Energy bills are set to rise by £149 for the average household from October after Ofgem announced it would be raising its energy price cap. The new price cap figure will be £1,717 from October 1, up from £1,568 previously. It’s no secret that electrical devices such as phone chargers, games consoles and even dishwashers can use some power while they’re on standby – but it’s not a lot, right? Well, while they may not use much electricity when they’re ‘resting’, they do use some, and across a year this can quickly add up.
Stephen Hankinson, energy efficiency expert at Electric Radiators Direct explains: “Putting something into standby mode is not the same as totally switching off a device or unplugging it. You’re only really putting the device to sleep. “This means that it will be drawing down some electricity in the background, which is where the phrase ‘vampire device’ comes from.
” So how much energy do these vampire devices use while on standby? And what could that be costing you per year? To help, the expert team at Electric Radiators Direct have done some calculations and estimated that by unplugging 20 common appliances when they aren’t in use, you could save yourself as much as £131 a year – based on the new price capped unit cost (from April 2024). That’s the equivalent of 14% off the average annual electricity bill. The biggest savings can be made from unplugging games consoles, as these can cost as much as £32 a year to keep on sta.
