How to Save on Wasted Energy: Understanding Phantom Load
Are your energy bills higher than expected? The answer could lie in the hidden culprit known as “Phantom Load” – our name for wasted energy. It makes up around 30% of the average energy bill.
Contents:
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What is Phantom Load?What is Phantom Load?
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Identifying Phantom Load CulpritsIdentifying Phantom Load Culprits
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Maximising Phantom Load SavingsMaximising Phantom Load Savings
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The Cost of Standby AppliancesThe Cost of Standby Appliances
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Loop Snoop: Calculating Standby Energy CostsLoop Snoop: Calculating Standby Energy Costs
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Top Tips to Reduce Phantom LoadTop Tips to Reduce Phantom Load
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Cut Your Phantom Load with LoopCut Your Phantom Load with Loop
What is Phantom Load?
You use the remote to turn off the television, flick the light switch off, and head to bed. All is quiet in the house, and all your appliances are switched off. Or are they? That silence and apparent inactivity can be misleading. In most rooms, you probably have at least one home appliance or device that’s on or on standby, quietly continuing to drain electricity in the background – whether you’re aware of it or not!
This is part of what’s known as your ‘Phantom Load,’ and if you don’t have a grip on it, you’re needlessly spending money on wasted energy. Phantom Load, also known as ‘Vampire Energy’, can account for up to 30% of the average energy bill.
Identifying Phantom Load Culprits
While turning off devices on standby is a good practice, modern electronics are so efficient that the savings are only small. You will still save money by turning your TV off at the plug, but if you want to make substantial savings, they come from understanding two key categories:
The things you know are on but don’t know what they’re costing
Do you know how much your electric towel rail costs you each day? How about your electric underfloor heating? Or those halogen spotlights? Once you’re armed with this information, you can then make smart decisions about using your things more efficiently.
Forgotten-about appliances, particularly old electronics and old appliances left plugged in or on standby.
Easy-to-forget things, like extra fridges, set-top boxes, and old computers can fly under the radar and continue to use energy without you realising. They can be some of the most energy-hungry appliances, so hunting them out can result in the biggest savings.
Maximising Phantom Load Savings
While it’s common knowledge that appliances drain energy on standby, the real savings lie in tackling items left on continuously, intentionally or unintentionally. Computers, media servers, set-top boxes, and easily-overlooked things like heated towel rails and underfloor heating can be major energy stealers.
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Common Phantom Load Culprits
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Average annual cost (29p per unit)
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|---|---|---|
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Extra fridges, old fridges or 'beer fridges'
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£84.58
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Desktop computers
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£70
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Faulty set-top box recorder
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£131.66
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Over-sensitive outdoor security lights
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£44.16
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Traditional (non-smart) electric heating (heating empty home - 40% of time)
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£652.50
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Electric underfloor heating (1 extra hour per day)
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£272.50
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Two 60w outside lights left on 10hrs per night
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£110
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Electric towel rail
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£50.78
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The Cost of Standby Appliances
After you’ve cut the biggest energy-wasting appliances, turn your attention to the smaller standby devices in your home. Although the savings are smaller in comparison, they’re still worthwhile.
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Common Phantom Load Culprits
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Average annual cost (29p per unit)
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|---|---|---|
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Digital TV box (left on)
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£32.58
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Multi-room speakers (in idle mode)
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£24.30
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Router (left on)
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£6.61
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Microwave (left on)
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£4
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Digital clock (left on)
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£2.25
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TV (on standby)
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£1.09
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Coffee maker (left on)
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£1.46
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Phone charger (plugged in, not charging)
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£0.31
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Loop Snoop: Calculating Standby Energy Costs
If you want to find out how much each appliance in your home is costing you, go on a Loop Snoop – the name for our hunt which helps you uncover your energy-wasting devices.
Using your smart meter’s in-home display to get real-time readings, follow the steps below to see the running cost of your things.
Find out your home’s baseline energy usage by turning off all your appliances (apart from essential items like your fridge and freezer) so you have the lowest possible ‘background’ energy use in your home.
Use your smart meter’s in-home display to see live electricity use. You can toggle between £/hr and live electricity consumption in Watts. Make a note of this background energy usage in £/hr.
Now go around your home, room by room, turning appliances on and off, one at a time. As you turn each one on, you will see your live £/hr cost change on your smart meter’s in-home display.
Do some simple maths to reveal the cost of having that appliance turned on for one hour. Record this on your Loop Snoop map here as a reminder to turn stuff off!
Top Tips to Reduce Phantom Load
Try Loop
Before you can reduce your Phantom Load, you need to identify which things are using the most power. Identify power-hungry devices with Loop and make informed decisions on where to make savings.
Go on a Loop Snoop
Use our map to identify the energy-hungry culprits adding pounds to your bill. Uncover the appliances consuming more energy than anticipated.
Invest in standby savers and multi-socket extensions
These devices enable you to turn off multiple plugs at once. Upgrade to a smart version and you’ll be able to turn things off remotely with your smartphone.
Involve the whole family
Make it part of your family’s bedtime routine to turn off standby appliances. If you explain Phantom Load to kids, they may turn out to be eager helpers.
Check if your standby devices have an eco mode
Many set-top boxes can be scheduled to go to sleep every night and you can also adjust the brightness of the lights on many wireless routers.
Optimise appliance settings
Have you tried changing the settings on your phone, laptop, PC or Server to make them more energy-efficient? For laptops and phones, this also helps them to last longer between charges.
Cut Your Phantom Load with Loop
Understanding your Phantom Load has never been easier with Loop. Take charge of your wasted energy use by tapping the Tick icon and select ‘Optimise your Phantom Load’.
You’ll be able to see how much you’re spending on your Phantom Load each year and how it compares to average households. You’ll also be able to access tips and tricks to effectively cut your wasted energy costs.
What Else Can Loop Do?
Have You Got an Alexa-Enabled Device?
Loop already makes it easy to keep track of your energy usage. Now you can also ask Alexa how much you’re spending on energy and even for energy-saving tips.
See all your energy data on your smartphone and on Alexa-enabled devices.
Reviews
Loop has helped thousands of users understand their Phantom Load and reduce wasted energy.
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