UK's £74bn gadget mountain

Each home in Britain has 16 gadgets worth altogether £74 billion as technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous in our lives.

Research by first direct reveals the UK is now home to 400 million gadgets.

The rise in the number of gadgets is in part due to continual product development – leading Brits to ditch last year's phones and MP3 players for the latest models.

"This research indicates just how much the UK population relies on technology," said Chris Pilling, chief executive of first direct.

However, research by fool.co.uk show our love of gadgets is fickle.

It claims the UK has £23 billion worth of unwanted gadgets and electrical items collecting dust in draws, garages and the back of wardrobes across the land.

Some 41 per cent of people have videos or DVD players they no longer use and 32 per cent have mobile phone handsets they cease to use.

The advice for those not wanting to have hundreds of pounds of gadgets lying round the house is to shop savvily and not splash out the moment a product is launched. By waiting a few months, you can find the price often falls substantially.

"If you can hold out until the original hype has died down, you can make some significant savings," said David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.

"Often it can be better to bide your time until the euphoria surrounding the next must-have gadget dies down. The only must-haves you need, are long-term financial goals to keep you from being distracted by short-term temptations."

On average a gadget bought on launch now will be £87.20 cheaper than its original price – but the Samsung Blu-ray DVD Player BD-P1000 is now £324 cheaper than when it first hit the shelves in March 2006. Meanwhile a Nintendo Wii retails at the same price as a year ago.