As families across Scotland continue to struggle with rising energy costs, many of us have started looking at what appliances and gadgets can be unplugged to save money. Mobile phones are often the first to be switched off at the wall, with users choosing to stop charging them overnight and only when the battery is actually running low.
Whilst this technically does reduce energy use, the savings are so tiny that its not worth stressing over, Chronicle Live reports. Consumer group Which? looked at alternatives to charging when you are sleeping to see if there is a cheaper way to keep your phone battery full - and found that the most you will save is 40p - per year.
The company carried out three tests on four different brands of smartphones and measured the kilowatt hours of energy used for three popular charging scenarios. These included:
Charging overnight Each phone was put on to charge when it got down to 20% battery remaining and left it on charge for seven hours every night
Charging when you need it (20 to 100%) Each phone was put on to charge when it got down to 20% battery remaining. It was left on charge and then unplugged when the phone reached 100%, charging once a day
Charging when you need it (30 to 80%) Each phone was put on to charge when it got down to 30% battery remaining. It was left it on charge and then unplugged it when the phone reached 80%. Doing this means the phone needs to be charged more frequently, so the figures assumed an average of 1.5 charges per day.
Which? found that charging overnight cost around 0.5p per night or a total of £1.74 per year, charging at 20% but unplugging as soon as your phone was fully charged cost around 0.4p or £1.37 a year and charging your phone at 30% until it reached 80p cost around 0.2p or £1.34 a year.
In other words, changing your charging habits would save you 37p a year to charge and unplug when needed or 40p a year to part charge when needed.
"Charging a mobile phone costs less than a penny per charge. Leaving it plugged in overnight uses a little more energy but the most our quick investigation showed you could save was an average of 40p a year if you charge your phone when you need it," said Which?.
"If you have multiple phones in your home, or feel charging your phone using the least energy possible is something you want to do, then it will keep a few more pennies in the bank, but it's not going to make a big difference to your energy bills."
Emily Seymour, Which? sustainability editor, reckons that householders should concentrate on bigger hits if they need to make a dint in their energy bills. "For most households the biggest energy guzzlers through the winter are central heating and appliances such as tumble dryers," she said.
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