As millions continue to spend more time than ever before at home, new research by British Gas has revealed that Brits could save 16 per cent on their electricity bills each year by switching off their vampire electronics, those that continue to drain power when left on standby. With the average annual electricity bill currently at £474.44i, Brits could in fact save an average of £75 per household per year, which totals to over £1.6bn across all UK households, by simply flicking a switch.

Following the government announcement just last week that stricter rules are set to ensure manufacturers make appliances such as TVs and washing machines more energy efficient, the new research shows that simply switching appliances off when not in use could also be a short-term fix to reduce the electricity they use over their lifetimes.

The research has revealed that almost one in five (15 per cent) are unaware that many household appliances actually use up electricity whilst not in use as over two in five (42 per cent) admit to only occasionally switching these appliances off. Almost one in three (29 per cent) said they wish they’d known appliances were costing them money whilst on standby.

Unsurprisingly, almost seven in 10 (68 per cent) said they would switch off these appliances now they know they could save the pennies. Interestingly, over three in four (77 per cent) of those aged 65 and over said they would switch off appliances to save money on bills, compared to just over half (54 per cent) of 18-24-year olds who found the idea less appealing.

However, almost one in five (17 per cent) said that they will continue to leave appliances on standby when inactive despite the fact it could save them money. Two in five (42 per cent) said this was because the effort

of switching them off isn’t worth the cost saving and one in five (21 per cent) said they wouldn’t because they just don’t care.

Almost nine in 10 (88 per cent) people use their microwave for less than 2 hours a day and yet more than six in 10 (61 per cent) said they never switch it off. Only one quarter (24 per cent) said they switch off their games console when not in use and again, just one quarter (25 per cent) switch off the coffee machine when it’s not brewing, meaning three in four have it plugged in sapping energy 24/7.