Consumers 'saving money by using employers' electricity'

Consumers are adding to the money they can build up in accounts with the best savings rates by minimising the amount of energy they use at home, it has been claimed.

A new report published by uSwitch.com has revealed that a growing number of workers are using their employer's electricity for tasks like recharging their phones and gadgets.

It estimates that this can save employees approximately £110 a year on their electricity bill, although this costs UK companies an estimated £1.5 billion.

The study also found that people behave differently when they are likely to have to pay for the electricity their activities require.

It showed that people were less likely to leave the lights on at home and a significantly smaller group would leave devices plugged in while they were not in use at home.

The study found that 19 per cent of workers admit that they are not worried about wasting energy or resources at work as it is not their income that is affected.

Kevin Sears, energy efficiency expert at the price comparison website, highlighted the importance of taking steps to cut down electricity usage wherever consumers are.

He said that measures do not need to be complex and even simple steps such as turning off lights and not leaving devices on standby can lead to substantial gains.

Mr Sears said: "With energy bills rising consumers are becoming more energy efficient at home. However, when it's the boss' pocket and not our own, it seems that even simple energy efficiency measures go out of the window."

He added that by adopting measures that reduce people's energy consumption they will also contribute to improving the environment, which he said benefits everyone.

Another area of excess expenditure was recently highlighted by Santander, which found that a third of drivers are making weekly car journeys of half a mile are less at a weekly cost of £1.1 million.

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2011-11-21 12:08:30 © Moneyextra.com