Irish people warned over appliances adding €100 to bills - it's not the dryer of shower

Irish people could be adding well over €100 to their annual electricity bill simply by leaving a number of appliances on standby rather than turning them off when not in use.

While electricity bills are now falling after a number of price cuts by Irish suppliers, they are still an awful lot higher than they were in previous years. Budget 2025 once again included €250 in energy credits to cut bills for every household in Ireland but some could be paying more each month unnecessarily.

People are still looking for ways to keep bills lower and we could all be making the fatal mistake of leaving 'vampire' appliances on standby to guzzle the meter.

That's according to UK website Quotezone.co.uk whose experts have worked out how much it's costing you to leave the likes of your laptop, tumble dryer and games consoles on standby.

Price comparison expert at Quotezone.co.uk, Helen Rolph, said: “You might have hidden vampire appliances in your home, sucking up almost a quarter of your energy consumption and pushing up bills. Leaving appliances on standby means that they’ll still be draining power even when you’re not using them. The simplest way you can reduce your energy usage and save money is to eliminate vampire appliances and avoid unnecessary electricity use.”

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The experts listed the following appliances as the worst offenders

Games console

Leaving your gaming console on standby for a whole year will cost you £27.52  which is over €30 in energy bills, around €2.50 per month.

Desktop computer

Those working from home fall into the trap of leaving their computer on standby overnight, over the weekend or all year round. This could be costing you more than €15 per month in bills a year, or €1.25 per month.

Laptop

Similarly, leaving your laptop on standby could cost you around €12 a year or €1 a month.

Smart speakers

They are smart when they are connecting seamlessly to all of our other devices but leaving smart speakers on constantly could drain your electricity to the tune of €8.50 per year or €0.71 a month.

Dishwasher

The dishwasher is another appliance we often leave on standby despite only switching it onto a programme once or twice a week. Making that mistake will again add €8.50 to your annual electricity bill, €0.71 a month. 

Washing machine

The washing machine isn't quite as big an offender as the dishwasher but on standby for a year will add almost €7.50 to your bill, €0.62 a month.

Tumble dryer

Tumble dryers are one of the biggest guzzlers of electricity in your home when in use at around €1.40 per cycle and even on standby, they will add almost €7.50 to your annual bill, or around €0.62 a month.

Microwave

Some of us use it everyday while others switch it on once in a blue moon. Either way, if left on standby it will add almost €7 to your annual energy bills. That is around €0.60 a month.

TV

It's fair to say the TV is left on standby in most Irish houses constantly. While most of us use it every day, we may not need it 24/7 and let it will cost you €6.50 a year, even if you never switch it on to watch. That adds €0.54 to a monthly bill.

Printer

The home office strikes again. Leaving the printer on standby at home adds almost €1.50 to your bill. While that is a small amount (just over €0.10 per month), all of the needless costs add up.

Adding all of these appliances up, you could be needlessly adding around €8 to your monthly bill and over €110 to your yearly bill for electricity.