Every year more than 100 euros in electricity costs for unused devices
In stand-by mode, a stereo system consumes around 110 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity every year, an old television that is switched off but connected consumes around 100 kWh/year, chargers consume up to 40 kWh/year, a washing machine around 30 kWh/year and so on further. With the current average electricity price, which according to the BDEW is around 48 ct/kWh, that includes electricity costs of 134.40 euros per year for unused devices – PC & Co. not yet included. These additional costs can be prevented by unplugging and completely disconnecting the devices from the mains when they are not needed.
Determine the exact power consumption with a measuring device
Depending on the number of electrical devices in the household, this can be quite a lot of work – multiple sockets with on/off switches or sockets that can be controlled remotely with Bluetooth can help.
The kWh mentioned above, which various devices consume when not in use, come from the chip.de information portal and are average values; individual devices from certain manufacturers can vary greatly from these values. So if you want to know exactly how much electricity your own devices actually consume when not in use before setting up special sockets, you can measure this at home. There are dedicated measuring devices for this in the price range between nine and 193 euros, whereby according to Stiftung Warentest even inexpensive devices deliver good results.
Not all devices should be unplugged
The devices are simply connected between the socket and the plug of the consumer device and left connected for a certain period of time. If you extrapolate the consumption over the year, you get the number of kWh that a device consumes when not in use when connected to the power grid. In this way, you can find out which devices in your own household are really worth unplugging.
But beware: Some devices should not be disconnected from the power supply, as this can cause irreparable damage. So before you pull the plug, you should find out exactly whether your own device can be damaged as a result.
Editorial office finanzen.net
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