Thread: Brits waste £134m a year overcharging their gadgets

Britons waste £134million a year by overcharging phones, MP3 players and laptops, a study says.

Leaving a gadget plugged in after the battery is full can increase a household’s annual electricity bill by £60, according to the report.

Nine in ten people keep gadgets on permanent charge even though this damages the battery life.

One in ten admits they are too lazy to unplug the gadget despite the extra costs.

The most overcharged devices are laptops (43 per cent of the total), mobile phones (41 per cent) and iPods (ten per cent).

Electric toothbrushes, hand-held vacuum cleaners and cordless home phones are also likely to zap unnecessary juice.

People aged 18 to 24 are four times more likely to keep their gadgets plugged in than those aged 55 or more.

And one in five children keeps toys on regular charge.

‘It is astonishing that 90 per cent of people overcharge their gadgets,’ said Pollyanna Woodward, of Channel 5’s The Gadget Show.

‘Overcharging a gadget can often do more harm than good. It can reduce the lifespan of batteries and prevents people from making easy savings on their energy bill.

‘Spending a few minutes unplugging ten common household gadgets when they are fully charged could save around £60 a year.’

Emma Thompson of E.ON, which conducted the poll, said: ‘Generally, mobile phones only take two hours to charge but most people leave them plugged in overnight.’