' Vampire appliances ' that drain electricity even when you're not using them could be adding up to hundreds of pounds a year to your energy bill.
The soaring cost of energy means that many households are looking for thrifty ways to cut down on their energy consumption, but some of the biggest culprits in your home could be going unnoticed.
According to British Gas, up to 23% of British homes' energy use could come from vampire appliances.
Earlier this month, the government's Energy Price Guarantee came into effect, making the average household energy bill around £2,500 a year.
This means that up to £575 of the average £2,500 energy bill could be down to vampire appliances.
Here's what vampire appliances are, which ones could be costing you the most, and how to save money on your energy bill.
What are vampire appliances?
Vampire appliances are devices that are left on standby that continue to use energy even when they are not being used.
These types of appliances are also known as remote-ready appliances, which remain in a standby state ready to receive orders to switch on.
Vampire appliances often have a standby or sleep mode or simply require one button to wake them up.
Even though they may not be in use, devices in standby mode are still using an electric current when they are plugged in as they continue to perform updates, record data and connect to remote servers.
Common vampire appliances include microwaves, games consoles, TVs and satellite and cable boxes.
What are the worst vampire appliances and how much do they cost?
Most households have many devices that leak vampire energy. Some may not make much of a difference to your energy bill but there are a few culprits that could be costing you hundreds of pounds.
The five worst vampire appliances and their costs according to the average annual energy bill are as follows.
- Hi-Fi system on standby - costing £142.50 a year
- Sky box on standby - costing £142.50 a year
- Laptop charger not in use - costing £115 a year
- TV on standby - costing £19.50 a year
- Printer on standby - costing £19.50 a year
The easiest way to stop your vampire appliances from using energy is to avoid using standby mode where possible. Instead, you should remember to unplug your appliances or switch them off at the mains.
For laptop chargers and other chargers, you can save energy by making sure you don't leave them plugged into your device once it has finished charging.
It can be handy to use extension leads for your devices as this means you can switch off lots of vampire appliances at the mains at once, rather than having to turn them off individually.
READ NEXT:
