Easy TV mistake everyone makes that could be adding £25 to bills

YOU could be wasting unnecessary money every year because of one simple TV mistake.

As it turns out, switching your TV on with a remote could set you back £25 every year - but there's a way to cut that cost down.

Ian Palmer-Smith, director of service from Domestic and General says if you leave your TV switched on at the wall and turn it on and off with the remote, it could be costing you up to £25 extra per year.

He says: "Choosing to turn your TV on by remote control will cost you roughly £25 a year.

"That's before you add on things like a Sky TV box or other receiver boxes which can cost almost the same amount on top."

Switching your TV on with the remote uses more energy because it's just on standby rather than completely off, which means it still uses energy.

To save that money, you're best switching it on and off at the wall.

The TV is a vampire appliance which means it still uses energy when it's off but plugged in at the wall.

Other examples include the washing machine, fridge or dishwasher.

But even if you can't reach your socket to manually flick it off every time, there's a way around that.

Mr Palmer-Smith added: "Standby savers, or energy-saving plugs, work with your remote control.

"The device blocks power from moving through the socket to the appliance.

"These are pretty handy if your sockets are in hard-to-reach areas."

When we had a look, a pack of three standby savers cost £27 from Argos - currently down from £30.

These work with high radio frequency which means you don't need a clear line of sight to turn off vampire appliances like your TV.

You can also buy these for £15.99 off Amazon.

But don't forget about added delivery costs if you order home.

Alternatively, if you'd rather look somewhere in person, you can find your nearest branch using the store locator on the retailer's website.

Power-saving or eco mode works by making your TV adjust its brightness level whenever the room is light to make sure it's not using more power than necessary.

It could shave up to £15 a year off your energy bill, on average.

Of course, it might not be called power-saving mode depending on the model you have or how old your TV is - but it's worth checking the settings.

And how much you save won't be the same for everyone - for example the bigger the telly, the more expensive it is to run.

But there should be options to turn on an energy-saving setting regardless of which TV you have.

And while it likely won't save you a substantial amount of money, unplugging the TV altogether is another way to reduce bills.

Many of us leave things plugged into the walls or with the red standby light still glaring away even after we've powered it down, but this means it continues to suck energy.

Don't forget about energy-saving tips when you're buying a new TV either.

There are still a couple of things to keep in mind to help you reduce your bills in future.

First of all, the size and type of screen you use will impact your running costs.

In general, the smaller the TV, the less it will cost you to keep on, but the type of TV matters too.

If you're buying a new TV, you should also look for the Energy Saving Trust's recommended label.

That way, you can be sure you're buying a TV with optimised energy-saving features.