Getting your electric bill down to the bare minimum

uncommonadvice

Energy saving bulbs is a biggy. I've noticed a differencesince I've had the owl.

1carminestocky

uncommonadvice wrote: »

Hi All,

I got an "energy owl" free via a newspaper a few weeks back and I've found it absolutely amazing. I reckon I've decreased my usage by half since I got it. We used to leave our hot water on overnight before but I think I wouldn't be able to drop off to sleep nowadays if I knew it was on!!

I was wondering if any of you good souls could help me with a few queries:

* Will it harm our Sky box if we turn it off at the wall overnight? Will any scheduled recordings on the Sky plus still tape?

* Can Wifi safely be turned off overnight?

* I have one of those phones which charges up in a holder and then we can walk about with it when someone calls - can that be turned off overnight?

* I've heard that keeping the fridge full uses less electric but it is only me and my fiance in the house. What could I put in my fridge to bring the cost down? (Or is this just an old wive's tale)

I look forward to hearing your views. I think I can get my monthly bill down to £11pcm (Supplier is Utility Warehouse).

I'm sure there are people thinking it but not daring to say it but sod it - if you are with Utility Warehouse, why not look at their cash back card and see if the retailers it grants 5% discount off your bill at commensurate to your spend would fit in with your current shopping profile? For instance, we regularly shop at Sainsburys for groceries and fuel and our discount off this month's bill amounted to over £35. Whilst it's very good practice to try and use less leccy by looking at where it's being wasted, if you shop at the shops on the cash card's 'list' then potentially that could reduce your leccy bill to nowt (it's apparently happened already to some customers, who have received negative bills this month). Just a thought.

PS Some very good advice on here already which should definitely be taken on board as well.

uncommonadvice

Thanks 1carminestocky but I found Sainsbury's much too dear.

ic

I recently got an owl monitor and was shocked to learn:
- my induction hob used approx 100W on standby - this is waiting for a single "unlock" button to be pressed and lighting an LED!
- my Panasonic microwave used 60W on standby, just to run the clock.
- the dishwasher uses 30W when its finished a cycle and waiting to be switched off.
- the paper shredder uses 20W when its waiting for paper to be inserted.

I know switch off the microwave and hob when not in use, and I'm always concious to return to the dishwasher and switch it off.

I've halved the standby of my house from 350W to 170W. The only things on now are the TV/Freeview/Amp, 3xCordless Phones, Fridge Freezer, Oven, Combi Boiler, Alarm Clock, WiFi Modem. I can't bring myself to switch off any more, individually they don't use much, or the inconvinience of switching them off/on all the time is too much.

Karmacat

ic wrote: »

I recently got an owl monitor and was shocked to learn:
- my induction hob used approx 100W on standby - this is waiting for a single "unlock" button to be pressed and lighting an LED!
- my Panasonic microwave used 60W on standby, just to run the clock.
- the dishwasher uses 30W when its finished a cycle and waiting to be switched off.
- the paper shredder uses 20W when its waiting for paper to be inserted.

This is really interesting. I had no idea about the paper shredder! Mine is a cross cut from Ryman's, and the instructions say to use it for 2 minutes every 18 minutes. In future, I'll make sure I switch it off at the mains in those waiting gaps.

Kittikins had an interesting idea too about not using 2 charging units. I do wonder about the economics of it, tho. Has anybody with an energy owl got any info on that?

Mind you, I do something similar with my hot water, in the summer anyway (well, kind of similar). I switch the hot water on for half an hour every two days! Its a big new tank, only installed last year, and that amount of water does me for 3 or 4 bowls of washing up (I like hot, *fresh* water) and a bath. And I have an electric shower for standby.

moonrakerz

ic wrote: »

- my induction hob used approx 100W on standby - this is waiting for a single "unlock" button to be pressed and lighting an LED!
- my Panasonic microwave used 60W on standby, just to run the clock.
- the dishwasher uses 30W when its finished a cycle and waiting to be switched off.
- the paper shredder uses 20W when its waiting for paper to be inserted.

ALL of those figures are ridiculously high. Either you are not reading the monitor correctly or it is not very accurate. Probably the latter, it cannot measure a very low current so just comes up with a silly reading.

uncommonadvice

What is your credentials Moonrakerz?

greyteam1959

uncommonadvice wrote: »

What is your credentials Moonrakerz?

Moonrakerz credentials are........common sense for one.

Those readings are absolutley silly......they cannot possibly be correct.
An induction hob using 100w on standby !!!!!!!
A microwave using 60w to run an LED clock !!!!!!
Never mind using a fancy gadget to measure power consumption......get the instruction book out or look on the net......the information is there !!!

moonrakerz

uncommonadvice wrote: »

What is your credentials Moonrakerz?

My credentials are:

1. Common sense
2. 40 years as an engineer

Based on 1: Turn on a conventional 100W light bulb, leave for 15 minutes, put your hand close to it - you will notice it is VERY hot.
Switch off hob at mains, leave for two hours (to allow any residual heat from cooking to dissipate). Switch on at mains to "standby" condition, leave for 15 minutes. Put your hand close to it - ON it, even. It will not be hot or even warm - as it would be if it was consuming 100W.
Based on 2: I know it won't use 100W in standby.

I will say again - the figures quoted are ridiculous: no sorry - they are ludicrous as well !

Many of these energy monitors are next to useless or regrettably people DO NOT know how to correctly interpret what they see on the monitor.

penrhyn

The accuracy of an Owl or Electrisave monitor is not specified below 1 amp, this equates to 230 watts. So below this it will give erroneous results.
The Kw display is only to two decimal paces so the smallest increment you will see is + or - 10 watts.
To accurately measure the consumption of small appliances you need a plug in wattmeter.