Survey: Brits Wasting Millions Each Year on Electricity Bills

With winter approaching faster, more than 50 percent of households in the U.K. are worried at the task of paying power bills. They were never concerned as much about utility bills as they are today, said a survey conducted by Energenie, a maker of energy saving devices.

Despite severe economic condition, the researcher said, many households are wasting millions of dollars every year by failing to turn off electric bulbs (38 percent) and TV sets (43 percent) when not in use.

The researcher said its survey found out that a third of people leave their mobile phone charger plugged in when not charging, and a quarter leave the heating on when not in the house.

"We all know that we should be turning our electrical appliances off when not in use to save energy. And when we say off, we mean off - not on standby. However, the reality is that many of us simply don't make the effort," lamented Alan J. Tadd, managing director, Energenie.

He said 22 percent of them blame their spouse or partner for leaving the lights on and 21 percent blame their kids. Two out of five households mentioned home security as the reason for leaving lights and appliances on to make the house look occupied while they're out.Tadd continued: "Many people don't realize that by doing simple things such as turning your TV or DVD player off standby or unplugging your mobile phone charger when not in use can actually make a significant dent in your electricity bill."

The research by Energenie was conducted by Redshift among 1,000 U.K. households in October 2010.Energenie makes energy saving devices that offer to cut the amount of energy used in the home and also reduce the risk of fires caused by electrical appliances.