Leeds residents save £8,500 with energy monitors
People in Leeds cut their energy bills by a total of more than £8,500 last year by using monitors borrowed from their library, the council has said.
The monitors clip on to the electricity supply and display how much energy certain gadgets use.
The council said the 363 residents who used the monitors had collectively saved £8,775 in a year, an average of £24 each.
Leeds City Council said the figure was calculated for "typical households".
Twenty-eight libraries are lending the monitors, which show how much energy kettles, toasters, games consoles and chargers cost to run and how much energy is used when they are on stand-by.
The financial savings also equated to preventing 38,169 tonnes of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere.
Councillor Tom Murray said: "We can't do much about increasing electricity prices, but we can help people trim a little from their bills by making sure they use energy wisely.
"By making changes that save money, we're also benefiting the environment by ultimately reducing the city's carbon emissions."
The Energy Saving Trust said households in the UK spend up to 8% of their electricity bill by leaving appliances on standby which, nationally, is equivalent to the annual output of two-and-a-half large power stations.