With energy prices soaring this winter and the focus on saving the planet, there’s never been a better time to reconsider how we waste unnecessary energy in our homes without even realising it!
In this article, we take a look at the biggest culprits in our homes that drain our pockets of cash and insult the planet by burning energy unnecessarily. Very often, we just get into the habit of living our daily lives without thinking of how a few small adjustments can make a big impact on our energy usage.
The biggest culprit of all are TV monitors! We leave them on ‘stand by’ overnight rather than turning them off at the socket.
What is ‘stand by’ mode anyway, you may be asking!
Well, basically, standby mode refers to any electronic device that isn’t switched on but is still receiving power from your electricity socket to allow it to continue running at a low level. So, whilst you’ve gone to bed and are sleeping like a baby, your TV is still sucking up energy!
Other offenders are desktop computers, games consoles laptops, mobile phones and ancillary devices like printers and scanners. Sometimes, it’s just habit that we get into, but if you’re regularly leaving all of these devices on standby when you’re not using them, you’ll be adding needless £’s to your energy bills.
In fact, the Energy Savings Trust states that up to £80 a year is wasted in the average home due to appliances being left on standby.
The general rule of thumb is this: if a gadget isn’t in use, it should be switched off at the socket. Even ‘sleep’ modes on devices use energy – OK, be it a much smaller amount, but it’s still unnecessary wasted energy.
Help is at hand though – if you can’t bear the thought of having to get on your hands and knees every night to switch your devices off at the wall, knocking beloved ornaments over, then you could invest in an energy saving remote control that you can use to turn off your chosen appliances with a few pushes of its button! Lights can be switched off, the TV can be put to rest and your desktop can be powered off.
Another big offender in the energy sapping stakes are lights! It’s so easy to walk from room to room without turning off the lights, but the reality is that they suck energy needlessly and are costly to leave on.
There have been huge developments in energy saving light bulbs in recent years. There were many complaints in the early development of such lightbulbs because they were dim and produced a very low level of lighting. But, over the years, they’ve developed to become much brighter and user friendly. In fact, in some areas, you can’t buy any other light bulbs but energy efficient ones.
So, just by a little rethinking of our routines and a little effort to be mindful of the lights we leave on and little reminder to the kids to turn their games consoles off, you’ll be reaping the benefits of seeing your energy bills reduce as well as your household carbon footprint!
We are Power Point, Gloucestershire’s Domestic Appliance Specialists for Domestic Appliance Repairs, Spares and Sales on all makes and models of Domestic Electrical Appliances. If you need any information on energy saving appliances for your home, please take a look at our website www.powerpointglos.co.uk or give us a call on 01452 730 874 – we’d be happy to help with any advice you need.