Unplugged: You should unplug these appliances at night.

Unplugging unused appliances at night can save electricity without sacrificing convenience. A power strip with a switch allows you to do this with the click of a button, without having to pull out the individual plugs each time. This saves electricity and therefore money over the course of the year.

Unplug appliances at night and save money

Unplugging appliances at night saves money. Although the standby mode of most appliances consumes very little electricity, it adds up over the course of a year. On average, standby mode accounts for about eight percent of the electricity bill for a three-person household

• The fact that appliances are in standby mode can usually be recognised by small lights that light up even when they are switched off. This allows devices to be restarted in a flash, but they also consume power unnecessarily. If you pull the plug or get a power strip with a switch, you can avoid this.
• In the living room, TVs (except for OLED sets), game consoles, stereo systems, receivers and DVD or Blu-ray players can easily be unplugged when not in use. This does not always make sense for the W-LAN router overnight, for example if you use it to make phone calls or use various smart home functions. Otherwise, however, this can also be switched off at night.
• Some W-LAN providers also offer the option of at least switching off the lights on the router without disconnecting the router from the mains. To do this, log into your provider’s customer area and look under ‘Settings’ to see if this option is available. The fault light on the router also goes on with this function in an emergency.
• In the kitchen, household appliances that are not needed and have a standby function, such as a coffee machine, kettle, microwave, dishwasher and oven, can be switched off. It is also worth unplugging washing machines when not in use.
• Similarly, you should disconnect chargers from the mains when they are not in use. According to the Federal Environment Agency, for example, four chargers left unnecessarily in the socket cost 51 euros a year.