Gadgets undermine UK energy savings

The increasing use of hi-tech gadgets in the UK is threatening to destroy national efforts to save energy, experts have warned.

According to the latest report from the Energy Saving Trust (EST), UK consumers are spending £12bn on gadgets and that by 2020, 45 per cent of the UK’s electricity will be needed to power them – the equivalent of 14 power stations.

By 2010, the consumer electronics (CE) sector will be the biggest single user of domestic electricity, overtaking the traditional power hogs, cold appliances and lighting.

The amusingly titled report, The Ampere Strikes Back, is no laughing matter though, according to the EST, which has singled out flat-screen TVs and digital radios as among the worst offenders.

“In 2005 televisions accounted for 9.6 TWh of domestic electricity consumption, amounting to around eight per cent of total domestic electricity use in 2005,” the reports stated.

“By 2020, the total UK electricity consumption of consumer electronics-style equipment is projected to reach 34 TWh, and, shockingly, it is projected that televisions will consume an estimated 16 TWh per year by then, i.e. almost half of the total energy consumed by the entire CE sector.”

Games consoles also get a roasting in the new report and there are some surprising facts to back it up. The EST, using tests from its Danish equivalent, said that there is hardly any difference in the power used by leading consoles in ‘on-mode’ and in ‘idle-mode’.

The EST said: “This means that even if a console is only used for an hour or two a day, but the machine remains on and in ‘idle’ mode for the rest of the time, it is the near equivalent of playing with the console 24/7 in terms of energy consumption. In the case of the Playstation 3 (PS3), this is similar to leaving three 60W bulbs on permanently, and at today’s electricity prices that will cost the householder approximately £164 per year.”

You can download the full report here.