The 10 most common places people lose the TV remote

Up to two million people have left their TV remote in the fridge, according to a recent survey.
Now where did I put that pesky remote?
Amazon PR handout
Andrew Williams6 September 2023

Smart-home tech may have done its best to kill the TVremote control, but it’s still the most commonly used gadget in many households, and one that is easy to lose.

Polling company CensusWide has undertaken research into where UK folks most often lose their TV remote. And while the top result won’t surprise anyone, the list may give you a few ideas the next time you find yourself on the verge of pulling your hair out as you look for the thing.

Top 10 places to lose a remote

Here are the top 10 places the surveyed people typically misplace their TV remote:

  1. Under the sofa (43 per cent)
  2. Among the sofa cushions (43 per cent)
  3. In plain sight (33 per cent)
  4. On the coffee table (18 per cent)
  5. In the bed (16 per cent)
  6. On the bookshelf (10 per cent)
  7. Under the rug (eight per cent)
  8. In a clothes pocket (eight per cent)
  9. In the kitchen Cupboard (seven per cent)
  10. In the bathroom (six per cent)

This January 2023 survey was commissioned by Amazon, and had 2,000 participants.

Blowing up these numbers to cover the entire 52-million-strong population of the UK and you can weave some eye-opening stats. The survey team also asked what unusual places people had found their remote, and the results suggest up to two million people have mistakenly put it in the fridge.

If we work out the numbers, this suggests around 75 of the 2,000 survey participants claim to have found their remote in the fridge, and 56 of them discovered the remote in the bin. And, to be fair, we can picture both of these scenarios.

Here’s the full list of the “unusual” places folks admitted to finding their remotes:

  1. Toy box
  2. Dog bed
  3. Fridge
  4. The bin
  5. Handbag
  6. Microwave
  7. Car
  8. At work
  9. Make-up bag
  10. Washing machine

While 36 per cent of participants say their kids are often to blame for the remote’s disappearance. And a rather disturbing 10 per cent of people claim to lose two remotes a year, for good.

Amazon commissioned this rather frivolous survey to support its new Alexa Voice Remote Pro. It can emit a sound via voice command so you can tell whether your remote is under the sofa, in the dishwasher, or somewhere even more peculiar.

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