unplugging

rach

i don;t know if anyone else saw in the Independant magazine yesterday that apparently less than 5% of electricity used by mobile chargers is used to charge the phones....the rest is just people leaving them plugged in.

now i might be stupid but i didn't realise it used elec unless it was doing a job! does the same apply to my laptop charger etc?

roswell

it all depends on how the circut to the transformer works but a easy rule to be safe is if its not in use turn it off at the wall.

tr3mor

I think most transformers use electricity even when they're not in use.

If you want to check: plug it in for an hour or so and see if it is warm, if it is then it's costing you money

SaverSarah_2

You can also buy a power plug thingy (technical term ) that measures the amount of power your appliances use. This can measure how much power your chargers are using

I bought one from Maplin about six months ago for about a tenner. I'm now quite obsessive about switching everything off at the wall, my washing machine, my dishwasher, my oven (why should I pay to power yet another kitchen clock?! Same goes for the microwave).

We pay £44 a month for electricity to Good Energy (100% renewable). There are four of us in a large four-bed house. I think that's pretty good. Most of it is because I'm careful (for which read tight!! :rotfl:).

Hope this helps.

tr3mor

SaverSarah wrote:

We pay £44 a month for electricity to Good Energy (100% renewable). There are four of us in a large four-bed house. I think that's pretty good. Most of it is because I'm careful (for which read tight!! :rotfl:).

I'm not sure about these renewable energy companies. They sell you 100% renewable energy, but sell their non-renewable quota to normal energy companies.

roger56

roswell wrote:

it all depends on how the circut to the transformer works but a easy rule to be safe is if its not in use turn it off at the wall.

It will always use a small amount of energy, even if the mobile phone is dis-connected. It's unlikely to be a significant amount.

Be safe and unplug it.

Same is true of laptop charger.

moonrakerz

tr3mor wrote:

I'm not sure about these renewable energy companies. They sell you 100% renewable energy, but sell their non-renewable quota to normal energy companies.

And, of course, they are heavily susidised, as most of the "green" electricity they produce is hopelessly uneconomic and would never sell if sold at cost + profit, or even cost !