Wondering why your energy costs keep rising and your bills are mounting, well a new report shows that households in the UK waste £227m a year on leaving appliances, like TVs on Standby.
Households across the UK are literally burning money as their energy bills soar. The latest research from Uswitch.com reveals that leaving equipment, like computers, TVs and HiFis on standby when they’re not being used, costs UK residents a whopping £227m a year.
Other findings show that One in six Brits (14%) don’t turn off all the lights when they go out, while seven in ten (76%) households leave electrical items on standby, with over a third (38%) admitting they do all the time.
The average household leaves equipment on Standby for a combined total of 51 hours a day. Televisions, phone chargers and set top boxes are the devices most commonly left on standby.
Jules Greenidge, energy expert at uSwitch.com, says,
‘Although the average cost of leaving appliances on standby might not seem like a lot, these costs can quickly add up to a more substantial sum.
‘With families struggling with the rising cost of living, simply remembering to turn off appliances at the mains when you’ve finished using them will avoid unnecessary standby expenses.’
Incredibly, over 3 million of us leave our lights on when we go out and 64% of us leave our appliances on Standby even when we’ve left the country on our holidays.
Rather stunningly the biggest cultprit of stealing juice whilst on Standby is your set-top box, which costs over £4 per year in Standby mood alone, followed by, your DVD player, which costs £3.15.
Greenidge continues,
‘Consumers can also reduce spending by switching to the cheapest tariff for their needs. So, by switching off and switching tariff, consumers will see instant savings.’
