How to reduce your power bill by $500 in less than 60 seconds
At Powerpal our mission is to help Australians better understand their energy use so they can take control of their power bills.
Each week we send our users a report with a detailed breakdown of how they are using energy in their home. When new Powerpal users receive their first weekly energy report they are often surprised at how much of their energy bill is spent powering “always-on” appliances.
In this blog post we look at the typical appliances that contribute to always-on energy usage and some strategies to reduce it — which can quickly and easily save hundreds of dollars on the average annual household energy bill!
What are “always-on” appliances?
Powerpal uses the term always-on to refer to appliances that use power even when they’re not being actively used by the household, such as when everyone is away from home or sleeping.
A good example is a refrigerator — regardless of whether you open the door to take food in or out it still needs to use some power. This is because the cold air inside the refrigerator warms up slightly over time and needs to be cooled down again to ensure your food stays at the correct temperature. The same goes for appliances like your WiFi router, which will still use power to keep your internet connection alive even if no-one is online at the time.
We also include appliance standby power in the always-on usage reported by Powerpal, for example where there is a TV, DVD player or microwave that is plugged in but not turned on. Even when these appliances aren’t being used they may still need to draw some power, for example to stay ready to respond to a remote control or to power the clock on the front of their display.
Finally we also include any other appliances that have been left running for at least a 24 hour period. This might happen if someone leaves the air-conditioner on in the rumpus room or if a computer or games console is never turned off. If you see your always-on usage spike in your weekly energy report in the Powerpal app this may be the reason why!
How much do always-on appliances cost to run?
Confusingly, different models of the same appliance can use different amounts of always-on power, depending on how well they have been designed. Generally newer appliances will use less always-on power than older ones as recent efforts by the government have encouraged appliance manufacturers to improve appliance designs to make them more energy efficient.
However, here are some guidelines as to how much different appliances might typically cost to run over a 1 year period if they are left running 24/7.
For more information on the energy efficiency of the appliances in your home check out the product listing on the government’s Energy Rating website at http://www.energyrating.gov.au/.
What can I do to reduce how much I spend on energy for always-on appliances?
Step 1: Tackle the beer fridge
The biggest single contributor to always-on power usage in the majority of Australian homes is the second fridge in the garage. Often large, old and poorly maintained it was probably moved to the garage following a kitchen renovation many years ago — and if so it can be a major energy guzzler.
Fortunately the solution is simple… just turn it off at the wall! By only turning on a second fridge when it is actually needed (for example when entertaining) the majority of the energy use is eliminated and it will cool down again in just a few hours. This one simple action can save as much as $500/year on your energy bill.
If you do need extra fridge space all the time, consider replacing your old, out of date second fridge with a modern energy efficient model — new fridges can use less than half the energy of older models. Make sure to look for a 5 star energy rating on the new model and only buy the size you really need as bigger fridges will use much more energy than smaller models.
Step 2: Check your appliance power saving settings
If you find that appliances like games consoles, TVs, computers and air conditioners are often left on when no one is using them you can check to see if they have a power saving setting. This will work by setting a timer to turn the appliance off after a period of inactivity.
One of Powerpal’s users has reported reducing their energy bill by more than $1000 by setting their air-conditioner to turn off automatically after one hour. This meant someone would have to turn it back on again every hour, rather than it simply being left running all day — which had a remarkable impact on how much it was used!
Step 3: Consider installing rooftop solar (if you can)
If you find your always-on usage is still higher than you would like it to be even after taking the steps above then one way to reduce the impact is to install roof-top solar. Even a modest 1.5kW solar system will typically provide enough power to cover energy use by always-on appliances during the day.
Will unplugging the kettle/toaster/lamp/etc at the wall help reduce my always-on power use?
A question we often get asked is whether unplugging appliances at the wall after turning the appliance off will help to reduce always-on power use.
In general the answer is no — most appliances that have a switch that must be physically moved to turn them on will draw no power at all when they are not in use. Turning the kettle off at the wall may still be a good idea though, just to remove the risk of someone accidentally switching it on without any water inside!
However, appliances that are turned on using a push button or remote control (such as TVs, DVD players, computers, games consoles, some washing machines, etc) will draw some power when they are turned off but in standby mode. In the past this was a major problem, however more modern appliances are much improved and will use very little power when in a standby state. So unless you have a very old TV or computer it is likely there is little to be saved by turning these appliances off at the wall when they’re not in use.
If you want to check how much standby power an appliance uses you can do so with the real-time energy display in the Powerpal app — try unplugging the appliance while it is standby mode and see if the amount of energy your home is using is reduced.
Is there anything else I can do?
One of the easiest ways to reduce your energy bill is to ensure you are on the best energy plan for your home. Of course this can help reduce the cost of all your energy use, not just always-on charges!
Visit the government Energy Made Easy website to find the best deal for you: https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/
