Turning off v Plugging out

splashthecash · 15-05-2014 8:29am #1

My wife is driving me nuts at the minute after reading some articles about how a high percentage of fires start from appliances such as TVs remaining plugged in over night as opposed to just going on standby.

It's a relatively small thing but curious how many people actually unplug/switch off the power socket to their main TV every night before they go to bed?

P.S. Things such as phone chargers left plugged in are supposed to be a common reason for fires also

Uriel. · 15-05-2014 8:31am

There's also the needless cost of leaving things on standby.

I have a lot of those remote control socket things which are great for flicking off the sockets. Saves the grief of plugging stuff out or trying to get in behind the TV etc.

Well worth the investment... About 18euro for a pack of three and I'm sure they'd be cheaper online

Turtyturd · 15-05-2014 8:32am

Switch off the main socket for the TV but taking out the plugs is a no-no.....as I've said before I'd rather die in a house fire than stand on a plug.

bumper234 · 15-05-2014 8:32am

splashthecash wrote: »

My wife is driving me nuts at the minute after reading some articles about how a high percentage of fires start from appliances such as TVs remaining plugged in over night as opposed to just going on standby.

It's a relatively small thing but curious how many people actually unplug/switch off the power socket to their main TV every night before they go to bed?

P.S. Things such as phone chargers left plugged in are supposed to be a common reason for fires also

I would unplug everything because that's what my parents did and it's just something i picked up along the way and carried on with it.

15-05-2014 8:36am

I unplug nothing, pain in the hole having to plug them back in and somethings like the sky box for instance take an age to come back on and it will mess up if there are recording set and you forget to plug it back in. I cant even access the plug to the tv etc in my room as its hidden away behind things. I often fall asleep with the tv on too anyway. It actually used to annoy me when a former house mate plugged things out.

We never plug out things at my home place either, just never something we did. I think its a bit of an OCD thing.

turnikett1 · 15-05-2014 8:45am

Always unplug, always. It takes 2 seconds to plug something in and out, it's pure lazy not to (unless it's something that will go nuts if you plug it like the above poster said - Sky box)

Macy0161 · 15-05-2014 8:46am

No, we don't. Where do you draw the line? Do you plug out the big appliances like the fridge or freezer? What about the dishwasher and washing machine which often have inaccessable plugs? The Modem? Satellite and Cable TV recievers are supposed to be left on - the likes of Sky send updates overnight. Our phones and tablets are plugged in overnight to charge - if you were concerned about the chargers going on fire, I would've thought at night when the household was asleep was the main time of concern, but that's when you want to use the chargers.

Teyla Emmagan · 15-05-2014 8:50am

I turn off at the switch but don't unplug, how's that? I don't really have that many electrical devices, even the microwave died on me last week. The dishwasher and washing machine are never plugged out though. The radio is always switched off at the wall and I've no TV. Laptop always plugged out.

splashthecash · 15-05-2014 8:54am

Cheers, All good replies and as one poster said, where do you draw the line. I have the TV power on an extension that also houses t'internet, phone and Sky so I think I'll have the TV in its own plug and just turn off that plug going forward

AnonoBoy · 15-05-2014 8:57am

Both are good options.

We turned off Grandma whereas Granddad was unplugged.

Rabies · 15-05-2014 8:57am

I died in a fire once.

Never again.

kylith · 15-05-2014 8:59am

I don't plug out the telly because it's in an awkward place, but I do turn off the socket. Most stuff would be turned off at the socket or unplugged. Except the kettle. Unplugging the kettle is a flogging offense.

Calibos · 15-05-2014 9:07am

40 years on this earth and never unplugged a thing. That includes 6 Tv's for the bulk of this millennium.

danniemcq · 15-05-2014 9:07am

Never unplug anything, radio is always on in the bedroom even when i'm not there, I can't be in a house without noise.

Computer is always on (has a habit recently of waking up from sleep after a few hours so it'll be fully on in the morning and again when i get home.

Phone chargers never unplugged either.

that extra few quid a bill I don't really care about, its handy and i'll pay for that ease.

I've lived with people who turn off toasters, kettles, phones, tvs, EVERYTHING!

Bugs the hell out of me, wake up hungover stumble downstairs put phone on charge and try and boil the kettle. Waiting for ages for the click of the kettle and then you realise that the fecking thing is off. Or when you have sky set to record and someone turns it off, yes i know i'm recording at stupid o clock in the morning but thats when the F1 is on!

SteelyDanJalapeno · 15-05-2014 9:13am

Just turn the power off going to your house from the fuse box.

FTA69 · 15-05-2014 9:15am

danniemcq wrote: »

Never unplug anything, radio is always on in the bedroom even when i'm not there, I can't be in a house without noise.

Computer is always on (has a habit recently of waking up from sleep after a few hours so it'll be fully on in the morning and again when i get home.

Phone chargers never unplugged either.

that extra few quid a bill I don't really care about, its handy and i'll pay for that ease.

I've lived with people who turn off toasters, kettles, phones, tvs, EVERYTHING!

Bugs the hell out of me, wake up hungover stumble downstairs put phone on charge and try and boil the kettle. Waiting for ages for the click of the kettle and then you realise that the fecking thing is off. Or when you have sky set to record and someone turns it off, yes i know i'm recording at stupid o clock in the morning but thats when the F1 is on!

I would turn off chargers alright. Apparently once they're plugged in, energy p*sses out of them. Which is a bit of a waste.

kneemos · 15-05-2014 9:15am

TiltedBrain wrote: »

Just turn the power off going to your house from the fuse box.

Better still sabotage the nearest power station.

turnikett1 · 15-05-2014 9:19am

FTA69 wrote: »

I would turn off chargers alright. Apparently once they're plugged in, energy p*sses out of them. Which is a bit of a waste.

Yep, chargers eat a stupid amount of electricity. That is one thing you shouldn't leave plugged in.

Wishiwasa Littlebitaller · 15-05-2014 9:21am

The microphones and TV cameras on MTV Unplugged, were never unplugged.

True story.

15-05-2014 9:25am

My housemate keeps flicking the cooker and heating off at the isolators on the wall straight after shes finished with them. She won't even turn off the knobs on the oven. Being an electrician by trade, I know this is not good despite me telling her.

I may have to kill her

15-05-2014 9:28am

turnikett1 wrote: »

Yep, chargers eat a stupid amount of electricity. That is one thing you shouldn't leave plugged in.

They use virtually nothing even when charging a phone.

BKWDR · 15-05-2014 9:28am

Only thing i won't unplug fully is the lead that powers the telly / UPC box / wifi...mostly as it would mess with UPC recordings BUT I did start turning off my telly from standby mode (red light still on) to actually hitting the physical power switch on the telly at the back of it due to the remote control acting the maggot and oddly enough over the months i did see my electricity bill go down marginally.

mmouse · 15-05-2014 9:29am

Everybody trusts the fridge.The fridge is your friend and must never be turned off or unplugged.

Not like the evil old telly that's plotting to set fire to the house and run away with your missus.

15-05-2014 9:31am

Actually, I do know of a family who lost their house and all their possessions in a fire because of a faulty ambi pure plugin air freshener thing.

seamus · 15-05-2014 9:32am

Old CRT TVs had a habit of bursting into flames when plugged in all the time, I know of one family whose house was burned to the ground and half of them nearly died. Afaik this is because CRTs store a huge amount of power in capacitors internally. If they short or overload, they will cause a fire. Other appliances are largely protected from surges causing fires because of their fuses, but the capacitors in a CRT are behind the fuses, so can blow without blowing the fuse.

New TVs though aren't the same. They use and store far less power, so the chances of them spontaneously exploding is very small.

On standby they do consume power though, so for the sake of your pocket you're better off switching them off at the plug. I leave stuff like t'internet and DVR on, but TV, PS3 etc is switched off at night.

I'm skeptical about how much power phone chargers may or may not use, and wonder is that an old belief about old chargers. If the charger has no lights or anything, then how is it consuming power while plugged in?

eamonnq · 15-05-2014 9:33am

'Plug out' ? The one phrase that I really can't stand!! Unplug, Unplug, Unplug!!

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plug_out

Is it an Irish thing ?

Tail Docker · 15-05-2014 9:33am

I always quench the paraffin stove and turn off the petrol genny overnight. I am awful for leaving on the candles though.

15-05-2014 9:36am

eamonnq wrote: »

'Plug out' ? The one phrase that I really can't stand!! Unplug, Unplug, Unplug!!

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plug_out

Is it an Irish thing ?

I hope not

Chattastrophe! · 15-05-2014 9:36am

kylith wrote: »

I don't plug out the telly because it's in an awkward place, but I do turn off the socket. Most stuff would be turned off at the socket or unplugged. Except the kettle. Unplugging the kettle is a flogging offense.

For some bizarre reason, our kitchen is set up so that the kettle, the toaster and the steriliser (i.e. the three most-used appliances) are sharing the same two sockets. So almost every time you go to use one of them, it's plugged out. Drives me mad ... must really sort that out!

kneemos · 15-05-2014 9:36am

Snotaul Goodman wrote: »

My housemate keeps flicking the cooker and heating off at the isolators on the wall straight after shes finished with them. She won't even turn off the knobs on the oven. Being an electrician by trade, I know this is not good despite me telling her.

I may have to kill her

A lot of people do this,it ensures nothing is left on.Better than having the grill catching fire.

Zebra3 · 15-05-2014 9:37am

Unplug.

If you leave your tv on standby, it is using something like 30-40% of the power that would if it was turned on.

Waste of money and really bad for the environment.

For people that don't care, read up on what happened in West Antarctica earlier this week.

Turning off v Plugging out

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