Think about your gadgets

An even more pertinent question maybe, how much do you waste by leaving household gadgets on standby?  Many households may find themselves arguing over these issues when the electricity bills arrive.  

Research shows that, on average, households are wasting between £50 - £86 a year, out of a £530 annual electricity bill, by not switching off household appliances. This equates to up to 16% of an average electricity bill being wasted.

The figure is higher than previous estimates and is the result of research by the Energy Saving Trust (EST) and two government departments, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). 

Researchers for the EST closely monitored the electricity use in 250 homes to work out how many kilowatts per hour (kWh) it takes to run household appliances on average. They then multiplied this by an average electricity cost of 15.5 pence per kWh. For example, the average cost of running a combined washing machine and tumble dryer could be over £100 per year.

The analysis even stretched to very small appliances and found that a door bell costs £6.00 a year in energy use. 

Families are spending an average of £35 annually on powering up laptops and computers.  £68 is spent on electricity for consumer electronics such as TVs, DVD players, HiFis and radios. 

Householders can work out how much appliances cost to run by finding out the average consumption and then multiplying it by the rate the electricity is charged at per kWh.