most expensive electrical items in a average house ?

SuiDreams

Just like to add, that we got a new oven last year and the manual states 0.75KWH, but have not tested this to check.

digimortal_2

try this site.. i found it quite useful working out kwh per cycle on our dryer..
http://www.sust-it.net/home.php

BagOfSpanners

I've had one of those CurrentCost power monitor things for about a month, and this is what I've learn't about the power consumption of my house (may not apply to other people's houses):
- My elderly and smallish fridge-freezer uses an average of about 50W, which is quite a lot but not enough to justify replacement yet.
- The 2 computers that I leave switched on all the time each consume 80W.
- My CRT television consumes 80W, so I need to to be more careful about putting it in standby when I leave the room for a few minutes.
- My LCD computer monitors consume between 40W and 100W, so it's worth switching them off as soon as they're not needed as well.
- Things like toasters and microwaves consume a lot of power, but not for very long, so they may not be the best place to start when trying to reduce consumption.
- My central heating pump draws more than 50W.
- Nearly all my lighbulbs are CFLs, and the power they use is negligible compared to other appliances, for the moment at least. Incandescent bulbs consume energy at a scary rate compared to CFLs.

My conclusion is that if I want to reduce my power consumption, I should concentrate first on those applicances that are turned on for hours at a time. I don't have an electric shower, and I haven't used my electric cooker recently, so I can't comment on those.

EnglishStan

Take the watt of your appliance, times that by 0.001, then times that amount by the unit rate (£).

so a 1000w appliance at 17p/kWh would cost an mere 17p per hour.

Supercali

Don't use a 3KW Fan heater in a cold house in the Winter :eek: . We had no boiler last Winter but had to have heating on for the baby. The electricity bill was astronomical, about £80-100 a month more.

TimBuckTeeth

moonrakerz wrote: »

I am somewhat surprised by the bad publicity that tumble driers get, almost as bad as TVs left on standby ! A lot of it does appear to be based on apocryphal heresay (as above) rather than on any objective study.

Due to building work in my back garden we have not been able to dry any clothes outside this year. Some light weight stuff is dried on a clothes horse in doors, but I would estimate that 75% of our laundry is tumbled.
I read my meter the other day (following eon price rise), my average daily consumption for the last two months was 12.5kWh per day. My water heating is gas (and C/H) but everything else is electric.

The tumble drier (a new Bosch condenser) doesn't appear to be having much effect on my bills considering all the other appliances that are in use. .....

It is a fact that tumble dryers use quite a lot of power. With a vented type it is similar to having a fan heater (albeit on a low setting) pointing out of the window. If you are using an extra 2kW a day (the average electricity consumption is about 10kWh a day) then it is about £8 a month extra, which might not be that noticeable in the total bill, but is 20% extra and might be important to someone on a budget and can easily be reduced by drying clothes outside (weather permitting).

jscalow

Should I have the gas central heating on (small 2 bed flat, 5 radiators) or use a small oil filled portable electric radiator in the room I am in?

TimBuckTeeth

BagOfSpanners wrote: »

I've had one of those CurrentCost power monitor things for about a month, and this is what I've learn't about the power consumption of my house (may not apply to other people's houses):
- My elderly and smallish fridge-freezer uses an average of about 50W, which is quite a lot but not enough to justify replacement yet.
- The 2 computers that I leave switched on all the time each consume 80W.
- My CRT television consumes 80W, so I need to to be more careful about putting it in standby when I leave the room for a few minutes.
- My LCD computer monitors consume between 40W and 100W, so it's worth switching them off as soon as they're not needed as well.
- Things like toasters and microwaves consume a lot of power, but not for very long, so they may not be the best place to start when trying to reduce consumption.
- My central heating pump draws more than 50W.
- Nearly all my lighbulbs are CFLs, and the power they use is negligible compared to other appliances, for the moment at least. Incandescent bulbs consume energy at a scary rate compared to CFLs.

My conclusion is that if I want to reduce my power consumption, I should concentrate first on those applicances that are turned on for hours at a time. I don't have an electric shower, and I haven't used my electric cooker recently, so I can't comment on those.

I would switch off the computers when not being used. They use more power than the fridge and TV together, around £170 a year if on 24 hours every day.

almar_2

I would like to use my slow cooker to save money by cooking in bulk for the freezer but you have now got me wondering if it might be a no no ...

If I leave a slow cooker on for 6/7 hours what do you estimate that it will it be costing please.

TimBuckTeeth

jscalow wrote: »

Should I have the gas central heating on (small 2 bed flat, 5 radiators) or use a small oil filled portable electric radiator in the room I am in?

Which will be cheaper depends on a number of factors eg. how efficient your boiler is, how well insulated the flat is, the temperature you want in the room.
I would choose the gas heating as it is likely to be cheaper and allows a comfortable temperature in all rooms. Turn down the thermostatic control valves on the radiators (if you don't have then then try to get them fitted) in other rooms.