I can't speak for the UK, but A big thing is that in the last 20-25ish years at least in a US home the big ones for me as far as efficiency improvements are

- CRTs got replaced by LCDs, and LCDs even 25 years ago were maybe around half the wattage

- CFLs and then LED Light bulbs replacing older filament bulbs.

- The switch from desktop PCs that might take 100-200W before even considering the screen, to Laptops that might use 50W on average.

With the smaller thought of:

- Set-top appliances like rice cookers and air-fryers that tend to be better for smaller everyday cooking than a full-on oven or stovetop.

And it's fun to think about, e.x. I remember when I had to move back in 15-ish years ago my parents (very politely!) complained about the power bill increase until I went ahead and did the one-time cost of switching all the bulbs I could to LED. That change alone managed to cover the PC, monitors, and TV I had at the time.

Realistically, your average citizen is using less power than they were even 40 years ago, even with all the additional technology they have.

> - The switch from desktop PCs that might take 100-200W before even considering the screen, to Laptops that might use 50W on average.

The total electricity consumption for computers is much higher then in the past. You just don't see it, because the consumption moved to data centers.

It's absolutely amazing that I can light my entire house for the same power draw as like one 100W lightbulb.

To me computers doesn't really have an effect on the data (for how much a computer costs, and how little time in the past it was used, considering the internet was dial-up and was the real cost of using it that made sure you weren't always online).

To me the difference is that we moved to more efficient ways to generate heat, more specifically from electric resistive heating to heat pumps. Both in home heating but also appliances (e.g. cloth driers).

And of course there is climate change, not only we generate heat more efficiently (an heat pump uses at least 1/3 to the power to generate the same amount of heat) but also the climate is less cold, thus less heat required. That is the big difference, not bulbs or computers.

Of course for nations that are more hot in the summer (e.g. my, Italy) the reverse applies, that is more power used because of air conditioning, that 30 years ago nobody had and now it's required since last summer was 25/38C outside for 2 months straight.

Industry got oursourced to China....

In terms of computing efficiency the big gain is that people use their smartphones drastically more than they do a personal computer at home, on average. And smartphones are hyper efficient compared to personal computers or laptops. An average use laptop will use ~30-60 times more energy than a once-daily charged smartphone across a year.

That also goes for people watching things on their smartphones instead of a 65" television.