Will turning appliances off at the powerpoint save me money?

As we try to reduce our cost of living, some people are going as far as only switching on hot water twice a week. A less drastic approach could be to turn appliances off at the wall.

The spate of interest rate hikes over the past 18 months has forced many of us to take stock of our household bills and find ways to shave off a few dollars here and there. But does switching off your TV or coffee machine at the power point outweigh the price of convenience?

The short answer is yes, especially if you have multiple 'vampire' appliances on standby mode. In fact, the savings could be hundreds of dollars every year.

Keeping appliances switched on at the wall can make up 10% of your power bill. (Source: Getty) (mecke via Getty Images)

Vampire appliances are all of your items that drain energy when left on standby mode, even when they’re not in use. If you switch off your TV but still see the red light, for example, it has gone into standby mode.

So, how much is standby mode costing you?

Standby power can be responsible for up to 10 per cent of your energy bill, according to Energy Australia. And, with energy prices rising by up to 25 per cent as of July 1. A recent survey by Finder also found the average quarterly energy bill hit a record high of $408 in September.

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Keeping these figures in mind, standby power could cost you as much as $40.80 every quarter. It’s not a huge amount until you start calculating how much it’s adding to your household bills. For instance, over 12 months it could be adding $163.20 to your power bills, and $816 of extra cost over five years.

The most common appliances in your home that use standby power include:

• Televisions

• Clothes dryers

• Printers

• Smart speakers

• Computers

• Microwaves

• Gaming consoles

Look around for any other devices that have an electronic clock built in or come with a remote control. These appliances are likely to be on passive standby.

On the other hand, active standby is when you have switched on an appliance but you're yet to use it. For example, the DVD player is on, but you haven’t popped in a disc yet.

Is it worth turning off appliances on standby?

There’s no black-and-white answer. It depends on how many appliances you have in your home and how many you leave on standby. I have 20 appliances at home that I’m guilty of leaving on standby 75 per cent of the time.

But it’s all about forming a habit.

Tips on how to save by switching off appliances at the wall

Once you know something’s costing you money, it’s hard to ignore it, especially when 75 per cent of us are somewhat stressed or extremely stressed about our financial situation, according to Finder research.

That’s when you get into the habit of making changes.

Are you finished using the coffee machine? Switch it off at the plug. You’re not using the gaming console? Switch it off. Are you done working for the day? Don’t leave the monitor running in the background.

You can make rounds before going to bed too. Depending on the size of your house, it could take a few minutes. Consider using power boards so you have just one switch to turn off several appliances at once.

Some other tips include:

• Investing in smart plugs - these allow you to set a timer so that appliances can be automatically switched off as per your schedule.

• Investing in smart boards - this is another alternative where the electricity board will detect an appliance that has gone into standby mode and cut off its electricity automatically.

• Compare energy-efficient appliances - In the future, if you decide to upgrade an appliance, purchase one based on performance and lowest running cost. You may come across an energy star rating label. The more stars it has, the more efficient it is to run. The upfront cost of buying the appliance may be higher but, given that poorly rated energy-intensive appliances can be power guzzlers, you will likely recover the costs quickly.

If you’re searching for even more ways to cut back on your power bills, compare energy plans to avoid paying the loyalty tax. There are price differences of hundreds of dollars between the cheapest and most expensive energy plans.

Lastly, get ready for a hot summer by using these hacks to stay cool as temperatures and energy bills rise.

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