Standby costs £90 a year??

EmpressOfTheSofa · 2023-02-02T07:28:07+00:00

This is bollocks, right? I’ve just woken up and tried to put the news on as usual to find the telly unplugged. Dh ‘oh yeah it costs £90 a year to keep both sky boxes on standby so I’m turning them off at night’. I think he’s started getting his news from the Daily Express. I don’t want to live like this. His parents turn everything off overnight except the fridge. Please someone give me some hard figures I can show him. It can’t be £90 a year, I don’t believe that for a second.

Orangesare · 02/02/2023 07:30

I read awhile ago those were old figures
you can work out how much each box uses by working out how many kWh it uses a day. It will say on the back of the box how many watts is used then you have to multiply it up

Rockingcloggs · 02/02/2023 07:34

Household money saving day this....

So, yes it'll save money to turn it off but it's not advised!

BigMadAdrian · 02/02/2023 07:37

I don't know if it is as much as £90, but I know that switching everything off at the wall (apart from the fridge) cuts our idle spend by approximately 1p an hour. Doesn't sound like very much, but over a year it adds up to about £36 (calculated based on things being turned off for 10 hours per day), so it isn't nothing either.

LadyLolaRuben · 02/02/2023 07:38

Theres some truth in it. I got a smart meter fitted. It was the hottest of year. When the engineer finished installing it, he said "and as you can see you're currently using £2.50 an hour". I had no appliances on...I looked around the house - microwave clock, bedside alarm clock and 2 TV/sky boxes on standby.

Ducksinthebath · 02/02/2023 07:39

Whether one of you is being unreasonable or not depends how tight money is in your house, doesn’t it? If money is very tight and you’re both asleep, what’s the harm in having the box off. But if it’s not tight and you might want to use the box overnight to record or use it quickly in the morning, then I can see that would be annoying and inconvenient to have to restart each time.

The quoted figures are for a Sky Q box which is more efficient than an old-style box (yes, some of us do still have them despite the best efforts of Sky).

NeedToChangeName · 02/02/2023 07:39

LadyLolaRuben · 02/02/2023 07:38

Theres some truth in it. I got a smart meter fitted. It was the hottest of year. When the engineer finished installing it, he said "and as you can see you're currently using £2.50 an hour". I had no appliances on...I looked around the house - microwave clock, bedside alarm clock and 2 TV/sky boxes on standby.

@LadyLolaRuben I believe that fridges and freezers use a lot of energy

BigMadAdrian · 02/02/2023 07:40

We don't have Sky btw, so sounds like it could be more if you have a Sky box.

LadyLolaRuben · 02/02/2023 07:40

If you do turn off the Sky boxes before bed the updates can't take place overnight, so it can take a longer time to come on each morning

Original poster

EmpressOfTheSofa · 02/02/2023 07:40

LadyLolaRuben · 02/02/2023 07:38

Theres some truth in it. I got a smart meter fitted. It was the hottest of year. When the engineer finished installing it, he said "and as you can see you're currently using £2.50 an hour". I had no appliances on...I looked around the house - microwave clock, bedside alarm clock and 2 TV/sky boxes on standby.

You’re using £22k of electric a year then? Thats clearly rubbish. Think about it.

OP posts:

LibrariansGiveUsPower · 02/02/2023 07:41

If you have a smart meter you can see it. Plugged in electronics still pull a very small amount of power even when they aren’t in use.

LadyLolaRuben · 02/02/2023 07:41

Tbh it was British Gas and they are shit...I left them not long after

GreenBiscuitr · 02/02/2023 07:42

NeedToChangeName · 02/02/2023 07:39

@LadyLolaRuben I believe that fridges and freezers use a lot of energy

Show quote history

My fridge is AAA+ rated and uses less energy than the old under-counter style my gran would've had.

Original poster

EmpressOfTheSofa · 02/02/2023 07:42

LadyLolaRuben · 02/02/2023 07:40

If you do turn off the Sky boxes before bed the updates can't take place overnight, so it can take a longer time to come on each morning

That was my point this morning. Also I do record things overnight!

We are not skint although money is tighter now as it is for most people. I’m a bit worried DH is becoming a grumpy old git tbh.

OP posts:

Gawpygertie · 02/02/2023 07:42

LadyLolaRuben · 02/02/2023 07:38

Theres some truth in it. I got a smart meter fitted. It was the hottest of year. When the engineer finished installing it, he said "and as you can see you're currently using £2.50 an hour". I had no appliances on...I looked around the house - microwave clock, bedside alarm clock and 2 TV/sky boxes on standby.

Surely £2.50 was what you had used so far that day.

LadyLolaRuben · 02/02/2023 07:43

NeedToChangeName · 02/02/2023 07:39

@LadyLolaRuben I believe that fridges and freezers use a lot of energy

Show quote history

Yes thats a good point! Its easy to forget what you've got switched on

Original poster

EmpressOfTheSofa · 02/02/2023 07:43

We have a smart meter but no display; I need to phone them and get one.

OP posts:

validnumber · 02/02/2023 07:45

I can't be living like that either! Although just as worried about the energy wasted as well as the cost.
Just seen on the news Shell made record profits this year. I bet their top people aren't going round switching everything off at night!

WarningToTheCurious · 02/02/2023 07:45

Get rid of Sky and you’ll save even more.

Bubblebubblebah · 02/02/2023 07:45

helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky/What-is-the-exact-power-consumption-of-a-Sky-HD-box/m-p/4131913
30w on standby for let's say 15 hours a day makes 0.45kwh so about 15p a day?

Eco mode is basically no use.

Bubblebubblebah · 02/02/2023 07:51

There was great thread in cost of living about how much do things cost.
Phone chargers use something like 0.2w. So 0.0048kwh in 24 hours.
You need just over 200 days for it yo ise 1kwh (happy to have math corrected)

bigbluebus · 02/02/2023 08:02

I've recently had a Smart meter fitted. Often in the daytime there are very few KW being used (can be 1p - 3p per hour but we're still on a fixed rate deal atm). The tv in the living room is on standby all the time (we turn others off at the wall) but we have 2 fridges and 2 freezers running all the time and the mains radio is usually on in the daytime. So on that usage I think the TV on standby is barely registering anything.