Arrow left dark
Newsletter icon SUBSCRIBE

And finally…left-on gadgets add £52m to Scottish energy bill

Clock icon Reading time: 3 minutes

Stand-byHouseholders in Scotland are blaming their partners and children for wasteful energy habits, sending energy bills soaring by around £52 million a year, according to a new poll.

Almost 30 per cent of us blame our spouse for leaving appliances switched on around the house with men more likely to blame their partners than women.

According to the new survey, 33 per cent of men blame partners compared to 25 per cent of women. Two fifths (41 per cent) blame their children.

The findings from Ipsos MORI, which questioned 2,710 UK participants, including 527 from Scotland, show the average number of gadgets in people’s homes has increased by 29 per cent since 2010. In particular, the number of kitchen gadgets has boomed.

Across Scotland, the number of kitchen gadgets has increased by 55 per cent and more than twice as many households now own smoothie makers and electric juicers compared to five years ago.

More than three quarters (76 per cent) of people in Scotland admit to regularly leaving at least two devices on standby. An advanced set-top box left on standby for 20 hours a day could cost around £20 a year alone just in standby mode.

Gadget overload

  • Number of people with surround sound systems has gone up by 45 per cent

  • Number of people with advanced set-top boxes has gone up by 41 per cent

  • Number of people with tablets has quadrupled and the numbers with desktop computers has fallen

  • Number with coffee machines has gone up 57 per cent

  • Number with ice-cream makers has gone up 58 per cent

  • Number with e-readers has doubled

    • Almost half (43 per cent) of those who leave their TV on standby do so because it’s more convenient, and 21 per cent because they can’t access the plug, or simply because they see no reason to turn it off.

    More than half of us (57 per cent) leave the TV on as background noise when they are in a room, and 48 per cent regularly leave it on when there is no-one in the room.

    A fifth of us regularly leave multiple TVs switched on so as not to miss anything when we move between rooms.

    Mike Thornton, Director of Energy Saving Trust Scotland, said: “Taking control of your energy use is the simplest way to save money in the home. More and more, we are seeing people wasting money on their bills because they prefer to leave things on standby rather than switching off – adding around £30 to their bills every year.

    “Getting down on your hands and knees and working out what you can and can’t switch off can be a real pain for some of us, but it doesn’t have to be like that. We suggest safely plugging everything that you can switch off into one extension socket and everything that you can’t into another.”

    Share icon
    Share this article: