Energy News

As energy price hikes bite, Brits’ gadgets waste tonnes of money

Wednesday 5 October, 2011

By Martin Fagan

Spiralling cost of energy fails to convince Brits to lose their love of “standby” and turn their gadgets off

As price hikes imposed by the “big six” energy companies come into force this week, households struggling to cope with the increases are failing to economise by turning off gadgets when they are not in use, says the Energy Saving Trust (EST).

A new report by the independent body set up to help householders reduce their energy bills and combat climate change showed that, in 2009, the average British household contained three and a half times as many gadgets and appliances as it did in 1990.

The report also found that, despite householders’ best efforts to switch to energy-efficient products, Brits are actually consuming more energy than five years ago.

In 1985, only 13% of the population owned a computer, but ownership levels had topped three-quarters by 2008, with many individuals owning several computing devices (desktop, laptop, tablet) which they either leave on 24/7 or else on perpetual charge.

Three of the worst offenders are large plasma TVs, large fridge freezers with ice makers and tumble dryers.

The report revealed that if every household in the UK replaced just their old fridge freezer, washing machine and dishwasher with the most efficient EST-recommended models, they could collectively save £585million on their fuel bills.

“Just because you’ve bought an efficient appliance doesn’t mean you can use it carelessly and never switch it off,” said the report’s author, Dr Paula Owen.

“We need to ask ourselves if that ice maker in the fridge a necessity? Do I need to leave those chargers on the whole time? Do I need a 50in-plus TV screen? There’s more to this issue than using energy efficient lightbulbs. Not only can people bring down their electricity bills considerably, but they can also cut their carbon footprint.”

The EST report has been published in the same week as all the price rises announced by the “big six” energy companies over the summer come into force.

Even Co-operative Energy, which lambasted the “big six” for increasing their gas and electricity prices, fell into line last week, announcing that from 3 November its gas prices would increase by 18% and electricity by 11%, compared with a “big six” average rise of 17.4% for gas and 10.8% for electricity.

Commenting on Co-operative Energy’s price rise, Audrey Gallacher, director of energy at watchdog Consumer Focus, said: “This is unwelcome news for Co-operative Energy’s customers, but not unexpected - after all, even smaller suppliers are not exempt from the pressures of rising costs and the failings of the wholesale market.”