22 October 2007
Personal gadgets could account for almost half of UK domestic energy use by 2020, research from uSwitch revealed today.
The massive output needed for mobile phones, TVs and PCs would require 14 power stations-worth of fuel just to keep them running.
Moreover, much of this output might prove unnecessary, with Britons found to currently waste a vast amount of electricity on wasteful energy practices, such as leaving gadgets to charge overnight.
Just over one-third (35%) of those polled by uSwitch said that they regularly power-up their mobile phones and mp3 players in this way - even though such devices only generally require around two hours worth of charging.
In fact, 29% said that they charged their mobile phone for over three hours a day and over 5% said that they leave it permanently plugged-in - together accounting for 11.3 billion wasted energy hours each year.
Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch Ann Robinson commented: "Our behaviour has yet to catch up with technology - our demand for energy is growing as we plug-in and power-up a myriad of gadgets and gismos.
"But clearly this is coming at a cost and, with both household electricity bills and carbon emissions going up, the price may not be one we wish to pay."
The problem of wasting electricity was found not to be confined to portable devices by uSwitch - with 40% leaving their computer powered-up 24 hours a day and 43% leaving their TV on constant standby.
Parental attitudes to responsible energy use were also found to be worrying - with 19% saying that they did not know how long for or how often their children charged their gadgets.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
Content for the uSwitch.com market news service is provided by a third party, Adfero Ltd. Whilst uSwitch.com makes reasonable efforts to check the reliability of this content, uSwitch.com does not guarantee the accuracy thereof or endorse the views or opinions given by Adfero Ltd, unless expressly stated otherwise.