Is switching off appliances at the power point really worth the effort?

The internet is full of memes about dads losing their minds over a single light being left on.

Another classic dad trick is to turn everything – and they mean everything – off at the power point.

But does turning devices off at the wall really save money when it comes to your electricity bill? We asked two experts.

Is it worth switching off at the power point?

As Denis Gallagher, CHOICE's home products expert, explains, turning off every single power point in your home would be "quite extreme".

Instead, it's about turning off the biggest 'vampire appliances', (more on those shortly) which drain the most power even when you're not using them, and could account for around 10 per cent of your bill.

While it's going to depend on your household, he estimates you could "easily save $100 or so" per annum just by turning off a "reasonable" number of appliances at the switch.

Emi Gui, the Energy System Lead at Monash University's Climateworks Centre, says it's all about creating a behaviour change, and conditioning yourself to make switching off a habit.

She adds that using power boards can be handy too, so you can quickly turn off the worst offenders in a room with just one click.

Your TV and whitegoods

As Mr Gallagher explains, most devices that use a remote are vampires, as even when on stand-by they're constantly waiting for a signal to switch on.

He says old products are generally the biggest power suckers – especially when it comes to TVs.

TVs made before 2006 are going to be some of the worst offenders, while plasma TVs – which stopped being made sometime in the 2010s – still "get hot enough to heat a room".

He says newer TVs (like LED and OLED models) are subject to stricter energy standards, and should only cost you "10s of dollars to run, rather than the hundreds of dollars [of older models]".

However, game consoles (like PlayStations, Xboxes and Wiis) are one of the biggest power suckers, and DVD players also draw more than they should. Sound bars that sit on top of your TV can also be an issue, as Mr Gallagher says their power use is still unregulated.

Mr Gallagher says some "easy wins" when it comes to vampire power include your clothes dryer, washing machine, dishwasher, microwave and air conditioner.

You're probably not using these devices every day, so it's easy to switch them off when not in use – if their power points are easily accessible.

Your internet and Wi-Fi-connected devices

Your wireless modem is likely to be one of your biggest power suckers.

Dr Gui says it's obviously tricky to turn your Wi-Fi on and off all the time – so recommends turning it off overnight, or when away on holidays, instead.

Additionally, smart home devices that are constantly listening for voice-activation use up a chunk of power when in stand-by.

"In 2021, there were an average of 20.5 internet connected devices per household in Australia, with that number forecast to reach 33.8 by 2025," Dr Gui says.

"Let's say each device consumes three watts of hourly stand-by power [costing you $7.88 a year], if you add it all up it can [be something like $150 p.a.] of extra power you're consuming."

Your computer monitor and home office set-up

Dr Gui says she always turns off her computer monitor at home, with Mr Gallagher adding that monitors are "constantly drawing power".

Printers are also an easy one, as are laptop chargers when they're not actively in use.

"Battery chargers and charging devices are not regulated, so [their stand-by power use] depends on the decision that the company has made, whether they want to make an efficient device or not," Mr Gallagher says.

However phone chargers and lamps aren't a huge power drain – unless they're also smart devices that connect to Wi-Fi.