There’s nothing I hate more than people doing the wrong thing “just because” they’ve always done it. In this case, blasting movies, games or music on their smartphones to eat up all the battery until the device shuts off, because that’s the only “safe” way to charge it.

To reverse a popular Coles refrain, electricity prices in Australia are going "up, up, up" with seven out of 10 Australian households paying too much for electricity. To help you save, Choice have launched a new tool known as the Choice Transformer that can save consumers, on average, around $500 a year.

With USB-C becoming a default standard for connectivity and charging, there's no shortage of new accessories hitting the market. Belkin's Belkin USB-C Charger delivers 45W of juice - which is more than what many of the chargers that ship with today's notebook computers and tablets offer - in an attractive body that undercuts the price of replacements from many big companies.

On Christmas Day in Australia, fewer people are at their paid employment and more working premises are closed than on any other day in the year. How does this affect demand for electricity, widely seen as fundamentally associated with economic activity?

iOS: It used to be that when I went out late in the city, I'd play a rousing game of "How long can I keep my phone alive so I can listen to music on the way home?" I would throw my phone into aeroplane mode, turn the brightness down, and hope it would last until I made it back to my apartment.

Apple has since improved the way it handles battery life, though it doesn't do everything it could to ensure your phone stays on. There are a few more tricks of the trade you can use to keep your iPhone alive as long as possible. Here are nine foolproof options.

I spent a decade working in the Australian energy industry. So last week's tweet by Elon Musk, that he could “fix” Australia’s power issues by installing enough battery powering 100 days was intriguing.

You've probably been told a million times that a squat doesn't count unless your thighs go parallel to the floor, or deeper. But it turns out that the opposite -- tiny "quarter" squats where you only move several centimetres -- can have major benefits.

One of the major benefits of using one of the two models of Raspberry Pi Zero, including the new wireless model, is the lack of power consumption. This is handy for mobile projects where you're running off a battery. The addition of Wi-Fi draws a little extra power. Raspi.TV breaks down the specifics.

Power strip are a large, awkward, and difficult if you need to use your gadgets while you charge them. The PowerCube ditches the bulk, and gives you plenty of outlets in a compact package, making it easy to plug in your devices while you use them around the house. Here's why I love it, and why I think you will, too.

We've shown you lots of ways to save money on your power bills, from the drastic to the simple and easy, but the biggest energy sinks around your house are probably the big ones you use most often. This quiz helps you see which of your appliances or comforts uses more energy, and explains how much.

It's inevitable at some point that your smartphone will run a little low on juice. Which strategy is best for keeping your power topped up?

Most of us are accustomed to using PoE, or Power over Ethernet, for delivering electrons to wireless access points, IP telephones and other small network devices. But in a demonstration at Cisco Live 2015 we saw it do a little more.

Here are a few things you can do to make your lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries last longer, whether they be used in an electric car, a large home installation -- such as Tesla's newly announced Powerwall -- or in your portable device, such as a smartphone or laptop.

Tesla's Powerwall is a great concept -- with the potential to reduce electricity costs, tie in with solar and create a smarter, distributed power grid. But how long will it take to actually save you money?

Hey Lifehacker, With all the discussion recently about the pitfalls of buying cheap micro-USB wall chargers off eBay or from markets, what is the best way to buy a fast charging but safe charger, without paying a fortune for it?

Blackouts in Australia are on the rise. A compilation of outage reports by industrial manufacturer Eaton found that in 2014 there were 201 power outages across Australia and New Zealand, up from 162 the previous year.

It sometimes seems as if AA batteries breed when left alone in dark drawers around the house. As children rip them out of toys as they run out of juice the dead ones without charge get mixed up with the new ones. And somehow a working battery tester or multi-meter is never to hand to test them (and may even have had its batteries purloined for use in something else).

A decent surge protector is an important piece of equipment in any office or entertainment centre. They don't last forever, though, so make sure to purge your surge every few years to keep your electronics protected.

Often, when someone buys a new refrigerator, they will take the old working fridge, move it to the garage and leave it plugged in. That's a huge waste of energy. Keep it unplugged unless you actually need it.