Certain "vampire appliances" could be driving up your energy bills and costing you an extra £147 every year.
A vampire device is an electronic device that uses electricity, even when the power switch is turned off and the device is in standby mode
According to research by Quotezone.co.uk, 23% of household electricity use is wasted on vampire appliances.
Even though the price of energy has been frozen at £2,500 until July, the price of energy is still much higher than what we were paying last year
Although it may be tedious to keep switching the appliances on and off every day, by simply keeping track of what appliances and devices are turned on, you could save up to £147 a year.
Quotezone.co.uk founder Greg Wilson explained how this was one of the "easiest" things households could do to help them save on energy costs.
He said: “It’s an easy win because you don’t even have to make any major changes to your everyday habits to reduce these energy bills – it’s just tricky to work out who the culprits are."
The experts at Quotezone.co.uk have highlighted the 10 worst offenders in the typical UK home - and shared how much these appliances and devices cost you each every year.
Games console - £27.52
Coming at the top of the list is the games console - besides the running costs, leaving your gaming console on standby for a whole year could cost you around £27.52 extra.
Modern gaming consoles are much more powerful than they used to be and consume a lot of energy because they are connected to the internet even when they’re in standby mode.
So switching them off whilst you are not playing will help give you an extra £30 in your pocket.
Desktop computer - £13.39
A lot of people are working from home nowadays and are using their computers for most of the day which already adds a considerable sum of money to their electricity bills.
Leaving the computer on standby will add another £13.39 to their annual bills.
If your job does not require a desktop computer you might want to consider using only a laptop when you're working as this is cheaper to run.
Laptop - £10.41
The annual standby cost of laptops is £10.41, but the good thing with laptops is that you can unplug them as soon as they’ve got enough charge instead of letting them eat up power all day.
Smart speakers - £7.44
Smart speakers consume 3W per hour on standby and people usually only use smart speakers for a few hours per day.
However, if they’re left plugged in and on standby all year round then it’ll add £7.44 to annual electricity bills.
Dishwasher - £7.44
Dishwashers use the same amount of standby energy per hour as smart speakers, with an annual cost of £7.44.
Quotezone says that it is understandable to leave the appliance on if you’re doing multiple loads a day, although you would save more money by cutting down the number of loads you do each week.
However, it will still be worth switching it off overnight.
According to Which? research, dishwashers use less water than hand washing, but it's still up for debate whether it's more energy efficient
Washing machine - £6.45
Washing machines are essential appliances and you pay less than 1p for an hour of standby use for this appliance.
However, this can rack up and cost around £6.45 for an entire year.
Quotezone says that with the same amount of money, you are able to run two 3W LED bulbs for eight hours a day - for an entire year.
Tumble dryer - £6.45
You can’t beat that feeling of a freshly tumble dried blanket or jumper - but tumble dryers are a Dracula level energy vampire.
Tumble dryers are one of the highest energy-consuming appliances, costing you £1.20 per cycle according to Quotezone.
Just like washing machines, leaving tumble dryers on standby will add another unnecessary £6.45 to your annual bills.
Microwave - £5.95
A lot of households leave their microwaves on all the time even when they only use them for less than an hour per day.
Microwaves already have a high daily active cost but if they’re also never switched off, then it’ll cost families an extra £5.95 per year.
TV - £5.70
TVs are already one of the energy-hungriest devices so making sure you switch them off when they’re not in use is a great wat to cut back on energy costs.
According to Quotezone's study, the annual standby cost for a TV is £5.70.
However, this figure would be even higher if you have a set-top box.
Printer - £1.24
As everything’s online now and printers don’t usually find a lot of everyday use for average households.
However, they’re often left to sit in standby mode all year round costing £1.24 per year.
It’s not a big sum of money at all but you may as well save that money instead of letting it go to waste.
