The cost of leaving appliances on standby

Look around your house and you’ll find many appliances – TVs, microwaves, phone chargers, washing machines and games consoles – that all cost you money even when you think you’ve turned them off. The arrival of the smart home will only add to your power bill: by 2023 the average home is expected to have almost 20 connected devices.

Standby energy costs eat into your bank account in small bites, but the bigger cost doesn’t just show up in your electricity bill. The total cost of standby energy across the country can amount to tonnes of CO² and other greenhouse gases being emitted.

We’ve found that if you have a lot of appliances that are inefficient, you could be paying hundreds of dollars or more per year for unnecessary power and contributing more than 1000 kilograms of greenhouse gases to the environment.

How much energy does an appliance use in standby mode?

When we compared appliances in 2019, the difference between the most efficient and least efficient was marginal in most areas. When it came to large air conditioners, for example, the lowest annual standby cost was $0.01, while the highest was $1.80. An efficient Blu-ray player cost nothing a year in standby costs, while the least efficient cost $0.05. 

But with some products we saw a greater difference, for example the lowest standby energy cost for an Ikea microwave was $0.67 compared to a Panasonic model at $6.28. The starkest divide was with multi-function printers, where the lowest standby cost was $0.00 compared to an absolute energy hog at $32.06.

Individually, most appliances will only draw a small amount of energy on standby, but Australia-wide it adds up to an immense amount of power. It’s often older appliances that use the most; energy-saving initiatives have generally made new appliances much more efficient in all respects, particularly if they have to adhere to an Energy Star rating. And while standby costs may be a small part of your total power bill, isn’t it better to have the money in your pocket, rather than the electricity company’s?

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Denis

Hi, I'm Denis Gallagher. You might know me from such things as gadgets, phones (landline and mobile), cameras and home entertainment gear. While I've produced tests for ceiling fans, gas heaters, vacuum cleaners and BBQs, these days the digital home is where the heart is. Before CHOICE, I learned how to break technically complex subjects down to understandable and entertaining chunks. I hate seeing companies take advantage of consumers and at CHOICE I get to fight back on your behalf. Life before CHOICE included being assistant editor for Your Computer magazine in the mid 1990s and later editor of a design magazine called PIXELmag. I also contributed photography and tech articles to SMH, PC World, PC Authority, and Green Guide. After indulging my passion for golf as assistant editor at Golf Australia for a couple of years, I thought it might be time to get a real job. Arriving at CHOICE just before Christmas 2006, everyone was on annual leave so I basically sat alone at my desk till mid-January 2007. I've been pretty busy since then, though! You can find me on LinkedIn.

Hi, I'm Denis Gallagher. You might know me from such things as gadgets, phones (landline and mobile), cameras and home entertainment gear. While I've produced tests for ceiling fans, gas heaters, vacuum cleaners and BBQs, these days the digital home is where the heart is. Before CHOICE, I learned how to break technically complex subjects down to understandable and entertaining chunks. I hate seeing companies take advantage of consumers and at CHOICE I get to fight back on your behalf. Life before CHOICE included being assistant editor for Your Computer magazine in the mid 1990s and later editor of a design magazine called PIXELmag. I also contributed photography and tech articles to SMH, PC World, PC Authority, and Green Guide. After indulging my passion for golf as assistant editor at Golf Australia for a couple of years, I thought it might be time to get a real job. Arriving at CHOICE just before Christmas 2006, everyone was on annual leave so I basically sat alone at my desk till mid-January 2007. I've been pretty busy since then, though! You can find me on LinkedIn.

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