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Thoughts please

whilst attempting to reduce our electricity consumption (we have no gas) via our Economy 7, im of the opinion that we could put timers on the fridge and freezer and "chill/freeze" them down to a max (minimum temps) on nite rate leccy and have them off between 08.30am and 01.30am with no great problem due to temperatures inside

or should we turn them to the "warmest" setting and have em on 24/7 ?
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Comments

  • You will end up cycling frozen and slightly defrosted food, probably not the best idea. Fridge/freezers, new ones anyway, use about 220kwh a year I think, which is less than 1kwh a day, less than (?)10p a day? The biggest culprits will be your heating and hot water, anything which heats water up (or bricks if you have those horrible storage heaters). We had an immersion heater and an electric shower, didnt have a bath at the time and found 30 minutes for immersion heater was plenty for daily washing up and washing hands etc
  • we have NSRs...........been off since may

    im not taking the next bill lying down, BG have screwed for the last time

    on Economy 7, on websaver 8, got an energy monitor

    most hot water is night rate, the washers on a timer (cold fill)

    family hate me now, i can see when they switch stuff on
  • 11 days leccy avg £1.54 a day so far

    and ive tiled the bathroom, put shower rail up ready for a shower to be fitted, £80 shower, £200 fitting...
  • Premier_2
    Premier_2 Posts: 15,141 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    whilst attempting to reduce our electricity consumption (we have no gas) via our Economy 7, im of the opinion that we could put timers on the fridge and freezer and "chill/freeze" them down to a max (minimum temps) on nite rate leccy and have them off between 08.30am and 01.30am with no great problem due to temperatures inside

    or should we turn them to the "warmest" setting and have em on 24/7 ?

    Neither.

    Only using them at night will mean the temperature inside of the fridge will certainly be too warm after a few hours and the freezer temperature will probably too, especially if you open it.

    Set the thermostat to ensure the interior temperatures are correctly controlled and leave the appliances on 24/7 allowing the termostat to do it's job. As previously mentioned, the fridge freezer won't cost a fortune to run anyway, unlike the £280 you've apparently splashed out on the huge electricity consumer, the electric shower :eek:
    "Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 2010
  • unlike the £280 you've apparently splashed out on the huge electricity consumer, the electric shower

    we arent able to use the "overnight/cheap rate" water in the hot tank for 2/3 baths per night (its a) not enough and b) gone cold/cool) so we end up putting the immersion on in the eveneing for baths only. whats the cost of that? surely a 9kw shower used for 15 minutes per night (2.25 kwh) at .09p/unit (20p per night) is cheaper than 2.0hrs use of the immersion (3.5kw, 30p per hour = 60p), ok its a long time to claw back the £280 at 40p per night (700 nights) but savings are instant and i may get the installation cheaper
  • £1.50/day over a 6 month summer bill = £275

    when it gets a bit cooler ill switch on 1 NSR for 2 days to collate the costs
  • Premier_2
    Premier_2 Posts: 15,141 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    we arent able to use the "overnight/cheap rate" water in the hot tank for 2/3 baths per night (its a) not enough and b) gone cold/cool) so we end up putting the immersion on in the eveneing for baths only. whats the cost of that? surely a 9kw shower used for 15 minutes per night (2.25 kwh) at .09p/unit (20p per night) is cheaper than 2.0hrs use of the immersion (3.5kw, 30p per hour = 60p), ok its a long time to claw back the £280 at 40p per night (700 nights) but savings are instant and i may get the installation cheaper


    2-3 bath fulls per day? :eek:

    You seriously need to think of ways to reduce that to save both energy and water.

    Perhaps the installation of a shower head would help? (Not an electric shower, but a shower head driven from the existing water supplies/taps)
    Or just don't fill the bath so full.

    If you really need to use use that amount hot water, consider a larger tank. These are especially built for those with E7 to ensure maximum use of cheap rate electricity. I used to have one that was about 5 foot tall! Plenty for 3 baths.

    If the water is going cold within 24 hours (assuming you are not using it), then consider getting some better insulation for the tank (although most new tanks now appear to come already insulated)
    "Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 2010
  • maxmycardagain
    maxmycardagain Posts: 5,853 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 6 September 2010 at 4:49PM
    3 adults = 3 baths

    im not using 1 bath for all of us

    the loft wont take a 5ft tank

    the tanks new and insulated

    what use is a showerhead/mixer if the hot waters cold?

    water consumption isnt a worry, we arent on a meter, and its been lashing it down here
  • BTW, per bath we put about 9" of just hot in, not fill it
  • previous nights E7 used 3 units with immersion and washer load

    last night with 1 NSR on a 1/3rd charge and 1/3rd room setting it used 10, 7 more or 28p

    tonight the bricks should have some retained heat and it should use less, hopefully 20p or less

    with all 3 on that equates to 60p per night, if we use them from mid sept for 6 months thats £109

    plus the day rate useage of £273 = £382

    last year the same figure with a duff timeswitch for E7 was £560
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