BERLIN: Most people are probably already aware of what consumes the most energy in the household. But are there further savings to be made from devices such as computers, televisions, and smartphones?

In order to be able to estimate where and how one can save energy, it helps to get an overview of how much electricity is consumed on average.

Consumer electronics, such as televisions and game consoles, account for 28%, or slightly more than a quarter, of total electricity consumption in Germany, according to the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).

In comparison, washing and drying consume 14%, lighting 13%, and refrigerators and freezers 11%. Cooking and dishwashing use 9% and 8% respectively, making up a total of 55% of the 3,050 kilowatt hours used a year in the average two-person household.

Of course, these are only average values that do not accurately reflect every household. After all, not everyone owns the same appliances or uses them to the same extent.

Watch those screens

In the consumer electronics category, however, there are also significant differences in consumption. "The biggest power guzzlers are televisions and game consoles," says consumer advice expert Joshua Jahn.

If the average two-person household spends around €1,000 a year on electricity, then an average TV would account for about €80 of that, going by German consumption figures. Game consoles cost around €50 a year if you use them every day, Jahn says.

How much electricity a device consumes depends not only on its energy efficiency class, but also on its size.

As Jahn explains, "a very large television with the best energy efficiency class still consumes significantly more electricity than a smaller television in the worst class."

Older televisions and those with screens over 1 metre diagonal can consume an average of 200 kilowatt hours per year. This amount could power two efficient refrigerators.

Desktop worse than laptop

The fact that size is relevant when it comes to power consumption is also evident in the case of computers. A desktop PC consumes significantly more electricity than a laptop.

"A desktop PC with a tower costs me about €35 a year, a laptop €10 euros ," Jahn says. The consumption level of a computer is also determined by the nature of the device.

"A high-powered gaming PC with a high-performance processor and huge graphics card simply needs more power under full load than a standard PC or a notebook that has been trimmed to save power," says Sebastian Klöss of the German IT industry association Bitkom.

Smartphones, on the other hand, barely impact energy bills at all. Someone who charges their phone every day uses about 7.5 kilowatt hours a year, which costs only a few euros or dollars per year. Smart speakers have a similarly small impact on electricity bills.

Switch off the router at night

Although internet routers don’t use a lot of power, they're often left on 24 hours a day and that can add up. You can also cut down power use when streaming by reducing the screen brightness and using smaller devices, explains Klöss.

Watching your favourite series on your laptop or smartphone instead of on the TV will definitely reduce electricity costs. And if you switch off the high dynamic range (HDR) feature that’s available on newer TVs you’ll also use less power.

 - dpa