The average British household is spending an extra £20 a year in energy costs on appliances when they are not even in use – by leaving them plugged in or on standby, research has found.
Coffee machines and electric cookers are setting Brits back the most, costing an annual £5.62 and £2.77, respectively, just while sitting dormant but switched on at the plug.
Other pricey culprits include the washing machine (£2.59 a year), and televisions and phone chargers, each costing £2.40 a year while not in use.
This adds up to households across the UK paying an extra £513,766,000 million a year on their energy bills for “vampire energy” – appliances that are sucking up power without Brits even realising.
And alarmingly, this wasted energy generates the same carbon emissions as flying from London to Spain and back, two million times.
A poll of 2,000 adults found that the majority of households (86%) are guilty of leaving an average of eight items on standby at any one time.
And four in ten have no idea that an electrical item continues to draw energy from the mains if it’s not turned off at the socket.
According to Smart PAYG energy experts Utilita, games consoles are one of the biggest energy drainers, 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.
Advising households on ways to save energy around the home, Archie Lasseter added: “Devices such as a remote-controlled smart plug costs less than a tenner, and will give households with poor access to their plugs an immediate saving.
“It’s this type of low-cost technology that can pay for itself ten times over during its lifetime.”
THE AVERAGE BRIT’S ANNUAL ENERGY USE FROM VAMPIRE ENERGY/LEAVING APPLIANCES ON STANDBY:
- Coffee machine (x1) – £5.62 / 4.54 kgCO₂e / 17.5 kWh
- Electric cooker (x1) – £2.77 / 2.24 kgCO₂e / 8.63 kWh
- Laptop (x1) – £2.69 / 2.17 kgCO₂e / 8.38 kWh
- Washing machine (x1) – 2.59 / 2.09 kgCO₂e / 8.06 kWh
- TV (x2) – £2.40 / 1.94 kgCO₂e / 7.47 kWh
- Phone charger (x2) – £2.40 / 1.11 kgCO₂e / 4.3 kWh
- Toaster (x1) – £1.39 / 1.12 kgCO₂e / 4.32 kWh
- Dishwasher (x1) – £1.28 / 1.03 kgCO₂e / 3.97 kWh
- Microwave (x1) – £1.12 / 0.9 kgCO₂e / 3.48 kWh
- TOTAL – £21.23 / 17.15 kgCO₂e / 66.1 kWh
