Whether out of laziness or ignorance, we users tend to have some bad habits with technology and appliances, such as turning off the television directly from the power strip. But if we did it differently, we could extend the useful life of these devices or even save on the electricity bill.
And while the devices that take up the most space in our homes are usually the ones that consume the most, although there is always the occasional surprise, we often forget about the consumption of the most important device we have, our smartphone.
It is true that it cannot be compared to what an oven or a washing machine consumes, however, the mobile phone is a device that users use at all hours and as a general rule they charge it every day.
How much does it cost to charge the phone all night?
Without a doubt, the vast majority of people take advantage of their sleeping hours to charge their smartphone, since it is the time when they are sure not to use it. This practice, which was not highly recommended by many experts until recently, can account for up to 10% of your annual expenses, according to data from the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU).
It is true that nowadays the vast majority of chargers are intelligent, stopping consumption once the battery is fully charged, still, it is better to unplug them for the sake of the battery’s health.
And leaving the charger plugged in all day?
Another bad practice that you are likely to do is leaving the mobile charger plugged in all day, even if you are not charging the phone. Whether out of laziness or forgetfulness, this is a bad practice, as it also slightly increases the electricity bill over the course of the year.
Considering that a charger plugged into the outlet, without being connected to any phone consumes an average of 0.00002 kWh. And that on average it spends 16 hours plugged in (subtracting the 8 hours we spend sleeping with the phone charging) we will spend an average of about 0.12 euros per year.
It is true that it does not represent a significant expense and that everyone can assume this extra cost of leaving the charger plugged in, but if we are as lenient with all these costs at the end of the year, the sum of all these can indeed be more significant.
