British Gas has advised customers to check which devices they leave on and consume energy while in standby mode – including game consoles, laptops, TVs and plug-ins – to save some money on the company’s growing energy bills.
The warning that these so-called “vampire devices” are depleting energy – expensive for you but also unnecessary for the planet – comes when the UK faces an unprecedented rise in energy prices while gas and electricity companies continue to make huge profits.
In fact, the language of today’s conversation from British Gas was criticized for shifting the blame for the high bills on consumers. There were also questions about the numbers that British Gas uses to calculate its savings.
British Gas’ own study, published by BBC News, appears to show a possible average saving of £ 147 a year by excluding “vampire devices”.
That’s £ 24.61 a year to put your TV on standby, £ 12.17 for game consoles and £ 11.22 for PCs.
Speaking to the BBC, British gas energy expert Mark Robson advised buying a smart plug and unplugging devices.
The article drew a number of responses that called into question these figures, especially those related to the cost of leaving the TV on standby. (Since 2013, the European Commission has ruled that TVs must not use more than half a watt of power while in standby mode.)
“This is in fact untrue and is a shameless intimidation by British Gas,” one response said. “Televisions are required by law to use 0.5 watts or less per hour in standby mode since 2013. That’s 4.38 kW per year. With electricity at 30 p / kW it will cost £ 1.31 a year. To say it costs £ 24.61 is a lie. ”
“It’s ‘Did you just try to put on a jumper,’ but for the warmer months,” added Absolute Radio host Ross Buchanan. “Shifting the responsibility for raising bills to the consumer, not the government or energy companies, is pretty tasteless, whether or not your ‘research’ is accurate (it’s not).”
A previous report claiming that “vampire devices” cost large sums to UK bill payers found that frequently quoted figures such as those based on standby TV use are based on outdated measurements and devices and unrealistic in practice.
Earlier this year, Xbox said it had quietly moved its consoles to use its default power-saving mode, which also now checks and downloads updates while not in use. Microsoft has encouraged anyone who is still set to Instant Power to switch.
In February, it was reported that British Gas’ profits had jumped 44 per cent, while owner Centrica said its profits had doubled to £ 948 million thanks to a sevenfold increase in oil and gas profits.
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