Reduce home electricity leakage

Electricity is used by a very wide variety of equipment, much of this continually consumes electrical power in standby mode even if it is not being used, this is sometimes referred to as 'electricity leakage', this wastes electrical energy prodigiously.

It is easy to dramatically reduce home electricity leakage.

Almost all homes continually consume electricity, if yours continually consumes 0.1kWh - this is quite common, the annual cost to you, assuming a kWh costs £0.10, is £87.

The International Energy Agency says it takes about four nuclear power plants to supply the standby mode power consumed annually in Europe, by 2010, it's expected that this number will grow to eight as manufacturers are designing more devices that have a standby mode.

The electricity leakage occurs because many electronic devices can't be fully turned off without switching them off at the wall socket or disconnecting them. While the device may appear to be turned off, in reality, it is one of several standby modes wasting electricity, somewhere between fully off and fully on, so it consumes electric energy 24/7.

The most common devices that exhibit electricity leakage are TV, video, and audio systems, PC systems and peripherals that have a standby mode, and appliance chargers.

A PC system, and LCD monitor that is 'shut down' continues to consume and waste electricity, such a system can use 0.05kWh and cost £40 a year on standby. Many other electrical appliances generally have black or white power modules containing a transformer that plug into wall sockets, these continually consume power unless switched off or disconnected at the wall socket, examples are portable phones, and charger modules for rechargeable devices. These power supplies that feed electricity into electronic products provide standby current and are amongst the most energy-inefficient of all common devices.

A lot of people are not aware of their electrical equipment's typical power consumption. Some devices need to remain on standby, e.g. security alarms and telephones, but most do not.

Consumer concerns about electricity leakage or standby power are leading to the development of devices that automatically remove power from devices that switch to standby mode. "OneClickPower", a British firm, has been selling a range of intelligent surge protectors with outlets for a computer, monitor, printer, scanner and other devices. Its circuitry senses when the devices go into standby mode and automatically disconnects them reducing waste.

What can I do to reduce home electricity leakage:

If you are not using the equipment turn it off at the wall socket.
Do not leave electrical equipment on standby, use a switched power distribution unit for systems that have many plugs and switch it off when not in use or use an intelligent surge protector.
Unplug electric toothbrush and shaver charging cables from the wall socket when not in use.