Turning off - how much could I save

mrs_mug_2

We have been making a huge effort to turn everything off at the wall when we aren't using it. TV has gone from being on all day to on for just mornings and evenings. Computers get turned right off at the end of teh day, lights are turned off when we' leave the room (got energy saving lightbulbs in most of the house though so if we are returning to that room we leave them on). I've also cut down the use of the tumble dryer as much as I can.

So how much could this save do you think? Will I notice an improvement in our electricity bill next quarter or wll the difference be minimal?

cattie

I remember being told that a tv left on standby instead of being unplugged when not in use can cost an extra £12 per year in electricity.

I've always carried out the energy saving methods you mention, so have no idea of the potential savings you may make, but you should save a reasonable amount over a year.

saving_is_fun

I have been trying to cut back on electricity consumption lately by doing all the things you mention and our last quarterly bill was £31 less than for the same period last year. In my opinion you really can see a difference.:j

wigginsmum

I'm looking forward to seeing what savings we've made - we've switched to energy-saving lightbulbs, switch everything off at the mains, and haven't used the tumble-drier for 2 months.

penrhyn

Why not take weekly meter readings, make a simple spreadsheet and work out your own weekly costs, you'll soon get a feeling for what you are saving, and not get nasty shocks when the bills roll in.
BTW, I found that turning off the microwave at the wall saves a few watts.

Cardew

cattie wrote:

I remember being told that a tv left on standby instead of being unplugged when not in use can cost an extra £12 per year in electricity.

I suppose it is possible that very old TVs could use that £12. However that means left on standby 24/7 it would be consuming 17 watts. Assuming you use the set 4 hours per day that would mean a standby consumption of over 20 watts.

Modern TVs use a tiny fraction of that amount and their standby consumption left on 24/7 is measured in pence per year. I have 3 TV's(32" Sony, 25" Panasonic - both about 5 years old - and a new 32" LCD) and if I left all 3 on standby 24/7 the cost would be £2 a year.

In fact there is a great deal of mis-information about the cost of most standby consumptions. Before the howls of protest let me say everone can do what they wish about switching off at the wall, thats their choice, but please don't exagerate the savings.

IvanOpinion

The calculation for standby is pretty simple. If you can find out the wattage of the item (usually on a sticker or in the instruction manual) then multiply this by 24 hours and then by 365 days that will give you the total watts per year. Now divide the answer by 1000 to convert to kilowatts (which is what you are charged for) and multiple by pence per unit you should find out the cost to run i.e.

power consumption X 24 X 365

---

X pence per kWh
1000

Therefore something using 10 watts will utilise about 87.6 kwatts per year or about £8.76 at 10p per unit. Anything with a heating element is what you need to be aware of (e.g. kettles, tumble dryers, washing machines, cookers, heaters etc.)

If you use something for X hours per day or week then you can also calculate that in a similar manner by working out the number kwh used per annum.

Ivan



[EDIT] acknowledgement and credit to cardew for pointing out (twice) my school boy error in the above .. now fixed.