets has increased the number we have in our home, exponentially.

• Chargers still consume some power even if they are not actually charging a device such as a mobile telephone. So switch them of at the wall if they are not being used or unplug them.
• Switch your TV off at the mains when you are not watching it. It is only a few steps from the sofa!
• When you switch of your PC make sure you switch off all the peripherals connected to it such as the printer.  Printers in particular have very high standby wattages.  A broadband modem router can consume as much as £7 electricity a year if left on 24 hours a day.
• Make sure that the children are switching off their game consoles at the mains when they are not playing with them.

Activity

Walk around your home and make a note of how many appliances you actually have that are left on standby mode and decide how necessary they are.  If possible borrow a plug in energy monitor to show you in watts how much energy your various appliances are using in standby and convert this to £ and pence.  You can work this out using the calculation method provided on the 'how much does it cost to run...?' page.

Alternatively look at the website www.sustit.net which has calculated the usage and standby consumption of many household appliances - you will never look at games consoles the same way again!

Did you know?

Mobile phone chargers that are left on and plugged in but not in use are one of the biggest causes of domestic fires not to mention the wasted energy! 

Here is a comparison of a 10 year old cathode ray tube TV and a 5 year old non-CRT technology TV.  It clearly shows that the newer television uses lower wattage in use and on standby, nevertheless, if left on standby it and used for 4 hours a day 18% of its overall energy consumption is used on standby alone.

Want to do more?

Consider buying a PC or TV powerdown. These devices will ensure that the peripherals to these will be switched of  when not required.