Gadgets Draining UK Power July 5, 2007

READ MORE Consoles , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , HDTV , Home Entertainment , Mobile Devices , Technology

It seems that our obsession with gadgets, from skinny TVs to phones, is really putting a dent in the nation’s efforts to save energy.

In fact, according to the Energy Saving Trust (EST), gadgets are undermining UK efforts to conserve energy. In the next three years, consumer electronics – which we spend £12bn a year on, and rising – will be the biggest drain on the national grid – taking over from the biggest suckers, lights and fridges/freezers.

By 2020, we will need 14 power plants for gadgets alone, which will then account for almost half of the country’s energy needs. Flat TVs [especially plasmas] get a kicking, as do digital radios, but I guess the real eye opener for me was games consoles.

I know they drink but I didn’t realise that there’s almost no difference in power drain between a console in ‘on-mode’ [playing a game/watching a movie] and one in ‘idle-mode’ [not standby, but one with something on, just not being played]. This is how the EST put it:

“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 60 watt bulbs on permanently, and at today’s electricity prices that will cost the householder approximately £164 per year.”

Hang on, just let me reach over here and…’click’. I’ve just saved £164. Phew.

Check out the amusingly titled ‘The Ampere Strikes Back’ here. -Martin Lynch

technology energy UK gadgets consumer electronics