Friday, September 17, 2010

switching off, one plug at a time

Ok, I have a question. I'm sure I could google it and read lots of articles, but it's more fun to ask my readers...
I've got a bit obsessive about turning off switches in this house, especially in the kitchen (although obviously not the fridge or freezer). But I generally just switch them off, I don't remove plugs from the socket. Do I actually save energy/money by doing that? Or should I be unplugging things where I can as well?

2 comments:

Mary deB said...

If it's off, it's off. Unless you have a little LED on your appliance, which would use a teeeeeny amount of power.

Andrew Ford said...

Most items only use electricity if they are switched on - therefore things like toasters kettles etc can be left on at the wall and they will not be using any energy.

There are some pointless toasters that do use some energy but these tend to have intigrated radios or you can control them with your mobile so your toast can pop just as you walk through the door - assuming you don't have one of these you can leave it on at the socket in the safe knowledge that no energy is being used.

Other items have a standby function normally shown by displaying a light or LCD screen. These can be turned off at the wall to save energy use.

Microwaves are slightly different in that they only power they use when not microwaving is for the clock and you can decide yourself if the clock is worth energy it uses typically very little. Although I turn mine off at the wall.

If you really want to check these things out most local authorities are now lending electricity display meters from libraries which will show you the energy used but i am not sure if Enfield do this. Some Energy companies also help with this by sending you one but this depends on benefits normally.

Sometime between 2012 and 2016 you will be fitted a smart meter as the Government rolls out thisprogramme with the energy companies and this may also give you the information you want.

If your looking for some free energy saving products you could try here: www.freegreengadgets.co.uk

Hope this helps