[Misc] Suggestions to save energy this winter…

[Bozza]

Yes, gas for heating and water. The Loop app shows 0.1kWh per half hour overnight, hence wondering if that’s just the lowest energy use the app is capable of showing. I’ve simply multiplied 0.1 x 48 to get to 4.8kwh. Our “always on“ stuff is the fridge freezer, chest freezer, three tvs and set top boxes on standby, security camera, router and BT thingy plus a wireless mesh system with four discs and five google minis / homes. When we are away for a week and a half this month I’ll be able to get a better feel for it. Mind you, most of last year we had a hot tub as well

When I look at Loop for the last 24 hours, the lowest half-hour value I can see is 0.03kWh. It's at this value for most of the night, with some (relative) spikes of 0.08kWh which, presumably, is where the fridge freezer kicks in for a bit.

The first proper spike is 7:30-8:00 when the kettle and toaster were called into action, and it hit 0.2kWh.

So it seems your phantom usage is high, relative to ours. We've taken to turning everything off at the wall when it's not in use, including TVs, Google Homes and Echos. It's a slight pain at first, but you soon get used to it.

 

[Weststander]

10 to 14 full washing machine loads per week is ridiculous, how can you have 1 full load+ more each day of the week ?’
You must all wash trousers , shirts and hoodies/ jumpers every day which is mad.

4 of us. Bedlinen, towels are reused but are cold/wet after a relentless stream of showers/baths, work clothing, two of us are into exercise, a load of stuff from Hot Yoga sessions, my son does sports a couple of times per day often.

 

[Bozza]

re fridge freezer. we also have a tall fridge freezer which works well but must be circa 20 years old.
i have absolutely no idea what that would cost to run and what the savings would be if we binned it and bought a new one

We're kinda the same. When we became more energy aware we tried to figure it out, by turning literally everything else in the house off and observing the smart meter monitor but without something like this, I'm not sure how accurately we can really do it.

We looked at fridge freezers in Currys to get an idea of what new efficient appliances may use. From what I recall, most American-style fridge freezers were around 1kWh/day which I reckon must be a fair bit less than our old tall fridge freezer. It's quite a long payback period, but probably worth it.

(At some point recently, appliances were re-graded for energy efficiency meaning much of what you'll see in the shops may be rated D, E or F which looks kinda bad. Before the change these appliances would have been A+, so it's not as bad as it may appear and they'll still be considerably more energy efficient than older appliances)

 

[Since1982]

When I look at Loop for the last 24 hours, the lowest half-hour value I can see is 0.03kWh. It's at this value for most of the night, with some (relative) spikes of 0.08kWh which, presumably, is where the fridge freezer kicks in for a bit.

The first proper spike is 7:30-8:00 when the kettle and toaster will be called into action, and it hit 0.2kWh.

So it seems your phantom usage is high, relative to ours. We've taken to turning everything off at the wall when it's not in use, including TVs, Google Homes and Echos. It's a slight pain at first, but you soon get used to it.

Interesting. I’ll repurpose some smart sockets to power off tvs and set top boxes overnight to see what difference it makes.

 

[Ludensian Gull]

Just paid our electric bill, still do it the old fashioned way ( 3 monthly) sending in my own meter readings . 97 days, 734 kW works out at 7.5 kW a day I believe,so happy with consumption after reading comments on here. Only the two of us in the house but use oven and hob most days and have two freezers running..

 

[beorhthelm]

Interesting. I’ll repurpose some smart sockets to power off tvs and set top boxes overnight to see what difference it makes.

i'm a bit sceptical about smart sockets, they must be using an amount of power themselves. quick look up, a set top box is suppose to be 0.3-0.5W in standby. smart sockets dont seem to give power consumption, a socket using wi-fi, a LED status, monitoring, i reckon is going to be similar. interested if anyone has a real world number in use.

 

[mikeyjh]

4 of us. Bedlinen, towels are reused but are cold/wet after a relentless stream of showers/baths, work clothing, two of us are into exercise, a load of stuff from Hot Yoga sessions, my son does sports a couple of times per day often.

We manage about 10 loads a week for 2 of us! You're right though, we exercise most days, our out landscaping, gardening or other outdoor country stuff most days and volunteer on an RSPB reserve, while I reuse a lot of stuff, it needs cleaning eventually!

i'm a bit sceptical about smart sockets, they must be using an amount of power themselves. quick look up, a set top box is suppose to be 0.3-0.5W in standby. smart sockets dont seem to give power consumption, a socket using wi-fi, a LED status, monitoring, i reckon is going to be similar. interested if anyone has a real world number in use.

I agree, to an extent, there is a calculation to be done to understand if you're actually saving power. Zigbee/Z-Wave devices are a lot more efficient than WiFi sockets (3 or 4 times more so) so I wouldn't expect WiFi sockets to help at all. I also wouldn't want to load a load of devices on to one socket to achieve efficiency while risking safety!

More broadly we're actually close to 300kw per month but we do a lot of cooking so the oven and dishwasher are on a lot and we have 2 fridge freezers but that's because we have an hour round trip to a small co-op. Lifestyle changes would help us reduce but that's probably not something we will do....

 

[Since1982]

i'm a bit sceptical about smart sockets, they must be using an amount of power themselves. quick look up, a set top box is suppose to be 0.3-0.5W in standby. smart sockets dont seem to give power consumption, a socket using wi-fi, a LED status, monitoring, i reckon is going to be similar. interested if anyone has a real world number in use.

I am sure i have read that smart sockets are very low for power use - sky q boxes on the other hand appear power hungry.

 

[Tight shorts]

October total for Electric 307 kWh which I want to get lower, however Gas 47 kWh which seems super low. Still not put any heating on.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

Sorry, haven't read all 22 previous pages, just wondered if anyone had mentioned Christmas Lights, I'm guessing they'll be significantly fewer displays? Have to say I'm so against the commercialisation of Christmas and what it's become, I can only be pleased at any reduction and waste of a valuable energy resource, but hey, each to their own I guess?

 

[nicko31]

10 to 14 full washing machine loads per week is ridiculous, how can you have 1 full load+ more each day of the week ?’
You must all wash trousers , shirts and hoodies/ jumpers every day which is mad.

Family of 4, I reckon 4 loads a week. Many clothes don't need washing that often, especially in the cooler season

 

[Weststander]

Duplicate post

 

[Justice]

We're kinda the same. When we became more energy aware we tried to figure it out, by turning literally everything else in the house off and observing the smart meter monitor but without something like this, I'm not sure how accurately we can really do it.

We looked at fridge freezers in Currys to get an idea of what new efficient appliances may use. From what I recall, most American-style fridge freezers were around 1kWh/day which I reckon must be a fair bit less than our old tall fridge freezer. It's quite a long payback period, but probably worth it.

(At some point recently, appliances were re-graded for energy efficiency meaning much of what you'll see in the shops may be rated D, E or F which looks kinda bad. Before the change these appliances would have been A+, so it's not as bad as it may appear and they'll still be considerably more energy efficient than older appliances)

The only accurate way is to use a clamp meter this will tell what load any appliance is pulling this one is ok for the price

LAP AC/DC Digital Clamp Meter 600A

Order online at Screwfix.com. High accuracy and performance. Non-contact detector for voltage, current and resistance. Includes work light. FREE next day delivery available, free collection in 5 minutes.

www.screwfix.com

 

[Weststander]

Family of 4, I reckon 4 loads a week. Many clothes don't need washing that often, especially in the cooler season

I’ve always reworn outer clothing that’s clean.

It’s harder for us, an awful lot of sports clothing and associated drenched towels. Plus work clothing for 2 of the 4, one’s NHS …. used in clinical settings, all clothing must be replaced daily.

 

[Bozza]

Wondering about buying one/some of these or similar - https://amzn.to/3Uj2vNx - for very targeted heating.

I know electricity is far more expensive than gas per kWh, but it feels like running the central heating uses a lot energy more for the heat benefit received.

I think the CH uses 20-25 kWh, so an hour would cost £2 - £2.50, and when it's properly cold an hour is not going to make much difference.

The heater is 1500 watts/hour at full blast (an eco mode trims that back a bit) and the effect is considerably quicker. So running two, say, one in our lounge and one in the boy's room (the only two rooms we need to heat for much of the time) for 30 minutes each would cost about 52p in total. We'd then be able to have further 30 minute cycles (30 on / 30 off?) over a four-hour period to cost the same as one hour of gas central heating.

Is my thinking off on this?

 

[Deleted member 37369]

Wondering about buying one/some of these or similar - https://amzn.to/3Uj2vNx - for very targeted heating.

I know electricity is far more expensive than gas per kWh, but it feels like running the central heating uses a lot energy more for the heat benefit received.

I think the CH uses 20-25 kWh, so an hour would cost £2 - £2.50, and when it's properly cold an hour is not going to make much difference.

The heater is 1500 watts/hour at full blast (an eco mode trims that back a bit) and the effect is considerably quicker. So running two, say, one in our lounge and one in the boy's room (the only two rooms we need to heat for much of the time) for 30 minutes each would cost about 52p in total. We'd then be able to have further 30 minute cycles (30 on / 30 off?) over a four-hour period to cost the same as one hour of gas central heating.

Is my thinking off on this?

Not sure about the financial consideration - but just thought worth mentioning that my wife bought a small electric plug in heater for a bedroom last year for a similar price. When it arrived the branding looked off compared to what she thought she was getting (it came from China) ... it didn't have the markings on it to make it 'compliant' and we therefore didn't use it as concerned about having it plugged in and being left unattended. Maybe over cautious ... but best to err on that side when talking electrical goods that produce heat.

My wife tried to return the item for a refund but ended up going around in circles so it ended up in the small electrical items recycling container at the local tip!

Although the video for this one says Dreo UK ... the seller is very much from China.

 

[nicko31]

I’ve always reworn outer clothing that’s clean.

It’s harder for us, an awful lot of sports clothing and associated drenched towels. Plus work clothing for 2 of the 4, one’s NHS …. used in clinical settings, all clothing must be replaced daily.

Fair do's Weststander, I have a friend who is an anesthetist. So much washing...

 

[beorhthelm]

Wondering about buying one/some of these or similar - https://amzn.to/3Uj2vNx - for very targeted heating.

I know electricity is far more expensive than gas per kWh, but it feels like running the central heating uses a lot energy more for the heat benefit received.

I think the CH uses 20-25 kWh, so an hour would cost £2 - £2.50, and when it's properly cold an hour is not going to make much difference.

The heater is 1500 watts/hour at full blast (an eco mode trims that back a bit) and the effect is considerably quicker. So running two, say, one in our lounge and one in the boy's room (the only two rooms we need to heat for much of the time) for 30 minutes each would cost about 52p in total. We'd then be able to have further 30 minute cycles (30 on / 30 off?) over a four-hour period to cost the same as one hour of gas central heating.

Is my thinking off on this?

the thinking is sound, for targeted heating in a room or two instead of heating whole house up to a level.
wouldnt pay that much though. get a simple fan heater from Argos or supermarkets for half that. do you need the timer and other gubbins?

 

[Papak]

From the Hive website - not been updated in terms of energy costs it seems:

The Hive Plug uses an average of 40p per plug per year based on 10p per kWh.

Based on the current electricity price of 34p/kWh the annual costs of a Hive Active Plug is £1.36

Hive Active Plug | Smart Plugs | Hive Home

Turn your straighteners off and your music on from anywhere.

www.hivehome.com

 

[Papak]

Wondering about buying one/some of these or similar - https://amzn.to/3Uj2vNx - for very targeted heating.

I know electricity is far more expensive than gas per kWh, but it feels like running the central heating uses a lot energy more for the heat benefit received.

I think the CH uses 20-25 kWh, so an hour would cost £2 - £2.50, and when it's properly cold an hour is not going to make much difference.

The heater is 1500 watts/hour at full blast (an eco mode trims that back a bit) and the effect is considerably quicker. So running two, say, one in our lounge and one in the boy's room (the only two rooms we need to heat for much of the time) for 30 minutes each would cost about 52p in total. We'd then be able to have further 30 minute cycles (30 on / 30 off?) over a four-hour period to cost the same as one hour of gas central heating.

Is my thinking off on this?

This is basically along the lines of heat the person not the space. You are concentrating the energy use where it is needed - makes perfect sense.

If you have a Hive setup, you could control the heater based on the temperature. Probably equally possible with other equipment.