Mobile phone chargers left plugged in?

davetrousers

OK own up, who leaves their mobile pone chargers plugged in and switched on when they're not charging their phone?

Could someone out some figures (ie cost) to how much money is wasted by phone chargers being left switched on? Is it pence or pounds?

foreign_correspondent

nah I always try to switch mine off - I heard somewhere that the cost of charging a mobile was about £7 per annum, but rises to £12 p/a if you leave the charger plugged in and switched on!
I use same plug socket that the kettle runs off, so I remember to remove it so I can plug the kettle back in!

campervancrazy

just a quick word of warning to anyone that does, I plugged in my motorola then took the dog for a walk and an hour later came back to see the charger unit had blown up. whether it was a faulty unit or a power surge i'm not sure but sent it back to motorola and heard not a dicky bird back! Would never leave them on now unless I was around and I switch it off as soon as its charged.

bathgatebuyer

Almost everyone in my workplace leaves them in as taking them out involves getting under the desk and unplugging it which is too much of a strain for some folk!

geordie_joe

bathgatebuyer wrote: »

Almost everyone in my workplace leaves them in as taking them out involves getting under the desk and unplugging it which is too much of a strain for some folk!

We have the same problem too. One thing that annoys me is that builders put sockets in stupid places. They tuck them away in corners where they are going to get hidden by furniture and you can't get at them.

If I wanted to turn my TV and DVD off at the socket I would have to pull out the TV unit to do it. I had to but an extension with a switch on it for my computer, as it is impossible to get at the socket to switch everything off.


In the 80's I lived for about 7 years in a council house and all the sockets were about 3'6" above the skirting board. The council said it was a safety feature, to stop small children poking things into them. But it also meant all the sockets were in convenient places.

It also meant they were visible and didn't always look good with cables dangling down, but it meant you didn't have to move the sofa to plug in the hoover as the socket was a few inches above the back of the sofa.

I think in this day and age they should put sockets in more convenient places. How many people don't turn things off because it is hard to reach the socket!

thriftmonster

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

I use same plug socket that the kettle runs off, so I remember to remove it so I can plug the kettle back in!

:T I thought we were the only people who did this:rotfl:

moonrakerz

geordie_joe wrote: »

In the 80's I lived for about 7 years in a council house and all the sockets were about 3'6" above the skirting board. The council said it was a safety feature, to stop small children poking things into them. But it also meant all the sockets were in convenient places.

I had a house a few years ago where the light switches were much lower down than normal. A brilliant idea, small kids could switch them on and off - and to be honest, once you got used to it, it was a much more sensible height to put them !

frivolous_fay

If the transformer runs cold... is it using less / no power?

phizzimum

yes I was wondering that too...we have some lights from IKEA, which have a transformer type plug, and I noticed that the plug was getting hot even when the lights were turned off. So now I switch the plug off at the wall.

When phone/laptop chargers get hot surely they must be using more electricity (please someone correct me if i'm wrong!)

MarkyMarkD

frivolous_fay wrote: »

If the transformer runs cold... is it using less / no power?

Yes, definitely.

mistyarthur

I'm confused does it cost money to leave my phone charger plugged into the wall, theres no lights on it or anything...