There are appliances in the house that consume a lot of power in standby. But even turning off an appliance does not guarantee that it will no longer use electricity. With an energy meter you can detect idle consumption and ultimately save money.
Did you know that some televisions, decoders and game consoles consume a lot of electricity in standby mode? Take the old Ziggo Mediabox, for example: it consumes 34 watts of power in standby. With current energy prices, this will cost you no less than 85 euros per year.
But even when a device is completely turned off, it may still consume power. We call that idle consumption. According to energy expert Gwen Jansen of the information organization Milieu Centraal, this mainly occurs with devices that are more than ten years old.
About ten years ago, the European Union introduced new rules. These stipulate that devices may not consume more than 1 watt of power when they are completely turned off.
But if you have twenty devices plugged in, the standby consumption can easily amount to 20 watts, or 50 euros per year in electricity. Jansen: “Every watt of standby consumption that you can prevent saves you approximately 2.50 euros per year in electricity costs.”
Looking for standby consumption with an energy meter
You can detect this idle consumption with an energy meter, Jansen explains. An energy meter looks like a time switch. You plug it into the socket and plug in another device. You can then see how many watts that device uses. According to Jansen, some energy meters even show how much money it costs you.
Energy meters can be purchased for a few euros in, for example, the hardware store or in electronics stores. “But be careful with energy meters from, for example, AliExpress, Temu or resellers on the sales platforms of, for example, bol.com and Amazon,” warns Gerard Spierenburg of the Consumers’ Association.
“We regularly see that electrical appliances from Chinese online stores and from resellers on sales platforms have not been tested or do not comply with European safety regulations,” he explains. “You don’t want your house to catch fire because of an unsafe energy meter.”
Retailers can be held liable if they have sold an unsafe product. That is why, according to Spierenburg, you usually find safe products in stores.
Start your search with the television
If you have an energy meter, start your search for idle consumption with the television, decoder, (game) computers and any network storage drives, energy expert Jansen advises. They are often in standby unnoticed and therefore consume more power than necessary.
If you have found a device in standby with a consumption of more than 1 watt, according to Jansen it is best to switch it off completely when you are not using it. Do this by pulling the plug from the socket. But you can also work with a power strip with a switch. This allows you to interrupt the power by turning off the switch.
“When looking for idle energy, also take a look in the shed or attic,” says Jansen. Many people have chargers for electric bicycles or tools, for example, unnoticed in the socket. You may find devices with a high standby consumption.
Don’t forget the major power consumers
“If you have a second refrigerator and you don’t necessarily need it, unplug it,” Jansen continues. According to Milieu Centraal, an extra refrigerator quickly consumes more than 100 euros per year in electricity.
Other major energy consumers include a pond pump and an aquarium. But an electric boiler, electric heater and the underfloor heating pump also consume a lot of electricity.
In addition to tackling idle consumption, you can also save a lot of money and energy by adjusting your behavior, according to Milieu Centraal. “For example, do the laundry less often and only when you have a full drum,” Jansen explains. “You can also save a lot of money and energy by replacing old appliances with economical new ones.”
2023-10-21 03:08:52
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