Researchers behind a survey of almost 3,000 people across the water have claimed that their result point towards the wasteful spend of £52 billion a year by Britons on gadgets that they simply “don’t know how to use”. The products that baffled the Brits include Blu-ray players, HDTVs and DAB radios.

Inspector Gadget, no doubt surprised and disappointed at the Sky-sponsored survey.

Indeed, the average Briton only uses half of the functions available on their gadgets, according to the by research by One Poll, who conducted the study on behalf of Sky HD.

“Almost half of the 3,000 people questioned by One Poll did not know that their HD-ready television needed to be connected to a high-definition device, such as a Blu-ray DVD player or HD service, in order to enjoy high-definition pictures,” says a report in the Telegraph.

The survey found that the average British consumer owns more than £3,000 worth of electrical goods, but it calculated that the UK ‘gadget gap’ – the difference between the amount people spend on their gadgets compared to the value of functions they actually use – is more than £52 billion.

We’re not sure how the Irish would fare in such a study – though considering we’re trying to get value for money on absolutely everything these days we’re guessing most people try and get the maximum out of their gadgets too – but the British survey certainly has the ring of familiarity on some scores. For instance, playing up to stereotypes quite nicely, only a quarter of men will ask for help with their gadgets, compared to 47% of women.

Meanwhile, almost two thirds of women will read the product manual when problems occur, compared to 54% of men. One worrying, if not surprising findings, is that 10% of IT experts admitted to hitting a gadget in order to try and make it work properly.

The Telegraph reports that the ‘gadget gap’ was calculated by dividing the average value of a person’s gadget collection by the average number of features people don’t know how to use. This total was then multiplied by the number of households in the UK to arrive at a figure of £52 billion.

So how much do you waste folks, remember there’s a prize for best comment of the month so unleash your tales of woe below.