Skip to the main content
The Carbon Mission
All guides

Living room switch-off

Take a look around your living room. Anything with a little light on is still using electricity. Here is how to give it a proper rest.

Where do you live?

Your wins so far

0 of 3 wins ticked off

Money saved
£0.00
a year off your bill
Carbon saved
0.0 kg
a year kept out of the air

Tick off each win as you do it and watch your savings grow.

  1. Step 1: Switch off at the wall

    Standby is the low-power wait a device does when you turn it off with the remote. Switching off at the wall socket, or at a power strip (a row of sockets with one switch), stops it completely.

    Good to know: Since 2025, devices sold in the European Union may use no more than 0.5 watts in standby. Older devices can use more. Source: European Commission, ecodesign rules for standby, networked standby and off mode.

    watts

    In the manual or on the maker's website. We have started you on 0.5 watts, the most a new device may use in the European Union.

    devices

    Count everything on the power strip or sockets.

    hours a day

    Overnight and while you are out soon adds up.

    Money this saves
    £2.31
    a year off your bill
    Carbon this saves
    1.3 kg
    a year kept out of the air

  2. Step 2: Turn the TV off when nobody is watching

    A TV chatting away to an empty room is an easy win. Off it goes when you leave, and on again when you are back.

    Good to know: A TV must use 0.5 watts or less in sleep mode to earn the ENERGY STAR label. Source: ENERGY STAR, televisions.

    watts

    On the label on the back, or on its energy label.

    hours a day

    The time each day it used to play to nobody.

    Fill in every box with your own numbers, and the money and carbon this saves will appear here.

  3. Step 3: Shut the games console right down

    A console left on its home screen or paused is still switched on and using power. Save your game, then choose power off from the menu.

    watts

    On the label underneath, or on the maker's website.

    hours a day

    A rough guess is fine.

    Fill in every box with your own numbers, and the money and carbon this saves will appear here.

How we worked it out

For lights and devices: watts saved × how many × hours a day × 365 days ÷ 1,000 gives the kWh (kilowatt-hours, the units on your bill) saved in a year. For washing and drying: kWh for one load × loads a week × 52 weeks. We multiply the kWh by the price of one kWh for the money, and by the carbon released per kWh for the carbon.

  • Price: Ofgem, energy price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026: 26.32p per kWh (paying by Direct Debit, average for England, Scotland and Wales).
  • Carbon: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, greenhouse gas conversion factors 2026: 0.144 kg per kWh (0.131 for generating UK electricity plus 0.013 lost on the way to your home), counting carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases together.

The numbers in the boxes are yours to change, and your savings are only as exact as they are. Where a box starts on a number, it is only a starting point. Your progress is kept in this browser only.