Brits Wasting Money On Sloppy Energy Habits

A surprising number of us are throwing away money by leaving TV and set top boxes on standby and adopting other bad energy habits.

Almost 60 per cent of us are needlessly wasting money by leaving electrical items such as TV’s and set top boxes on standby, according to new findings by uSwitch.

Leaving games consoles on standby rather than turning them off at the mains is also wasting energy, yet around half of us have this bad habit.

The problem appears to in part due to ignorance, as many people think that by switching their appliance off with the remote means that the device is no longer using energy, when in fact energy usage can still be around 25% when on standby.

Another area of energy wastage is leaving mobile phones to charge overnight. Once the mobile is charged, which may only take a few hours, electricity can still be consumed by the charger, wasting almost as much energy as used when watching TV for a week.

It is simple to make small energy savings which add up to significant savings, advises Kevin Sears, energy efficiency expert at uSwitch.com:

“Energy efficiency can start with simple steps such as turning things off when they are not in use or using a standby saver, while using an energy monitor will track your usage and help you understand where your energy goes.”

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If you look at the number of TV’s that now take pride of place in most homes – each likely to be attached to either a DVD player or set top box, you can see how energy wastage can add up over time.

Although it is a pain to keep plugging in and unplugging your TV between uses, you can make significant savings by adopting better energy habits, particularly with another round of energy price hikes on the way.