Energy usage/bills

bobcat2 · 10 October 2016 at 9:53PM

Yep, agree that modern appliances are much more efficient than old ones but my TV is over 10 years old and although I didn't get specific standby usage for the model when I looked at it the best guess was that it was costing around [STRIKE]£12- £15[/STRIKE] £0.10 a year in standby. My sky box was bought for a tenner off ebay about 10 years ago so who knows how old that is! Also have my sons playstation, and 8 year old DVD player amplifier so altogether there could be there could be a £20+ a year standby energy usage.
I did actually work out the energy usage of my cordless phone (had a lot of time on my hands at the time) and if I remember rightly it was using around £6 a year and considering it was never used that was £6 a year for nothing.
I think my router costs something around £13 a year to run, so 3.5p or something a day, not exactly massive but worth switching off if you're away for a few days
Savings are fairly minimal but I think there's a good £2 - £3 a month to be saved by doing this kind of thing and I like seeing my bill go down, I used to pay £57 a month and now my direct debit is £26.32 a month gas and electric so all of the little savings have added up.
Just doing this alone wont go a long way but it all adds up.

bobcat2 · 10 October 2016 at 10:13PM

Lol I've just actually looked up the standby energy consumption of my actual TV and its 0.1W so less than 1 Kwh per year so less than 10p per year,:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
I still think all the other things I have as are using a more significant amount of power to make it worthwhile switching them off, and to be honest I like switching the whole lot off anyway:)

yellow218 · 13 October 2016 at 5:15PM

bobcat2 wrote: »

Hi Yellow218,
- Always switch things like the TV etc off when not in use instead of leaving on standby - i have put on one multi socket so just one switch to turn everything off.
- God rid of my cordless phone as it was hardly used and use a wired one which uses no power

Doing/done most of the things on your list. Having disagreements with the hubby about turning things off, he says leaving things on standby uses so little energy we wouldn't actually notice it on the bills, but in the mean time is a pain in the back side having to stick to the habit...... I'm secretly turning things off were i can/he wont notice.

Cordless phone. Why have i never thought of that!! Thats a very obvious one. we never use it. I dont mind leaving the router on as we are using BB alot, but we are charging a phone for no reason! good idea!

yellow218 · 13 October 2016 at 5:15PM

gfplux wrote: »

Why don't you read your meters weekly. Build up a pattern of your weekly usage.

Great idea!Thank you

EssexHebridean · 13 October 2016 at 7:51PM

yellow218 wrote: »

Great idea!Thank you

If you have an iPhone there is a rather good App called "Meter Readings" - designed by a chap called Graham Haley - absolutely brilliant for quick and easy comparisons from month to month, quarter to quarter and even year on year. I'm pretty sure it's free - or certainly only a cheapie, I wouldn't have it otherwise! :rotfl:

yellow218 · 13 October 2016 at 8:06PM

Thanks Essex Hebridean. I've had a look, its £1.49.

I like the idea, but i think i might try using the trusty spreadsheet first.

EssexHebridean · 13 October 2016 at 9:15PM

Ah I knew it wouldn't be much - think it was actually free when I got it. To be honest I should think you can probably write formulas into a spreadsheet to do the same thing anyway - I like the app because it's very visual which works well for me. I'm easy pleased! :rotfl:

choccyface2006 · 13 October 2016 at 9:43PM

We have just had a smart meter fitted by British Gas and I've become addicted to save energy now even though I thought I was pretty good before anyway.

I've replaced all the bulbs in the house with LEDs as seeing the meter jump up 5 bars from using just the 8 GU10 spotlights in the kitchen was a shock and fitted a new A rated shower, I have also knocked my landline call package on the head as we haven't used the phone for ages so I've taken out the three cordless phones which were permanently charging, I turn the fan oven off 10 minutes I take the food out to let the residual heat finish off the food.

I turn everything apart from the cooker (I use the timer so a pain to keep resetting), fridge-freezer and PVR off at the wall and bought tumble dryer balls for when I absolutely have to use the dryer (I dry outside whenever possible). I also only use the eco setting on the washing machine and it's A+ rated and often boil the kettle for dishes instead of heating a whole tank of water.

I am hoping to see a massive improvement especially now its getting colder and darker

Sarah

yellow218 · 13 October 2016 at 9:58PM

choccyface2006 wrote: »

... bought tumble dryer balls for when I absolutely have to use the dryer (I dry outside whenever possible).
Sarah

This may sound very naive. But what exactly are dryer balls, and how do they save you money?

Smodlet · 14 October 2016 at 3:57PM

When our new boiler was fitted, earlier this year, the plumber advised us to set the water temperature at 56oC. That sounded low to me but it has been absolutely fine, no issues at all.

Energy usage/bills

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free