Some appliances will be draining large amounts of money from your bank account even when you're not using them, according to an expert, but she says there are simple steps to save hundreds of pounds. Natalia Lachin from Discount Code has rounded up how much each item costs you to run, with advice on how to make huge savings.
Natalia says the biggest drain for many homes is a fridge/freezer - which is running constantly and uses 12 per cent of your household energy budget. She said: "As a fridge/freezer needs to constantly be on, it is unsurprising that over 12 per cent of the entire household’s energy comes from the fridge/freezer alone, costing households around £114.24 per year.
"Obviously, a fridge/freezer cannot simply be turned off when not in use, there are ways to ensure it works as efficiently as possible, meaning you will pay the minimum necessary. Regular cleaning of the fridge, both external and internal cleaning, is the simplest way to ensure it runs efficiently.
"Dusting the exterior means dust won’t get into the system and affect how it works and cleaning the interior and disposing of any out of date food means the fridge doesn’t need to work as hard to keep food cool/frozen."
As much as 98 per cent of UK households leave their TV sets on standby at all times. Natalia said this is a huge drain of power, and it's made even worse if you're a gamer.
She continued: "Many wrongly assume that turning off via the remote switches it off entirely – however this isn’t always the case. Leaving the TV plugged in and switched on uses 1.3kWh. As the average cost of electricity is now £0.28 per unit, this can add £132.86 a year to your bill.
"Games consoles tend to be left switched on and plugged in as much as TVs and are often overlooked. Simply ensuring it is turned off completely can save £4.20 each day, as when a typical games console is left on standby it uses a hefty 15kWh per hour."
She said that leaving a phone charger switched on adds around £20 to your annual bill.
