7 Appliances to Unplug Every Day to Reduce Your Electricity Bill

With electricity bills set to rise by almost 10% for everyone in France, here are 7 appliances you can unplug each day to lower your monthly bill.

At a time when controlling energy use has become essential for both financial and environmental reasons, it is worth reviewing everyday habits. Industry professionals estimate that up to 10% of an electricity bill may come from appliances left on standby. As a result, a meaningful share of a household’s annual energy spending could be avoided through straightforward changes to the way domestic equipment is used.

In France, the same estimates put the number of electrical and electronic devices left on standby in a home at between 15 and 50. Although they appear to be switched off, these appliances can still use a considerable amount of electricity in standby mode.

Most such devices keep a small transformer permanently active, converting alternating current into direct current and creating an additional energy cost. Since 2017, an EU directive has capped standby consumption at 0.5 W, rising to 3 W for connected devices.

Why standby power increases your electricity bill

Even with this rule in place, residual consumption can exceed 50 watts per household. This can add substantially to electricity costs, estimated at at least €80 per year.

The 7 appliances to unplug to reduce your electricity bill

To save money, simply unplug a few appliances every day. Take care, however: some equipment, including washing machines and dishwashers, needs to remain on standby for safety and durability reasons. Other items can be unplugged to cut the monthly bill. Here are the 7 appliances that use the most electricity.

• The television: this is the leading source of standby consumption. A television can use up to 180 kWh per year, the same as a refrigerator even though the latter runs continuously. In standby mode, it uses between 1 and 2 W per hour.
• The desktop computer: with its many components, a desktop PC can be a major energy user, particularly in standby mode, where it may create a significant annual cost. The more powerful it is, the more electricity it uses. Gaming PCs, for instance, can be particularly costly, especially when they have LEDs.
• The games console: perhaps surprisingly, 91% of the energy used by a games console is linked to the time it spends on standby. Unplugging it after every use is therefore advisable to prevent unnecessary consumption - unless updates matter more to you than your energy bill.
• The internet router: although it uses 30% less energy on standby than when operating, unplugging your internet router can help bring down your electricity bill. Naturally, disconnecting a router can be inconvenient, so it is best to unplug it when you are away from home.
• The smartphone charger: often left plugged in all the time, a charger still consumes electricity when no phone is connected. If you own a latest-generation smartphone, there is a strong chance that its smart charger uses virtually no power on standby.
• The printer: occasional use does not warrant permanent standby consumption, so it is better to unplug it once you have finished using it. Most printers have a timer that switches them off after a set period without printing.
• Small kitchen appliances: coffee makers, espresso machines, toasters and other kitchen appliances left on standby use unnecessary energy. It is better to unplug them whenever they are not in use.

Other ways to save electricity

Alongside these targeted steps, adopting everyday energy-saving habits can make a significant difference to your energy bill. Using power-hungry appliances during off-peak hours, turning the heating down by one degree, selecting appliances’ eco modes and installing programmable switches are all useful measures.

Making responsible purchases is also an important way to lower energy consumption. Before buying a new appliance, check its energy label and choose equipment displaying the Energy Star label, which indicates better energy efficiency.