Appliances Left on!? 15 September 2011 at 7:51PM in Scotland 19 replies 2.1K views

drrn

My kids always leave their TV and games on. Can anyone suggest what I can do so I can save my energy bills? Does anyone know any device that can help?

crazyguy

esuhl

Tell them you'll take them away if they keep leaving them on when they aren't using them...?

drrn

Thanks for your suggestion! But I don’t think a timer would work as it would only turn them off at a set time. Is there any other device which has the ability to turn off all the appliances when they are not in?
@esuhl: But I can’t really take away the living room TV from them.

Mrs_Arcanum

Take the remotes away so they have to get up & use the buttons to change channels or switch on & off. Good exercise too.

Bettie

drrn wrote: »

My kids always leave their TV and games on. Can anyone suggest what I can do so I can save my energy bills? Does anyone know any device that can help?

lime plug
got one free not long ago

wdw2003

This is one of my pet hates and I've thought of most things and threats but nothing worked. I bought an extension cable with four sockets and a switch, so they could switch everything off at once from their beds without getting up, but even that was ignored. The only thing that really works for me is to admit defeat and go around after them switching stuff off yourself.

I'd love to know the answer to this one.

Just read about Lime Plugs, which could be a goer if free, but presumably it wouldn't help for computers and the like.

shellsuit

Show them some videos on YouTube about house fires when plugs haven't been switched off.

That should teach them!

I told mine if they didn't turn them off, there could be a fire and we could lose everything or all be killed.

They're 15 and 13 now, so all moany and hormonal, but they never forget to turn their plugs off at night!

drrn

Bettie wrote: »

lime plug
got one free not long ago

Thanks! I looked it up. It looks quite good but I don’t think it will help me as my problem is that I need to chase around after my kids and switch them off for them! Does anyone know anything that can turn them off automatically when I’m not around?

cdam

drrn wrote: »

Thanks! I looked it up. It looks quite good but I don’t think it will help me as my problem is that I need to chase around after my kids and switch them off for them! Does anyone know anything that can turn them off automatically when I’m not around?

I hate to say it, but couldn't your kids turn them off? As previous posts have suggested some simple negative reinforcement often works wonders. Mine lost their DSi's for a week and had to earn them back for this very same thing, earned them back in 2 days, not a problem since, although they knew that I would escalate if they didn't do it until their rooms were empty!!

Worth giving a try, although expect some grief at first!

drrn

Has anybody used motion sensor device which makes appliances switch off automatically?