Switch it off

Don't let those zombie home appliances drain your electricity

Zombie electrical items are stalking the earth. In the day time, when they’re most active, they need a lot of energy to do their stuff. At night, they tend to rest a little but you shouldn’t trust them – they never quite shut off.

Step into your living room in the darkness and you’ll see their malevolent red eyes glaring up at you. We’re taking, of course, about standby.

Computers, phones, televisions, TV recorders and even kitchen appliances all use energy and cost you money while they’re in standby or sleep mode.The same goes for chargers that you have plugged in to the wall, even when they’re not connected to your phone or computer. In fact an incredible £800 million a year is unwittingly spent by UK households powering appliances which are doing nothing, and we Bristolian’s are picking up a hefty £5.5M of that.

So remember to turn everything you can off at the wall and you’ll save money and be doing your bit for the environment at the same time.