{"id":1039,"date":"2026-05-04T21:02:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/?p=1039"},"modified":"2026-05-04T21:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:02:56","slug":"british-gas-ovo-edf-and-octopus-customers-warned-of-vampire-devices-adding-140-to-energy-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/?p=1039","title":{"rendered":"British Gas, OVO, EDF, and Octopus customers warned of &#8216;vampire devices&#8217; adding \u00a3140 to energy bills"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"rn-article-wrapper\">\n<style>.rn-article-wrapper{font-family:\"Source Serif 4\",Georgia,serif!important;color:#1a1a1a!important;line-height:1.65!important;max-width:720px;margin:0 auto;font-size:1.15rem!important}.rn-article-wrapper p{margin-bottom:1.5em!important;text-align:justify;hyphens:auto}.rn-source{font-family:\"JetBrains Mono\",monospace,sans-serif!important;font-size:0.75rem!important;color:#003087!important;text-transform:uppercase!important;letter-spacing:0.05em!important;border-top:1px solid #eee!important;padding-top:20px!important;margin-top:40px!important;font-weight:700!important}.rn-source a{color:#cc0000!important;text-decoration:underline!important}<\/style>\n<p>Energy experts have issued warnings to British households that standby appliances could be adding substantial amounts to their annual electricity bills, with phantom power consumption potentially costing families between \u00a380 and \u00a3140 each year.<\/p>\n<p>Research indicates that so-called &#8220;vampire devices&#8221; may account for up to 23 per cent of a household&#8217;s total electricity usage. These appliances continue drawing power even when they appear to be switched off, with standby lights and digital displays maintaining continuous electrical consumption. Gordon Wallis, an energy expert at Your NRG, explained that devices seeming to be turned off actually remain connected to the power supply, contributing to ongoing energy costs.<\/p>\n<p>The warning affects customers across all major energy suppliers in Britain, including British Gas, OVO, EDF, and Octopus. Energy companies have not disputed the findings regarding standby power consumption, though they have not issued specific guidance to customers about identifying or managing these vampire devices in their homes.<\/p>\n<p>The alert comes at a time when household energy costs remain a significant concern for British families. Energy bills are projected to increase by six per cent in 2026, adding further financial pressure to domestic budgets already strained by elevated energy prices in recent years. Industry analysts suggest that awareness of phantom power consumption could become increasingly important as households seek ways to reduce their energy expenses.<\/p>\n<p>The issue of rising energy costs and household financial pressures continues to influence political debate across Britain, with all major parties facing ongoing scrutiny over their approaches to managing energy policy and supporting families with utility bills.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rn-source\">\n    Reported by Reform News \u2014 Source:<br \/>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gbnews.com\/money\/british-gas-ovo-edf-octopus-vampire-devices-energy-bills-vampire\"\n        onclick=\"window.open(this.href,'source_popup','width=1100,height=750,toolbar=0,menubar=0,location=0,status=0,scrollbars=1,resizable=1,left=100,top=100');return false;\"\n        title=\"View original source\">GB News \u2197<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Energy experts have issued warnings to British households that standby appliances could be adding substantial amounts to their annual electricity &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reform-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thethinkingmachine.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}