Most people have no clue how modern devices and appliances work.
Get one (or several) of these (or similar)
and individually test each one of your modern devices and appliances that you think is 'off' and you will see that it isn't really.
Posted on 04/25/2023 4:20:56 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Four in ten Brits claim they have no idea that electrical appliances still cost money when simply left on standby, or switched on at the mains
Coffee machines, electric cookers, and washing machines are the top electrical appliances that cost Brits the most money – whilst not even in use, a study has found.
Two in five adults claim they have no idea that their home appliances continue to draw energy from the mains simply from being plugged in, with the plug switch left turned on.
This is costing the nation's homes an extra £513,766,000 a year in energy costs – an average of £21.23 per household – just from leaving items plugged in or on standby.
The study of 2,000 adults, commissioned by Smart PAYG energy experts, Utilita, found that 86% of households are guilty of leaving an average of eight items on standby at any one time.
Coffee machines will set Brits back £5.62 a year from being left plugged in, while washing machines rack up an extra £2.59 a year per household while not in use.
And other top culprits include leaving TVs or laptops on standby, and not unplugging toasters or microwaves after use.
Utilita revealed that one of the biggest energy drainers are games consoles, with 13% of households claiming to leave theirs on.
In fact, one of the latest games consoles costs around £38 a year if left in “sleep mode”, which enables the user to voice activate it.
The biggest barrier to switching appliances off at the mains is poor access to plugs, according to those polled via OnePoll – with 29% saying they would just leave them on, or in standby mode, if they are unable to reach the plug easily.
It also emerged almost a third (29%) of households admit to leaving items on standby without using them for longer than a year.
Archie Lasseter, head of sustainability at Utilita Energy, which commissioned the research, said: “Even if an item doesn’t appear to be on, if it is plugged in and the socket is switched on, it could still be using energy.
“We call this vampire energy – silently sucking out power without households noticing.
“In recent years, millions of households have switched their oven for an airfryer – but those who still have their oven switched on at the wall will spend £2.77 a year, to the detriment of their pocket and the planet.
“A simple flick of the switch immediately stops this from happening.”
Ovens and dishwashers complete the five most energy-hungry items households admit to leaving plugged in or on standby – and by turning these items off at the wall, savings of around £20 a year could be made.
Phone chargers, smart speakers, and baby monitors were also among the devices households admitted to leaving plugged in.
And half of mobile users say they would charge their mobile all night, despite it only taking a few hours to fully charge.
Commenting on where the charging costs apply, Utilita’s Archie Lasseter said: “Naturally, we charge our phones while we recharge our bodies during sleep, which is why most mobile phone manufacturers have introduced technology that stops the phone drawing any more energy once it is fully charged.
“However, phone chargers left switched on at the wall will still cost households £1.38 a year, per charger, in vampire energy.”
Exploring household behaviours, the study revealed 61% of people are fully aware of their electrical items using vampire energy – but a fifth say it doesn’t cost enough to warrant the effort of switching it off at the wall.
However, nearly eight in ten (79%) of those impacted by the financial downturn claim to have made a conscious effort to try and use less energy.
Of these, 71% claim to never leave a light on in an empty room – with 46% getting frustrated at other household members for not being as energy efficient as they are.
Encouragingly, 46% of those who are reducing their energy usage during peak times, via the National Grid’s Demand Flexibility Scheme, say they have become more aware of their home’s usage, and have learned how much these simple actions can save.
bm
Horse feathers. My coffee maker draws no power, it has not clock, it brews, then it is turned off. The washing machine using juice when in the off position? I can get the chargers, but this is just a way to get government able to control our power use. Everything will be smart, so government can control your entire life.
I have a large microwave that draws 6 watts when off so I added a switch to turn off the juice since I rarely use it and instead have a smaller, simpler one that I use and which draws some negligible amount of juice when off.
When I was growing up, we had to turn the tv on and let it “warm up” before there was a picture or sound. Solid state electronics greatly improved that, but the “instant on” feature was a great breakthrough. Now there is almost zero waiting.
I like the way the “researchers” say Brits could save 500 million pounds every year. What if the average Brit finds the instant-on convenience worth the extra few pounds a year it costs him or her?
Nothing prevents that person from unplugging appliances to save that bit of money.
It’s all about freedom and suppressing it.
Most people have no clue how modern devices and appliances work.
Get one (or several) of these (or similar)
and individually test each one of your modern devices and appliances that you think is 'off' and you will see that it isn't really.
Yeeeeeahhh…I think I'm going to go ahead and cough it up for the convenience.
Ive never kept mine on after use. Maybe if you drink it all day.
This is one big load of crap! We have modern appliances that have LED clocks. The amount of electricity used in all of them can be measured in milliwatts.
This is nothing but a ploy to get ignorant people to give up more of their freedom.
It is hard to convince folks that a TV or appliance is drawing electricity when it shows no image or no light is displayed. Or that a car is never turned off; even if you mention that the car response when use the remote when it is “turned”
I’m Reddy for it!
Since when do toasters have a standby mode?
I save ton of $ unplugging our tv cable box when not in usr
If my above analysis is wrong somehow, then I guess I'm just a (happily) wasteful American.
My Killawatt meter informed me that my little coffee pot pulls 600w an hour to keep coffee warm after it was brewed.
I used to leave the pot on to have hot coffee later. Just turning that off after brewing the coffee and then using the microwave to heat up the coffee later saves me about 1.2 to 1.8 KW a day (even more because sometimes I’d forget and leave it on all day). At 32 cents a kilowatt hour in NH, the savings from this simple change really adds up!
The Keurigs that keep hot water on standby draw power.
I’m not turning mine off, I like that instant hot coffee.
The article is from the UK, where every outlet has a switch on it. I guess these people are too stupid to just flip the switch
“Coffee machines and cookers cost the most money - while not even in use”
Still doesn’t explain why they’re paying something like 50 cents per kwh...but Ukraine does, along with Greta.
They weren’t raised in my house growing up. The heat was turned down to 55 even in the winter at night, and was kept at 65 during the day. At night we would turn it up or build a fire. We even learned how to keep the house cold in the summer. You keep blinds close, doors closed, and open it up after the direct sunlight was gone. EVERYTHING we did was with a mind to save money. The car was for Mom and Dad or vacations. Dad rode the bus to work, Mom never drove me or my siblings to school. Ride the bus, or it was “shanks mare”= leg it out.
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