Vampire appliances: which appliances use electricity when switched off?
Have you heard of vampire appliances? They’re appliances and electronics around the home that use a level of electricity even when they are switched off or on standby.
According to the Energy Saving Trust, vampire appliances are likely to be costing the average household around £45 a year. In this article, we share why this happens, what the most likely culprits are and how to save money and electricity without really changing your lifestyle at all.
Why do some appliances use electricity when they aren’t being used?
Here are some of the reasons why your electronics or appliances might use energy while they are switched off or on standby:
- They have a continuous display or an internal clock, for example your microwave, or your coffee machine.
- They need to receive a signal, for example your TV
- They constantly monitor the temperature, for example your fridge.
- They are constantly ‘listening’, for example a Sonos or an Alexa.
- They are light or motion activated, for example night lights or motion activated lights
- They are continuously converting AC power to DC power, for example your laptop charger
Which appliances use the most energy while on standby?
We have listed the vampire appliances that might be draining your energy at home – and ways to lower the electricity they consume.
| Appliance | Why it uses electricity on standby | What you can do to reduce it |
|---|---|---|
| Fridges | Fridges and freezers account for around 13% of the average household’s energy bill. | While you can’t turn off your fridge when it is stocked full of food, many people have additional fridges that they use for drinks that could be switched off when not needed. |
| TV boxes | TV boxes may continue using electricity to record programmes, download updates or maintain a network connection. | Check if you can switch your box into eco-mode when it isn’t in active use. |
| Microwaves | Microwaves with a digital clock or display use electricity even when they’re not heating food. | Turn your microwave off at the wall when you aren’t using it. |
| Televisions | TVs can use electricity in standby to maintain network connections or support quick start-up. | Switch your TV off at the wall when you don’t need standby features, or enable its energy-saving settings. |
| Computers or laptops | Letting the screen time out or shutting the lid of your laptop does not necessarily mean it’s in energy saving ‘sleep mode’. | Adjust your computer and laptop sleep settings to kick in sooner after a period of inactivity, and make sure you tick the box to put your laptop into sleep mode when you shut the lid. |
| Chargers | Leaving your laptop charger plugged into the mains even when it’s not charging uses up unnecessary electricity. If it feels hot, that’s because it’s using energy to convert AC power from the mains into DC power. | While they don’t use lots of electricity, make sure to unplug your device when it is fully charged or you might slowly degrade the battery. Others to watch out for are your electric toothbrush, phone or tablet charger. |
How much does standby power cost?
Standby power can add to your household electricity bill over time, but it depends on the appliance.
According to Money Saving Expert, microwaves use 0.18p per hour, which can add up to £15 a year.
Additionally, a Sky Q box using 9 watts on standby could cost around £21 a year if left on continuously.
TVs search for satellite or WIFI signals while they are on standby, but they don’t actually cost as much money as other articles might lead you to believe.
A TV using 0.5 watts on standby would cost around £1 a year if left in standby for 20 hours a day.
This is because EU laws state that TVs manufactured since 2013 can’t use more than 0.5 watts while on standby mode.
The worst vampire appliances may soon not be available to buy anymore. The Government are looking at new standards to improve energy efficiency of products and reduce consumption.
How can you identify your home’s energy vampires?
One of the easiest ways that you can identify which appliances in your home are using unnecessary electricity is by getting a smart meter and looking at your In-Home Display (IHD).
This will help you to understand how much electricity you are using at any one time, see the impact of switching items off, and understand any longer term impacts on your energy bills too.
Have a read of some of our articles that explain the benefits of smart meters in more detail:
- How to read your smart meter In Home Display.
- What are the benefits of having a smart meter?
- Are smart meters good for the environment?
- How can a smart meter help you to save energy and money?
How can you reduce how much electricity you are taking from the grid?
There are several ways to save energy at home, and reduce how much you’re taking from the grid.
When your appliances stop working, upgrading them with a-rated replacements is a great way to save energy long term.
Using a dehumidifier rather than the tumble drier is another brilliant, low energy way to save money.
The most impactful way is to start generating your own power. A household installing our 10 solar panel and battery package could save over £800 a year from using their own electricity.
FAQs about vampire appliances
A renewable electricity tariff should be a way for homeowners to feel confident that their energy use at home is being matched with renewable energy generation in near real time.
In reality, energy suppliers currently only need to buy enough certificates to prove that enough renewable energy has been added to the grid in the same year to match what a homeowner has used.
Most energy suppliers rely on Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs) — certificates that prove a certain amount of renewable electricity was generated somewhere on the grid over the course of a year. The catch is that REGOs can be bought and sold entirely separately from the power itself, so a supplier can buy up cheap certificates (solar in summer, wind in winter) without ever purchasing the matching renewable electricity for their customers. It’s a legal accounting practice, but it means a “100% renewable” tariff can still be largely powered by fossil fuels behind the scenes.
A few independent badges are worth checking for: B Corp certification (Good Energy is the only UK home energy supplier to hold it), Which? Eco Provider status, and Uswitch’s Green Accreditation. Beyond formal accreditations, it’s worth looking at real customer reviews (Trustpilot, for example) and your supplier’s score on the Matched Clean Power Index itself, since it’s one of the few measures based on actual delivery rather than marketing claims.
Matched use publicly available market data to compare suppliers on a like-for-like basis — measuring how closely each supplier matches renewable generation to customer demand on a half-hourly basis, rather than relying on the suppliers’ own claims or annual certificate totals. Because every supplier is assessed against the same data and the same methodology, it gives a more independent, consistent picture than marketing alone.
