When going on vacation there are a myriad of things that need to be taken care of at home to ensure that the week or so that you are out does not become a disaster. One would think that leaving for a short period of time would not cause as much trouble as it does, but between ensuring pet care, that your plants are watered, all your perishables are consumed but you still have things prepped for your return, you have clean clothes and you have given your house a once over, it can be easy to forget the things that are a fire hazard in your home and waste your money on electricity that you are not using.
To be fair, most of these things should not be on even when you are home all the time, as unplugging unnecessary things can reduce your overall electric bill and make you a lot more conscious of the energy that you are using, but we understand that if there are things that you use every single day, like your toaster, plugging it and unplugging it can seem like a massive waste of time and not worth it at all. But if you are going away, these small but convenient things can become a fire hazard if there is a surge of power or they just malfunction, and it is better to just not risk it.
What you should unplug if you are going away on vacation this summer
These things may vary depending on your household and the length of time that you will be away, as it is not the same to go away for the weekend than to go away for a month. The level of detail will have to be a lot more thorough if you go away for longer.
The first thing is the easy ones, like chargers and computers that are plugged in all the time for no reason, especially if they are not on or charging anything. Any power strips that are empty or connected to TVs and consoles should also be unplugged. In fact, this is the time to make sure that all your games are saved and that you can turn off your devices completely and give them a reset (do not forget your password to be able to turn them back on or you will be quite mad).
Anything that is not an essential and has a pilot light should be taken off the grid, like your microwave, aforementioned toaster, kettle and even your coffee machine. I you are going away for a long-ish period of time, you might want to consider unplugging bigger appliances, like the washing machine, and in an ideal world you would also be able to disconnect the fridge and the freezer, although these are harder to do as you might still have some food inside or have chosen to grocery shop with longer lasting items to make your return smoother.
If you have pets, you might consider leaving a fan on instead of the complete climate control system, but that depends on the insulation in your home and how affected they would be by the heat. If you choose to do this, please do ensure that there is someone coming to check in with them every day and to ensure that the power has not gone out.
The OCU (Spanish Consumer Organization) reports that by unplugging unnecessary things when leaving your home, you can avoid many instances of standby consumption, which typically accounts for 10% of your home’s energy consumption, or the equivalent of €7.50 per month, so consider using some of these tricks even when you are at home.