Most of us these days go to some efforts to recycle our waste products, whether it’s by separating plastics, cardboard and glass into the appropriate refuse bins or by saving water by turning off the tap when we brush our teeth.

However, you may not realise that leaving electrical and electronic appliances on stand-by for any length of time also wastes energy and, it is estimated that the average household could save up to £35 a year by switching off at the mains. There are products available to help cut down on stand-by costs, like stand-by savers which allow the consumer to turn off all items on stand-by in one go. Some of these are sold with timers and some have a single switch.

Since 2010, all electrical items sold in the European Union countries must comply to regulations stating that stand-by power should be under 1W. While it is true that appliances are becoming more energy efficient and are using less energy, the average household is buying more and more electronic gadgets, so it is still worth looking at stand-by energy consumption and making efforts to reduce it further.