You won't believe how much money you could be SAVING... simply by switching off your TV or boiling less water for your tea!
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As the cost of living crisis continues to bite and households all over the country look for any opportunity to cut the bills, consumers have been attracted to headlines suggesting they can save hundreds of dollars just by turning off unused electrical appliances at home.
In a report released in April, British Gas claimed that households could reduce their energy costs by an average of £147 (or approximately $223 AUD) annually by turning off appliances that use energy when left on standby.
The discovery sparked a recent discussion about "vampire electronics" or gadgets that use electricity even when they are in standby mode or at other times when you may not think they are. An example of a gadget like this is a phone charger that is plugged into the wall but isn't connected to a phone, which could add more than a few dollars to your bill over a long enough time period.
Which begs the question: how much power are these devices sucking up, and is there anything we can do to reduce their impact on our bills?
Toby Walne, a freelance journalist and writer for The Mail on Sunday, is here to personally test the validity of these claims and share his findings with us.
Even when off or on standby, devices still use energy, earning them the nickname "vampire appliances". Credit: Brightly.
Walne used a cutting-edge $182 power meter to measure how much electricity is being used by his devices at home. The power metre plugs into a regular electrical socket along with the electrical device being tested.
The first device he tested was his phone charger, which is plugged into a socket in the kitchen of his house in Hertfordshire. The power meter showed that his phone charger is drawing 6.3 watts of electricity without charging any device.
"If I were to leave this charger doing nothing for a year, it would cost me $24 for electricity. Being a family of four and with chargers coming out of our ears, I estimate we are spending at least $91 on chargers that most of the time are doing nothing but consuming electricity," he explained.
After his phone charger, the next devices on the list are his TV, which spends most of its days and nights on standby, and his "pride and joy" sitting in the corner of his lounge – his well-beloved stereo.
For his television, the power meter gives off a reading of 27 watts, meaning it is costing him around $106 a year for being on standby. As for the stereo, Walne found that it is costing him $121 a year in energy.
"It appears British Gas has underestimated the savings I can make ($319). Maybe my family is more addicted to new tech than most – but the findings are a surprise," he said.
You can save about $12 a year by only filling the kettle with the necessary amount of water to brew a cup of tea or coffee. Credit: Shutterstock/New Africa.
Toby Walne also said that aside from avoiding leaving all those appliances on standby, one way you can save on electricity is to efficiently use your kettle. How, you ask? By boiling "just enough water" for a cuppa!
"I am tired of being told by my wife to fill the kettle with just enough water to brew a cuppa. She tells me the Energy Saving Trust believes using less water in the kettle will save us $12 a year," he said.
This is based on the fact that the average home boils its kettle 24 times a week with only half of the water in it, which is three times more than is needed for a cup of tea or coffee.
When he used the power meter with the kettle, the reading showed 2.226 watts on the meter. "At this rate, three minutes of boiling works out at about 3p. Perhaps my family is more thirsty than most as we boil the kettle half a dozen times a day," he said.
After doing the math, he determined that it costs them about $100 per year in electricity to boil a kettle of water when it's not needed.
Walne also said that he's going to make some changes in the laundry room as well. Instead of tumble drying, he's going to take advantage of the sunny weather (whenever available) and dry their clothes outside. After all, a washing line is free and doesn't cost any electricity!
"I whip out my energy meter and do a rough calculation. The drier uses 4.5kWh of power to dry all my daughter's clothes in an hour – at a cost of $1.99. Our family uses the drier four times a week – using $417 of electricity a year," he said.
"A washing line outside would dry our clothes for free. Sorry, but no tumble drier at all is a far better value," he added.
You read it here first, folks! As it turns out, watching out for 'vampire' appliances and boiling a little less water than usual can make a huge difference in your annual electricity bill.
Do you have more energy-saving tips to share with the rest of us? Let us know in the comments below!
Check out the video below for more ideas on how to make your home more energy-efficient and save thousands of dollars a year on energy costs.
Credit: Sustainability Victoria.
In a report released in April, British Gas claimed that households could reduce their energy costs by an average of £147 (or approximately $223 AUD) annually by turning off appliances that use energy when left on standby.
The discovery sparked a recent discussion about "vampire electronics" or gadgets that use electricity even when they are in standby mode or at other times when you may not think they are. An example of a gadget like this is a phone charger that is plugged into the wall but isn't connected to a phone, which could add more than a few dollars to your bill over a long enough time period.
Which begs the question: how much power are these devices sucking up, and is there anything we can do to reduce their impact on our bills?
Toby Walne, a freelance journalist and writer for The Mail on Sunday, is here to personally test the validity of these claims and share his findings with us.
Even when off or on standby, devices still use energy, earning them the nickname "vampire appliances". Credit: Brightly.
Walne used a cutting-edge $182 power meter to measure how much electricity is being used by his devices at home. The power metre plugs into a regular electrical socket along with the electrical device being tested.
The first device he tested was his phone charger, which is plugged into a socket in the kitchen of his house in Hertfordshire. The power meter showed that his phone charger is drawing 6.3 watts of electricity without charging any device.
"If I were to leave this charger doing nothing for a year, it would cost me $24 for electricity. Being a family of four and with chargers coming out of our ears, I estimate we are spending at least $91 on chargers that most of the time are doing nothing but consuming electricity," he explained.
After his phone charger, the next devices on the list are his TV, which spends most of its days and nights on standby, and his "pride and joy" sitting in the corner of his lounge – his well-beloved stereo.
For his television, the power meter gives off a reading of 27 watts, meaning it is costing him around $106 a year for being on standby. As for the stereo, Walne found that it is costing him $121 a year in energy.
"It appears British Gas has underestimated the savings I can make ($319). Maybe my family is more addicted to new tech than most – but the findings are a surprise," he said.
You can save about $12 a year by only filling the kettle with the necessary amount of water to brew a cup of tea or coffee. Credit: Shutterstock/New Africa.
Toby Walne also said that aside from avoiding leaving all those appliances on standby, one way you can save on electricity is to efficiently use your kettle. How, you ask? By boiling "just enough water" for a cuppa!
"I am tired of being told by my wife to fill the kettle with just enough water to brew a cuppa. She tells me the Energy Saving Trust believes using less water in the kettle will save us $12 a year," he said.
This is based on the fact that the average home boils its kettle 24 times a week with only half of the water in it, which is three times more than is needed for a cup of tea or coffee.
When he used the power meter with the kettle, the reading showed 2.226 watts on the meter. "At this rate, three minutes of boiling works out at about 3p. Perhaps my family is more thirsty than most as we boil the kettle half a dozen times a day," he said.
After doing the math, he determined that it costs them about $100 per year in electricity to boil a kettle of water when it's not needed.
Walne also said that he's going to make some changes in the laundry room as well. Instead of tumble drying, he's going to take advantage of the sunny weather (whenever available) and dry their clothes outside. After all, a washing line is free and doesn't cost any electricity!
"I whip out my energy meter and do a rough calculation. The drier uses 4.5kWh of power to dry all my daughter's clothes in an hour – at a cost of $1.99. Our family uses the drier four times a week – using $417 of electricity a year," he said.
"A washing line outside would dry our clothes for free. Sorry, but no tumble drier at all is a far better value," he added.
You read it here first, folks! As it turns out, watching out for 'vampire' appliances and boiling a little less water than usual can make a huge difference in your annual electricity bill.
Do you have more energy-saving tips to share with the rest of us? Let us know in the comments below!
Check out the video below for more ideas on how to make your home more energy-efficient and save thousands of dollars a year on energy costs.
Credit: Sustainability Victoria.
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