Hi,

You're absolutely right... To my concern, i would like to go solar on this regard... I would like to install DIY solar panels for my home. This may even cut your energy and utility bills but also saves your electricity and money...

You can be environment-friendly too..

Most appliances on standby do use very little energy but the point is that its energy that in 99% of cases does not need to be used in the first place and is very simply "recovered", by this I mean the little energy that si being used can be stopped just by flicking a switch or unpluging a device which of course is far easier than installing insulations and so on. For something so simple and cost-free it should be relatively near the top of anyone's lists to reduce consumption.

I also think that in most reports regarding turning appliances of rather than on standby people are talking of the cumulative effect. It may only be 1 or 2 watts in one particular household but across the 30 odd million homes in the UK it all adds up. Energy that doesn't need to be used, doesn't need to be generated, and the fuel used for generation doesn't need to be bought, so overheads reduce and so on until we get to the stage of a reduction in energy prices (In theory).

The days of cheap energy are long gone, the only way to get a cheap bill is to be economical with what you use. Wether its 1 watt or 1000 Killowatts it'll all add up and help reduce your bill that little bit more.

Standby savings are indeed hugely over-hyped. As Jalexa implies: if it is not getting warm, then it's not using a significant amount of power since all the power consumed by appliances ends up as heat. And anyway, for more than half the year (in the UK), that heat is not wasted but contributes to interior warmth which means that the main heating system has to work less. I believe The Standby Myth may have arisen due to the one common appliance which does use significant power in standby mode: the Digibox satellite receiver. But there is good reason behind this: the LNB fixed to the dish is a sensitive microwave device and very intolerent of internal condensation formation. Keeping the circuit supply on constantly provides enough background warmth to stop condensation forming as the outdoor temperature changes.

mooreaz:If you read the article, it explains very well.

Now that we've got a debate started...

What the article doesn't explain, though other press articles have attempted is how much all of this is going to cost.

Just one quote from the article...."Customers won't ever have to overpay or find themselves in debt with their energy supplier once smart meters come into force"

Well I support accurate (annual) billing but the prospect of accurate monthly billing during the winter season will not be a pleasant prospect for many.

I have a lot of concerns at the "easy to save" argument (other than by switching to a better deal). The BIG household consumption is heating. Reduce temperature perhaps, but for many the real problem is badly insulated old houses. And before someone says there are grants for cavity wall insulation, not in pre-1927 houses there isn't.

Sorry I see this as Copenhagen (and pre-election) grandstanding.

and PS

My plugged-in mobile charger is stone cold on standby. My Freesat is 1W on standby. Standby saving are hugely overhyped.

If you read the article, it explains very well.

What are smart meters?

Smart meters aren’t new but few households currently have them. A government initiative plans to change this and make us more conscious of the amount of energy we use. Felicity King-Evans looks at how you can keep an eye on the energy you use and offers a few tips on cutting bills…

Click to see what Felicity's discovered when she took the energy-saving challlenge