More than 3.5 million Italian workers are returning to smart working after the holidays, bringing back into their homes a daily and often invisible source of consumption: computers, monitors, routers, printers, docking stations and battery chargers left on or in stand-by beyond working hours.
The scale of the drain is measurable. Looking at the period from August 2025 to July 2026, the average monthly consumption of the most common devices in a smart-working day — laptops, monitors and routers — reached almost 38 kWh, about 15% of the total average monthly consumption of a household. The peak came in March, when consumption exceeded 62 kWh.
To help workers make a more efficient return to home-based activity, a set of recommendations focuses on efficiency, comfort and sustainability. The first is to set the monitor to switch off automatically after a few minutes of inactivity, while the computer can enter sleep mode during longer breaks. A screensaver, by contrast, does not reduce consumption.
A second measure is to turn the workstation off completely at the end of the day. Computers, monitors, speakers, printers and docking stations should be fully switched off, especially at night or on days without smart working, because stand-by accounts for nearly 20% of daily consumption.
Phantom consumption can be cut by connecting devices to a power strip with a switch, allowing the power supply to be interrupted with a single gesture. Adjusting monitor brightness to match ambient light can improve visual comfort and help contain consumption.
Air conditioning also matters: it can help to cool only the room actually in use, to use timers and programming, and to keep doors and windows closed while the system is running. Placing the desk near a window, avoiding reflections on the screen, reduces reliance on artificial lighting, while leaving space around the computer and air vents helps prevent overheating.
These small adjustments come in a context where attention to household consumption has become part of Italians' daily habits, also following the impact on energy costs caused by developments in international crises. According to the latest Pulsee Luce e Gas Index, 96% of Italians said they had adopted at least one measure to reduce energy consumption. Seven in ten said they had reduced daily consumption by paying greater attention to waste, 45% had shifted consumption to cheaper time slots, 40% relied on efficient appliances, and 87% considered it essential to monitor household consumption carefully.
Digital tools are also helping. The Energimetro, an app-based service developed by Pulsee, analyses the consumption of individual appliances, making visible what was previously hidden. Constant, simple and intuitive monitoring — also thanks to the many tips provided by Elio, a virtual assistant — helps raise awareness of consumption habits and can lead to savings on bills of up to 10% throughout the year.