4 home appliances engineer warns you to never leave on standby to reduce your energy bill

Leaving devices on standby mode might seem like a convenient way to save time, but it can quietly drain energy and increase your energy bills. While standby mode reduces energy consumption compared to when a device is fully powered on, many gadgets continue to draw electricity even when they appear inactive. Over time, this adds up, contributing to energy bills that have already risen at the start of October.

Engineer at Boiler Central, James Elston, has shared a few of the "worst appliances to leave on standby", and some are more common than you think. James has calculated how much the following appliances set you back on standby from prices in 2023.

Laptop

Running a 50W laptop for eight hours a day costs about £5.60 a week, that's £291 per year. On standby, your laptop only uses 3W, so if left running all day for a year will cost around £8.70.

Leaving your laptop plugged in all day can also affect the battery. So, if not in use, it's best to unplug it.

TVs

TV today isn't what it used to be. Many remember the days of walking to the big box and switching it off with a physical button. Then you knew that the TV was off and you could go about your day.

Today, switching a modern TV off with a remote doesn't fully turn off the TV but leaves it in standby mode. To switch it off completely, you may have to unplug it from the wall.

A 55-inch LCD TV uses about 80W; actively watching a TV like this will set you back about £0.65 for a 24-hour period. Luckily, on standby, the TV only uses about 2W, so £5.96 per year.

Games consoles

Gaming consoles are fun, but be warned, when on standby, you might be adding around £3 a year to your energy bill.

That's just on standby, one hour of active gaming uses about 120kw. Based on UK electricity prices as of 2023, one hour of gaming costs £0.04. So, if you play games for an average of one hour a day every day of the year, you're looking at about £14.60 per year.

Smart speakers

A smart speaker is a great way to bring music and good times into your home.

Luckily, these devices only use about 3W of power. Surprisingly, though, when left plugged in on standby still uses as much as 2W of power.

Leaving your smart speaker plugged in could cost you an additional £5.96 per year.