Gadget presents could add £150 a year to electric bills

Christmas gift gadgets could add up to an extra £150 on energy bills unless families change their habits, researchers have warned.

The £25 a year saved by bringing home loft insulation up to the recommended 270mm thickness could be lost with just a couple of presents, according to academics at the University of Salford.

The warning comes after researchers looked at some of the most popular gifts and worked out how much they would cost to run if left on standby, or permanently charging up.

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Leaving electrical items on after the battery is charged, costs around £3 per gadget per year – a TV and set-top box which are on for six hours a day and on standby all the time would add £30 to household electricity bills, while a Blu-Ray player would average about £7.

Six hours a day of gaming with the console on all the time would cost about £50 a year.

Erik Bichard, professor of sustainable development at the university’s school of the built environment, said: “We don’t want to look like Scrooges at Christmas, but people tend to forget that these gifts can be a real drain on their energy use and family finances.

“For example, a laptop only takes a couple of hours to recharge, so if you leave it on charge all the time, you are using far more power than it needs.” Plugged in all the time, it will cost around £13 a year.”