Important Induction Hob Update

I notice they are selling induction hobs again on IW and I wrote a favourable review about their previous model that I've had in daily use for over 4 years and my general tips for using one. I haven't changed my mind and still like the way they efficiently only heat the cooking vessel, BUT recently I discovered mine loses that efficiency when British Gas sent me an electricity smart meter to economise and I discovered that the hob uses about 20w on standby and that's significant because, if I just continue to leave it plugged into a live socket...

20w x 24hrs x 365days = 175200 or 175.2kwhr at my unit(kwhr) price that works out about £30 which is roughly what it costs a month in summer when I've no heat running, ie just by switching that off I'll save nearly a months electricity cost when it's fully switched off in between use.

...some IHs may be more efficient than mine on standby but it will still use something or maybe more, so if you already have an IH or are thinking of getting one I recommend making it a habit of switching it of at the socket after use and anything else that uses standby like TV and hifi etc to keep the bills down.

Thanks for that information, I have got mine switched off now. There is something I have often wondered about though in general about electrical appliances and you sound as if you might know the answer. I think I read somewhere years ago that it uses more electricity to switch something on from scratch than it does from standby. The article may have been about battery powered gadgets eg iPads but I would imagine the same would apply to anything plugged into an electrical socket. Do you think that is true or have I made it up?

Turning something on from standby will use more electricity than turning it on from standby but you will use more electricity leaving something on standby than turning it on. A lot more.

Anything like an induction hob, finished washing machine or TV you should turn off if you want to save money on electricity costs. Although a lot of items now - especially electronics like a TV do use very low ammounts of power to keep standby running now.

Something like the iPad is slightly different as they are designed to go into standby and then be woken up when they are needed - often as they do things even when in standby.

A lot of electrics on standby use as much as 75% of their running power just to keep on standby. When Mr Cheesecake informed me of this when we met, I was leaving everything on standby and by turning everything off at sockets I ended up saving almost £5 a WEEK!!!! electric. Also, things being on standby are a massive cause of house fires, really unsafe to leave things such, especially those with red buttons. Really shocked when I read this, and now wont leave anything on standby.

I have an energy saving device that i put on an extension socket and plug the TV, DVD, recorder into. I have a remote and everything switches off except the actual energy saving device. This men's only the energy saving device is on standby.