Spill the beans... on your extreme energy saving tricks

rogerblack

ListysDad wrote: »

That depends. If you have 'proper' on/off switch (by that I mean one that you can feel switches like a light switch and NOT a touch for on touch for off version) then it mostly doesn't.

If you have those low voltage power supplies (wall wart) that plug into a socket and then a thin cable goes to your appliance you can do a simple test to ascertain whether it does still run when it's off. If it's heavy for its size then more than likely it contains a transformer. When this is turned off no current flows. If it's lightweight then it's more than likely what's know as a switched mode power supply and these DO still use current even when the appliance is off so it's best to turn these off at the socket. This last one INCLUDES ALL COMPUTERS!

Just be careful about inkjet printers tho. Mostly, it is best NOT to turn these off. That's not for power reasons but the cost of ink. Each time you turn a printer on it uses the ink for anywhere between 50-200 pages of printing! At any price it's best to leave it on. IMHO!

David

This isn't quite correct - plug-in 'wall warts' - the sort with transformers in do actually use power when they are not loaded. The amount depends on a number of factors - in some cases, they can waste almost as much power unloaded, as unloaded.

Switched-mode power supplies vary greatly in load, with modern ones (under 3 or so years old) tending to be well under a watt for small ones off-load.

In short - don't guess. Get an energy meter off ebay or wherever for under 10 quid, and measure every single appliance you own.

As a quick test. If it's not using significant amounts of power (under a watt) a wall-wart won't get noticably warm, it will feel cold.

There is another reason not to unplug printers.
It may be some time between uses.
While it's true - purging the cartridge at switchon uses a lot of ink - worse is if the cartridge is not purged automatically every week or so - this may mean that it stops working totally!
In the case of some printers with non-replaceable print-heads, just ink-tanks, this can mean you need a new printer, if not left switched on.

Colsta

I can add to the discussion consideration of Hypermiling techniques to save fuel when driving (e.g. www.hypermiler.co.uk)

Most of my house tips have been covered off elsewhere. However the advice about closing curtains to preserve warmth in winter is sound, but often overlooked is the reverse also works in summer to keep your house cooler i.e. close the curtains/blinds on the sun facing side of the house. I use a few well placed pegs to provide enough airflow for ventilation whilst reducing the bulk of the passive solar heating.

Also when I used to live in a multi-level town-house I saved a lot of heat by putting a door or at least hanging a curtain on the drop above the bottom stair to each level. It stopped the heat shooting up into the top of the house/stairwell void.

One other tip - and it's surprising how easily this is overlooked judging from what I've seen - is NOT to have your fridge/freezer in the vicinity of (I have seen adjacent to) your oven!

As a left-fielder I'll also throw in that you can cool your beers in hot, dry weather using evaporation by wrapping them in a damp towel left out of sunlight but in a well ventilated spot. The dry breeze whips the moisture off the towel and cools nicely provided you keep the cloth damp. I was able to drink cold beers in Las Vegas by sticking them out on a window ledge out of the sun - and yes it was too high for the opportunists to reach

rogerblack

macwah97 wrote: »

Am very interested in your solar kit of ebay....can you provide a link? thanks

Similar to this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20-Tube-Solar-Panel-Water-Thermal-Heater-Collector-58mm-Tubes-/130588059907?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Hearing_Cooling_Air&hash=item1e67a7a903

Also needed will be a small pump, I used a 12V hot-water rated pump, also from ebay, which is on a time-switch.
The loop to the cylinder is filled with anti-freeze.
Some means of dumping the heat is also required, in my case, this was a 'anti scald' valve in series with the hot water tank, with a radiator, and a restrictor in parallel with the hot water tank.
In normal use, the anti-scald valve had a low pressure drop. When the temperature in it got too high, it shut off, and forces the water through the radiator.

songsinger

We have used a gas kettle for years, have a gravity feed shower with no electrics and water straight off the gas heated system, and when I bought my AAA rated automatic washing machine, I had to trawl the net for a hot and cold feed machine, to be able to fill from main system rather than use expensive electricity to heat the wash. Hot fill only works at a stated 60 degrees, but it is possible to set it to fill for a supposed 60 wash, then switch down to 40 after five minutes, before it has got too hot.
How many people realise that electric Kwh cost around 3 times as much as gas Kwh?

t0rt0ise

LauraFox wrote: »

Reduce boiling time by soaking rice in hot water for at least 20mins beforehand,

Using the 1 for 2 method.. ie one cup of rice with 2 cups of water, bring to the boil, put the lid on, turn the heat off and leave. It cooks really quickly with no more boiling at all.

Same with potatoes, and eggs, and other things. Just cover with water, bring to the boil, turn off and leave. With a bit of experimentation with the timing you can do all sorts.

rogerblack

t0rt0ise wrote: »

Same with potatoes, and eggs, and other things. Just cover with water, bring to the boil, turn off and leave. With a bit of experimentation with the timing you can do all sorts.

This doesn't work with potatoes, if you heat it fast, simply as in a full pan of potatoes, about a third of the pan is water.
If you bring it to the boil fast, only the surface of the potatoes is hot, while the insides are still cool. (especially for the ones at the top)
Turning it off, the temperature equalises throughout, and the pan cools moderately.

For stuff that's quite large, and you can't stir, bring the pan to a boil, and turn down the ring down gradually over several minutes, so it never makes much steam, but stays boiling. Then you can turn it off.

songsinger

matelodave wrote: »

Earlier this year I got an energy monitor and was astonished at how much power was being used when most stuff was turned off. I managed to persuade my wife to turn off her laptop, printers and screen overnight - this saved about 60watts continuous drain = about £30 a year (coz she still leaves them on all day), not a lot but useful. However there still seemed to be a lot being consumed so going round and turning absolutely everything off I discoverd that the cooker (induction hob with touch panels & oven timer) was consuming 70w when not being used = £70 a year. So we turn that off now after the meal has been cooked. So for the cost of a £40 energy monitor we are saving about £100 a year - not a bad return:j

I discovered that my ever so efficient AAA rated washing machine had a glowing pilot light that was burning 35w: That meant it was using more between washes than when actually in use. The monitor I used was not one of the fancy ones that clips to the mains cable and sends a signal- all using batteries. It was one that, though you could get more info if you put batteries in, you could also simply plug it in between socket and appliance, and consumption was easy to see.

t0rt0ise

rogerblack wrote: »

This doesn't work with potatoes,.

It works for me. Maybe it depends on the variety of potato.

prettypaula

i stay in hotels often with work, and i always take my gadgets with me to fully charge while im there (tablet, mobile, laptop)

i also rarely charge my phone at home, i work in a field based job and use my car to charge.

we have just installed window panels in the living room and the doors to the conservatory to stop drafts, and a curtain above our front door as this really is where we lose the most heat.

any more tips on keeping this draft out is welcome!

Swipe

I don't own a tumble dryer and dry my clothes in my conservatory if there's any chance of rain. My parents use the same trick but use their greenhouse instead.