OK, so stories of this kind are hardly new, but it turns out that some people are still oblivious to how much juice electrical appliances such as TV sets eat up when in stand-by mode, and by the same coin, how much money can saved by switching them off at the mains. The average piece of black goods equipment can use anything up to 85% of their full power when dormant, and why not? Your car still eats up petrol and battery power even when it’s in neutral – you wouldn’t leave the engine running on the driveway overnight, so why should you leave your TV on standby?

It is estimated that UK homes indirectly kick out roughly one million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as a result of leaving appliances unnecessarily switched on – not only does this have an adverse effect on global temperatures, but it also has an adverse effect on wallets.

Leaving lights and heaters on in empty rooms all adds to the overall costs, as does running dishwashers and washing machines that are half-full. “We waste more than £6bn of fuel every year in the UK,” says Keith Marsh, head of energy efficiency at the Energy Saving Trust, the non-profit body co-funded by the Government.

Making a habit of switching everything off at the wall before you go to sleep can have a dramatic effect on your quarterly bills, as can switching from traditional pearl lightbulbs to the newer triple-tube energy savers, which, according to Marsh, “last 12 times longer than standard ones and can save £7 a year.”

Whilst £7 a year does not sound like much on its own, remember, that’s just from switching bulbs. Turning off unnecessary lights, heaters TVs, mobile phone and iPod chargers and the like is one of the most immediate ways you can start making a difference.

Of course, fitting draught excluders and loft insulation allows for much bigger savings over time, and some appliances such as wireless routers for broadband services and digital TV equipment such as Sky+ boxes set to timers need to be on standby practically all the time for them to work, and switching off your fridge freezer overnight is also a no-brainer.

Having said that, simply turning things off at the wall which can requires no investment and minimal effort; incorporate it into your daily routine and see how much you end up saving.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 2:17 pm and is filed under Housing Market, Savings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.