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

williamro

C Mababejive said:-

5) Always fill kettle from hot tap,especially if you have a stored hot water system

This is unlikely to save any energy as you will run off cold water before hot arrives and to restore the hot water used you will have to heat much more than is in your kettle. Granted in winter a small amount of this lost heat may heat your home but in summer it is completely wasted. If you are on a water meter you will be paying for any wasted cold water. The full picture will depend upon who is paying for the water in the hot tank and what fuels and tariffs are being used to heat this larger volume of water compared with the cost of running your kettle.


10) Stir water or liquids in pans and it will heat up quicker.

This is unlikely to make any saving except that you are less likely to burn the contents of the pan. If the flame is too high then the pan above the level of the liquid may become hot and thus heat liquid raised by stirring but if this happens the flame is too high and wasting energy.

tenuissent

When I wash up first thing in the morning, gasping for tea, I run the hot tap into the bowlful of plates until the water runs hot, then fill the kettle for boiling, then continue running the tap into the bowl to soak the plates. No wasted cold water. Quickly boiled kettle - it is heated by gas, being cheaper than electricity. I hid the electric kettle a couple of years ago. Gas may be a little slower, but definitely cheaper.

MartinWickham

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 discoverd that the cooker (induction hob with touch panels & oven timer) was consuming 70w when not being used = £70 a year.:j

This seemed too high to me, because a digital clock consumes next to nothing, so I checked mine. The consumption of the electronic clock of my gas oven is too low to register. However, the Panasonic microwave, just left on 'standby' only, consumes a massive 1.8kWh per 24 hours, that's 25p per day, or £90 per year!

GordonGowk

I'm enjoying a great thread here - keep up the good work. Here's a couple more I don't see mentioned.

Making coffee for just me - I just boil the kettle (with minimum amount of water) till it's hot, not boiling because I'm too impatient to wait for it and the only difference with the coffee is I don't have to wait for it to cool down. Bound to save at least 5p on the electric a year! Don't try it with tea cos it's horrible.

Draught Hunting - best done in freezing cold windy weather, pre-armed with silicone gun loaded with brown or white decorator's caulk and some loft insulation. With wet hands, check every crevice you can find in the house for a draught and seal up anything that feels like cold air is getting in. Many a Saturday night has been spent sealing draughts between skirtings and floors, around door and window facings, wherever pipework goes into pipe boxes,floors or walls, around toilet waste pipes, between floor boards, along the top of skirtings, around fireplace surrounds, and there was even a draught getting in under a hearth here. Open up pipe boxes and stuff them with loft insulation, seal up under kitchen cupboards, and everywhere else you can think of or find. Made a huge difference - the house is actually heatable now and no longer need the stove on full power all the time in cold weather.

Just bought some 3mm nova therm insulation paper to try out on a couple of freezing cold walls (yes I have been round the house with a lazer thermometer, you might think it's sad but I like it). Has anyone else here tried it? Can it go up with wall paper paste? Does it make a good difference?

GordonGowk

Another question I forgot to ask- I see the sky boxes can use a fair bit of power on standby. I have a sky plus box which sky says should be kept on all the time. I think it must use a fair bit of electric because it's always warm and hums constantly, but when I switch it off overnight the family all complain it won't work the next day. Seems to go again eventually - any suggestions?

everach

GordonGowk wrote: »

Another question I forgot to ask- I see the sky boxes can use a fair bit of power on standby. I have a sky plus box which sky says should be kept on all the time. I think it must use a fair bit of electric because it's always warm and hums constantly, but when I switch it off overnight the family all complain it won't work the next day. Seems to go again eventually - any suggestions?

I always turn mine off during the night or through the day if no one is in. It does take a short while to warm up again, but then TV's used to years ago didnt they.

Ive also noticed that it costs more to run when its on pause/re-wound and recording too.

Im not saying that its fine to turn it, off im not a sky expert, but mines seems to be ok from doing this and the kids get used to turning it on and being patient waiting for it to get going.

partan

jenniwat001 wrote: »

Cut the main wires (make sure you turn the electricity off at the mains first!) then but a smoke alarm NOT a fire alarm- smoke alarms work by detecting smoke, fire alarms by detecting rapid changes in air temperature, which it sounds like yours does. You can pick up smoke detectors for a pound or two in a £ shop. You can then ask the local fire brigade to install it to the mains (say the old one was cut by the decorator or you moved in and it was like that) or, juts pop it next to the old one and use batteries.

a little knowledge is dangerous in the wrong hands.
thats not money-saving, it's foolish.
Maybe safer to ask an electrician to replace the alarm with one suitable for the location.