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Home Signal15 September 2026A phone charger left in the wall costs well under a euro a year. It is the tip everyone knows and the one that saves the least.
The money is in heating, old appliances and the things that never really switch off. Here are five changes, three of them free.
A phone charger left in the wall costs well under a euro a year. It is the tip everyone knows and the one that saves the least.
The money is in heating, old appliances and the things that never really switch off. Here are five changes, three of them free.
A phone charger left in the wall costs well under a euro a year. It is the tip everyone knows and the one that saves the least.
The money is in heating, old appliances and the things that never really switch off. Here are five changes, three of them free.
Heating is most of the energy a home uses. One degree lower is hard to notice and easy to keep. Bleed the radiators while you are at it, so they heat evenly.
Cost: nothing. The biggest free change on this list.
An old freezer in a garage or a cellar can cost a lot more to run than people think. Close the door on a sheet of paper: if it slides out easily, the seal is gone. Defrost it if the ice is thick.
Cost: nothing to check.
Most of a washing machine's energy goes into heating the water, so a cool wash uses far less than a hot one. A tumble dryer is one of the biggest users in the house, and the line is free.
Cost: nothing.
The TV, soundbar, console and set-top box draw power all night. A metered power strip shows what each one uses and switches them off on a schedule.
Cost: part of the 74.90 EUR kit, below.
A metered plug on the fridge, the dehumidifier or the heater shows what that one thing really costs over a month, so you replace the right appliance and not the wrong one.
Cost: two plugs in the 74.90 EUR kit, below.
One to three are free. Four and five show you where the rest of the money goes.
Numbers four and five, as a kit
The Power Strip 4 meters four things at once and switches each one off on its own. The two Plug M go on the two appliances you are not sure about, like the freezer in the cellar or the dehumidifier. Together 74.90 EUR against 79.80 bought separately.
Plugs meter what plugs into them; a hardwired water heater, hob or oven is not visible to them.
"Finally got full control and power monitoring for all my appliances. Seamless Home Assistant integration with local control out of the box. Great dashboards, detailed energy flow data, useful automations, and precise metrics to make informed decisions."
"Great useful product for controlling, monitoring and customizing your appliances."
"Delivers as advertised. Unfortunately the indication light can't be turned off without turning off the device -1 star"
Four stars and below are left in. The most common small complaint about the plugs is the status light, which cannot be switched off on its own. The most common one about the strip is a small reading on an outlet that is off, which is the strip's own electronics.