Standby: how much it costs and how to eliminate it

A red light we pay dearly for. Sometimes unknowingly, through pure ignorance, in other cases through simple carelessness. In any case, the cost of wasted standby power is truly enormous. Sixty billion euros a year worldwide, approximately 80 euros for every Italian family , 1 billion liters of water used to produce wasted electricity. All for nothing. But let's proceed in order. Let's see what standby power is exactly and how it works. What its costs are. And what are the very simple remedies.

The most reliable estimates, based on measurements and field checks, show that this distraction, this total indifference to waste, in the homes of Italians living at the seaside or in the mountains , costs 15 euros in the month of August alone. This is a true annual record , confirming the fact that we are becoming more wasteful precisely when some electricity consumption, such as computer or TV use, should be decreasing due to the time spent away from home and the office. The seemingly innocuous red dot actually adds to consumption that we then pay for in our bills.

Standby power is a widespread waste worldwide: it's worth 60 billion euros worldwide, and can add about 10 percent of our overall bills, with a per capita cost of around 500 euros. Furthermore, the energy wasted in this way also causes environmental damage, considering the CO2 emissions that could otherwise be avoided.

According to the eErg research group at the Polytechnic University of Milan, leaving the kitchen on consumes the following daily energy: refrigerator 480 Wh, stereo 197 Wh, computer and printer 175 Wh, internet router 108 Wh, DVD 94 Wh. So why do we make this glaring mistake? For three reasons. Ignorance: many people don't know that standby mode doesn't mean no electricity consumption, but simply a reduction . Bad habits: it's exactly like leaving the lights on at home before going out. A lifestyle that's much less defensible today than it was in the past. Finally, the third reason is that manufacturers of electrical and electronic appliances have not yet fully complied with European Union regulations aimed at reducing this type of energy waste. As a result, 35 percent of appliances sold do not have the automatic standby mode elimination required by law. But in any case, even if you don't want to replace your refrigerator or computer, you can do something very simple: buy a power strip and plug in multiple appliances . Then, just press a single button and they'll all be turned off simultaneously, without standby. You'll see, this will save you a lot of money on your energy bill.

Read also:

• How to iron while saving energy and effort
• How to use the oven to save electricity
• How to use air conditioning