Vampire appliances: the electronics sucking your wallet dry

Name: Vampire appliances.

Age: There are old ones, and less old ones.

And what do they do? They suck your power. At night, mostly.

No, seriously, how much are we talking? Well, it might not be a lot per device, but over time they all add up. A recent study by British Gas estimated that as much as 23% of our electrical usage can be put down to so-called vampire energy, which means a national cost of around £2.2bn.

Funny, cos my grandma used to go round the house before going to bed every night, switching everything off at the wall because she thought the electricity would drip out of the sockets. In a way, she was right. Certainly ahead of her time.