Your Smart Speaker Could Be Costing You $500 a Year, Here’s How to Fix It Without an Upgrade
If you’ve been letting your smart speaker play music all day to keep your home feeling lively, you might be paying an extra $500 annually on your electricity bill. A new study from the University of California shows that always-on devices with streaming music features can draw more power than a refrigerator when left idle. For the average consumer, that’s a hidden $41.67 monthly charge just for background tunes. The fix? Switch your music source to a low-power digital radio or turn off the speaker’s microphones when you’re not talking. Otherwise, your love for seamless playlists is quietly draining your wallet.