Is there any point?

Danish electricity companies tell us that by turning off everything that is on standby, the average family (by which I presume they mean two adults and two children) can save 400 KwH annually, which gives a saving of 800 D.kr. anually.
Approximately £93 at today's rate if exchange.

As your utility prices are considerably higher than ours are, knowing our prices doesn't help you at all, and it is only a very modest saving.

Admittedly, I can buy a month's food for DH, myself and two cats for the amount I "save" by not having anything on standby.

Try googling - that is what I did, I imagine you can see what British electricity companies suggest.

There is absolutely no point in having things on standby - it only takes a couple of seconds to start a computor or television. And you may actually be wearing the batteries on your computer out quicker by having it on standby. It depends , I believe on the model you have. For all I know other appliances wear out faster too if on standby.

Go round your house and count all those little red lamps - why pay for something you don't need?

Nannashirlz

I’m saving 32p a night now according to my smart meter. That’s 2.32 a week lol

That would be a quarter of my consumption.

I find that difficult to believe. I went round my house yesterday and the only things I leave plugged in are two lamps, kettle, fridge/freezer and phone/router. I've always turned off kitchen appliances at the wall and pulled out chargers when not in use.

We have always switched out tv's off, even during the day, as my husband was a firefighter and he went to too many electrical fires caused by the tv to leave ours switched on to standby.
We are looking at smart plugs to automatically switch off our chargers/computers for the hours of say 3am to 9am. We currently leave our computer on because they update over night, similarly our phones, xboxes, etc.
We haven't had a washing line for some years since we took it down when we built the extension. We are thinking of getting one again although I struggle to remember to put the washing out. Quite frankly, I struggle to transfer the washing from machine to tumble dryer when I walk past it several times a day as I am so scatterbrained so you can imagine how difficult a washing line would be when it wasn't in sight.
Before my husband retired, I never had the tv on during the day or the heating. We thought we'd try to go back to that to see how it works. We've changed a lot of our bulbs to smart lights so they are energy efficient and can be turned off from our chairs if we forget...another area where I am hopeless.
We have an Instant Pot so I will start using the Pressure Cooker function...slow cookers need planning. I think you can guess how that would go!

I heard that leaving everything on all the time is damaging to the planet so maybe it would be a win win if we started turning everything off.

A relative of mine told me kids having a TV on all day costs £300 a year! They know this as they work in electricity supply. I was shocked as I thought only things that use heat - eg kettle dryer washing machine- were that expensive.

There are so many sites giving totally different estimates on how much it costs to keep appliances on standby, do a wash, use tumble dryer, oven etc that I have pretty much given up looking! It depends so much on the make of appliance, temperature set at etc as well as usage that unless done individually it’s near impossible! I have a smart meter and use that as a guide- a certain baseline for how much it costs daily for things on standby like Wi-Fi, Alexa and microwave plus lighting, kettle etc and note the extra for oven, immersion which are by far the highest cost. I can only do my best, as we all can, and as I live alone it is probably easier for me than others.

It’s dangerous to switch fridges off at night and then back on during the day. Temperature fluctuations allow poisonous bacteria to thrive on the food. A fridge must be kept on all the time in order to maintain a constant safe temperature. Please don’t switch fridges on and off.

Our smart meter was installed, worked for a week then gave up.

Did you measure the cost of the mortgage microwave? What was it?

Thanks

Aveline

I read that it costs £67 a year to keep your microwave on standby just to see the clock. I know lots of people who do this. I stopped!

Where did you read this?

Our house looks like fairyland at night with standby lights of all colours glowing in each room. I really couldn't be bothered turning off every appliance and charger at night and have to reset them again each morning, it would take us all morning to do it! And what about mains wired smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, surely they should be left on.

We still shower and use the dishwasher and a full size oven each day, the washing machine and tumble dryer at least twice a week. I have just bought an air fryer out of sheer curiosity as everyone is raving about them but chances are DH will continue to use our big ovens. We'll get by somehow - I hope!

I can't remember! I just read it and panicked. I suppose it would be a newspaper trying to whip up negativity as ever.

This is a very interesting thread. Like everyone I’m always trying to save money on energy so I’ve always switched off as many plugs at the wall as possible. Now that I’ve bought an air fryer which will replace my electric oven I’ve turned off the control switch for that too. As I will rarely use it I won’t have to reset the clock all the time.
My niggle us this. Since having a smart meter fitted in July I’m monitoring the ysage if different appliances and what surprises me is this, overnight the only things on are the fridge freezer, chest freezer in garage and bedside clock/radio and yet when I come down in the morning I’ve already used £1.32 of electricity. One night I came downstairs just before midnight when the meter resets to zero. I watched it click over and immediately it registered 28p!
By the way, an article in DM yesterday did a comparison on different appliances and alternatives. The one that I shall try is using a hairdryer instead if an iron, I hardly iron anything except light cotton stuff anyway. The article measured 30 minutes ironing with a 1100 watt iron cost 12p. The hairdryer cost 5p per use of 8 mins ( why a lesser time. More efficient?) saving £13.80 a year on twice weekly use.

I hope it's not true because it could negate any savings in using the microwave!

I can't stand seeing the time clock flashing so I shall leave the microwave plugged in.

fridge freezer, chest freezer in garage
The second highest for electricity consumption after laundry appliances, apparently.

I suppose if you use an oven and grill every day that could become top of the list.

energysavingtrust.org.uk/top-five-energy-consuming-home-appliances/

When my new kitchen was rewired the appliance plugs were put above the counter so I can switch things off easily
Most of my appliances seen to actually turn off rather than go on standby, washer and dishwasher both need to be switched in at a button before I can set them, so thought there wouldn't be any energy used. But as I generally didn't use either more than twice a week anway, in summer anyway it wouldn't be a pain to switch them off just in case
I have an old microwave whose timer uses clockwise not leds, but winder if a newer microwave would use less energy
My oven has a clock and actually that is the only reliable.clock in the house, buying a standalone clock would cost in being bought and having batteries, the clocks I do have don't seem to keep good time and I can see it if I'm in the hall. Think I'll keep it on
But it might be worth getting a remotr socket for the tv, will need to investigate thst
All my lights are led, under the stairs not only led but notion sensitive.
Need fridge freezer on obviously

This thread just shows how much we rely on electricity, not only in our homes but in the wider world. We have countless appliances, devices and lights of one kind and another.

I think the only way to know how much power you're consuming is to use a smart meter, or one of those plug in devices, and work it out according to your rate per kWh. Everyone is on a different energy rate and has different appliances, so there won't be a set rate which applies to everyone.

I leave nothing on standby. everything off at the plug. if it's on standby then it's ready to use so you are paying a charge.

well who would turn a fridge or freezer off f g s!

Saggi

My Brotger-in-law is an electrician and very tight! He doesn’t turn anything off.
I go with him!

being tight doesn't make you sensible!

lemsip

well who would turn a fridge or freezer off f g s!

Having lost nearly two freezer loads of food through a faulty (nearly new) freezer which kept warming I would think it's not the best thing to economise on! Dangerous.

I have a desperate shortage of sockets, which means most appliances in my living room are plugged into extension cords. Short of crawling on the floor to unplug individual ones, and risking breaking something - like myself! - I'm a bit stuck! Or could be literally stuck ?

"OldRose* The remote control gadgets mentioned above would be good for you. They plug in under the appliance plug of each thing. Five for about £32, and you get two remote controllers (each controller works all five plugs)

Chestnut

This thread just shows how much we rely on electricity, not only in our homes but in the wider world. We have countless appliances, devices and lights of one kind and another.

I think the only way to know how much power you're consuming is to use a smart meter, or one of those plug in devices, and work it out according to your rate per kWh. Everyone is on a different energy rate and has different appliances, so there won't be a set rate which applies to everyone.

It depends how many rooms you have and how accessible your meter is. I experimented by switching off each room in turn for twelve hours and taking exact readings, but I only have four rooms with any appliances and I don't have many anyway. I use just over a pound a day for electricity.