SKY customers could slash money off their energy bills by simply switching to an underused setting.
People with Sky Q boxes fitted in their homes may be unaware of the option or how to check if it’s in use.
1
By simply changing your box onto Eco mode you could save roughly £10 a year.
Cash is tight for Brits right now and energy costs continue to go up for many.
It means that any money-saving tips or tricks are very welcome at the moment.
Swapping your Sky box into the Eco setting could make a difference to your energy consumption.
That’s because the setting sees your box switch to a low power mode when it’s not in use, during specific hours of the night.
It’s recommended by Sky and will cause your box to dip into the energy saving mode between 2.30am and 5.45am – a total of three hours and 15 minutes.
If the user has any scheduled recordings during this time, it won’t switch into the mode until these are completed.
How much you’ll save and use will depend on which box you have, and how much you use it of course.
Most read in Money
Each box has three main modes which affect how much power it uses – Eco standby, Active standby and on.
By switching to Eco mode from Active standby you’re reducing your power consumption from 25W to 0.5W during the period of 2.30am and 5.45am – according to Loop.
That means that, according to the energy experts, it costs £10.08 a year to have your box on Active for those three hours and 15 minutes every day.
Whereas if you switched over to Eco mode, those three hours and 15 minutes every day would cost just 20p a year.
Based on these figures this means you could save £9.88 a year.
Plus, you’d also be saving on carbon emissions too.
Dr Steve Buckley at Loop said: “As these numbers show, it’s definitely worth using ECO modes on your set-top box where possible.
“These modes power down the appliance in the middle of the night when you are least likely to need them.
“Many will also allow you to set your own schedule so if you typically go to bed early and don’t need to record late-night TV, why not extend the ECO period for longer?”
If you don’t have a Sky box there is likely still a power-saving mode on your top box which will save you cash on your energy bill.
How else can I cut energy costs with underused settings?
If you select a power-saving mode on your telly, it could save up to £15 a year on your energy bill.
Of course, it might not be called power-saving mode depending on the model you have or how old your TV is – but it’s worth checking the settings.
The same goes for appliances too, if you have a dishwasher, you’ll need to switch on eco wash or the energy saving setting on your machine.
Switching to a spin cycle on the tumble dryer, it could slash a whopping £53 off your bill.
That’s because the setting uses recycled hot air so the machine doesn’t work as hard as it normally would.
Households can save an average of £12.17 per year by making sure their consoles aren’t left on standby.
Also, turning the flow rate down on your boiler could save you as much as £112 a year.
We’ve rounded up six underused settings on your daily appliances that could be costing you cash.
How else can I cut appliance costs?
Households can cut their energy bills further by ensuring that they’re not running their appliances if they’re not full.
Data from Uswicth estimates that not running your washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher if they aren’t full will slash your energy bills by £40 a year.
Thousands could further slash their bills by ensuring that they don’t leave their appliances plugged in and on standby when not in use.
Devices that drain energy while plugged in and on standby include:
- Hi-Fi systems – £143 a year
- Computers – £95 a year
- TVs – £24 a year
- Printers – £20 a year
- WiFi router – £19 a year
- Microwave – £16 a year
- Games consoles – £12 a year
Appliances which use energy to cool things – like fridges and freezers – are also expensive to run and there are ways to cut costs.
Keeping your fridge freezer clean can also save £45 a year – dust on the condenser coils can reduce the efficiency by as much as 25% says Which?.
And failing to defrost it for instance could be adding on an extra £150 a year.
The nation’s love of brews could be costing us a lot.
Kettles – along with other kitchen appliances like cookers and blenders – account for 19% of the average home’s energy use.
So make sure you’re not overfilling it to save £55 a year.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]
