Flick that Switch!

lillibetdripping

Over on the 'T thread, but it's not the T thread', GQ gives her daily usage of electrickery as just under 3kw. Like other posters, I have only ever managed to get as low as 5 per day.

I'm not sure what else I can turn off during the daytime when we are all at work/school. Lights, internet, boiler - everything gets turned off.

But here's a thought.......

IF I turn the electricity off at the mains from 8.30 - 3.00 p.m will I have to use more energy for the fridge to get back up (or down:o) to temperature, which will bump up the daily usage?


Not sure if I have explained this properly:o

Lilli

imogen-p

Although not as low as this (leccy summer about 6kwh and winter about 8kwh per day, and gas about 2kwh in summer and up to 25kwh in winter - that was for when it didn't get above freezing even in the day time for about a week last Dec)

Personally I wouldn't turn the fridge off in the day, I don't think you'd save much by doing that, and there's always the possibility that some of the food couple spoil and that would cost more than a few pence.

Fridges don't use that much leccy anyway.

An old very ineffiecient fridge would be about 500kwh per year, and newer model about 220 to 300kwh per year. Which works out (at 14p per kwh (average of the first higher and lower rate) 500kwh = £ 5.83 per month 250kwh = £2.91 per month.

There are some new models that use about 185kwh per year.

An average fridge will use less than 1kwh per day.

http://www.ukpower.co.uk/tools/running_costs_electricity/ this is handy for working out just what an applience uses.

So turning even a very energy inefficient fridge off for 8 hours a day is only likely to save about £1.90 per month, and more likely, being as the average for a newer fridge is about 250kwh it's only likely to be about half this, so less than a £1 a month.


Changing from old style bulbs to energy efficient ones will make a bigger saving over the year.

Would turning the internet off overnight as well as while out be an option?

Also I think how much energy used will depend to some extent on how many people there are in the house using it. Mine has three people in it, one being a toddler who's not out of nappies yet, so lots of washing. If GQ house is only her then that might explain why it's lower that a lot of other peoples.

I guess what I'm saying is that it might not be possibly for everybody to get usage that low. As say a family of 4 with young children is going to use more that one person who's out at work from say 8 until 5.

Bongedone

Turning the fridge off would not save anything as it will take the same energy to get back to cold. You also risk that the fridge may have an early death due to shock.

Keeping the fridge well stocked makes it use less energy but make sure that air can flow. I just fill mine with soft drinks etc. You can use scrunched up newspaper in the freezer.

Keep the grills on the back free of dust by vacuuming now and then and also make sure its not pushed right against a wall.

Also a fridge oppoarates most efficiently when not frosted up.

If you wanted your fridge to look like an eyesore you could always tape polystyrene to the sides and front to reduce heatloss. Don't block the grills on the back.

DebtFree2012

I too wouldn't switch the fridge off - replacing spoled food or worse, being ill due to off food isn't worth it.

We are a family of 4 plus a dog - I am very tight, I mean, economical with the electrics but sadly my family are still in training. We use a wood burner instead of heating as much as possible and sometime I need to use the tumbler due to bad timing of yoghurt on each uniform set that I can't shift with baby wipes!

We use apx 12 a day for both gas and elec at this time of year. I have gas combi, gas oven and combi powdered shower.

I'm off to verify this now....questioning myself on useage.

We work FT and there house is occupier from 320pm ish to 730am weekdays and all weekend.

GreyQueen

lillibetdripping wrote: »

Over on the 'T thread, but it's not the T thread', GQ gives her daily usage of electrickery as just under 3kw. Like other posters, I have only ever managed to get as low as 5 per day.

I'm not sure what else I can turn off during the daytime when we are all at work/school. Lights, internet, boiler - everything gets turned off.

But here's a thought.......

IF I turn the electricity off at the mains from 8.30 - 3.00 p.m will I have to use more energy for the fridge to get back up (or down:o) to temperature, which will bump up the daily usage?


Not sure if I have explained this properly:o

Lilli

:o Ooohhhhhh I is Famous!

Well, the GQ household is me alone in a microscopic one-bed flat and my leccy-using appliances are;

1. B rated undercounter fridge (which has a lower consumption than a more modern A rated fridge of same capacity).

2. Countertop A rated freezer.

3. Desktop PC with "EnergyStar" CRT monitor.

4. Small ghetto-blaster-style rad/CD player.

5. Washing machine used 1-2 times a week.

Random small electricals;
iron (on for 10 mins a week if I'm unlucky)
Electric toothrush
Shredder - used briefly once a week
Stick blender.
Sewing machine- not much used.
Gollum the Slowcooker (new householder member used 4 times in 2 weeks since arrival).

The chief difference between my home and most peoples' homes is that normal people have TV and I don't. Cos I'm weird. Think they are pretty hot on the juice esp the flatscreens.

My kettle is on the gas stove, I have 5 ceiling lights on low energy bulbs plus one uplighter; also low energy. Typically, I only light the room I'm in.

What else? If I'm going to be away from the PC for a few mins I press off the power button on the monitor. Other than that, I just potter about my business. Don't do anything like turning fridges off for a spell although I have considered it but thought it would shock the compressor and hasten it's demise.

What I do is if am going away for more than a couple of days I'll run down the fridge, defrost and leave switched off with the door propped open (important otherwise risking moldy fridge).

Leccy consumption used to be well under 2 kWh per day and I attribute the increase to hanging out on MSE Forums.:D

((But you're all worth it!))

Love and peas, GQ x

valk_scot

I don't know about daily usage but I knocked 20% off my electricity bill last year simply by getting utterly fanatical about switching lights off when no-one was using a room, not leaving anything on standby and only running my washing machine after midningt, on our off peak tarrif. This last might be an option for everyone of course but we've got no neighbours to annoy, we can't hear the washing machine ourselves and we have a good fire alarm system.

I think getting energy consumption down is like any other form of moneysaving...there's no one big solution but there's lots of little solutions that soon add up to a considerable difference. Using lower wattage-equiv bulbs for example, using one less fewer light in a room (my neighbour runs two overhead lights plus seven side lights in her lounge!!!), using a very low energy night light in the hall rather than leaving a bulb on all night, switching off thinfs properly, not leaving unused chargers plugged in at night, not running the washing machine half full, dropping the temp at which you wash by one setting, showers instead of baths (if your hot water is heated by electric), not constantly boiling the kettle, using a tumble drier as little as possible, hot water bottles instead of electric blankets, dropping the central heating thermostat by a couple of degrees and not having heating on at night or during the day, if out. (For electric CH of course.) Every little helps, but remember it's (a) anything that heats is a high consumer and (b) anything that's used a lot or all the time is ditto. The sewing machine or electric toothbrush are unlikely to be pushing electricity consumption up much, though you could always switch to a treadle sewing machine and normal toothbrush if you were really cutting down, of course!

crumblepie

I'm on a prepayment meter and usually use under £5 a week on the electric. Sorry haven't a clue what units that is - but I live on my own and work full time - so I'm out of the house 5 days a week

The only thing running 24hours a day is the fridge. All my light bulbs are energy saving. I have the laptop and tv on for a few hours a day. The oven might get used twice a week for a 'big cook' then the meals are microwaved. I've got a gas hob but electric oven and try and throw as much as possible in the oven at once or do one pot things on the hob. I haven't succumbed to a slow cooker yet:D Everything is unplugged and turned off if I don't need it.

I probably do two loads of washing a week - mainly on a 40C, but I do bedding and towels on a 60C. Things are thrown on an airer as I don't have a tumble drier.

And that's it. One thing I have noticed over the past couple of weeks when I've had the cental heating on is that the boiler is using a bit of electric. Not a huge aount of electric but something that I have to keep an eye on and has added £1 or 2 over a week.

RAS

GreyQueen wrote: »

:o Ooohhhhhh I is Famous!

Well, the GQ household is me alone in a microscopic one-bed flat and my leccy-using appliances are;

1. B rated undercounter fridge (which has a lower consumption than a more modern A rated fridge of same capacity).

2. Countertop A rated freezer.

3. Desktop PC with "EnergyStar" CRT monitor.

4. Small ghetto-blaster-style rad/CD player.

5. Washing machine used 1-2 times a week.

Random small electricals;
iron (on for 10 mins a week if I'm unlucky)
Electric toothrush
Shredder - used briefly once a week
Stick blender.
Sewing machine- not much used.
Gollum the Slowcooker (new householder member used 4 times in 2 weeks since arrival).

The chief difference between my home and most peoples' homes is that normal people have TV and I don't. Cos I'm weird. Think they are pretty hot on the juice esp the flatscreens.

My kettle is on the gas stove, I have 5 ceiling lights on low energy bulbs plus one uplighter; also low energy. Typically, I only light the room I'm in.

What else? If I'm going to be away from the PC for a few mins I press off the power button on the monitor. Other than that, I just potter about my business. Don't do anything like turning fridges off for a spell although I have considered it but thought it would shock the compressor and hasten it's demise.

What I do is if am going away for more than a couple of days I'll run down the fridge, defrost and leave switched off with the door propped open (important otherwise risking moldy fridge).

Leccy consumption used to be well under 2 kWh per day and I attribute the increase to hanging out on MSE Forums.:D

((But you're all worth it!))

Love and peas, GQ x

The other biggie here is that if I recall correctly all the heating and hotwater are provided by a communal system?

Winchelsea

I'm using about 18 to 20 kWh of electricity a week at the moment, so not too bad - but it is only me in the house.

I turn off everything I can when not needed - internet goes off as soon as I've finished for example. Some folks will tell you you 'have' to keep it on all the time, but, no way for me, seems so wasteful, and it doesn't cause any problems.

One thing that does frustrate me is that the house has a burglar alarm, installed by the previous owners. I've made the mistake of trying to switch it off, but any break in the electricity supply causes the thing to go off at annoyingly high volume. And there are those "magic eyes" in all the downstairs rooms whose little red lights come on as soon as the sensors detect any movement, all of which is consuming power.

I hate the thing, and technically keep it switched off all the time, but obviously this leaves it just on a lower level of alert. Grrrr!

Does anyone else use iMeasure by the way? I log in every Monday with my gas and elec readings - does help to concentrate the mind. It's giving me an 'A' rating at present, but that will undoubtably go up once I switch the central heating on (still managing without it).

rising_from_the_ashes

GreyQueen wrote: »

The chief difference between my home and most peoples' homes is that normal people have TV and I don't. Cos I'm weird. Think they are pretty hot on the juice esp the flatscreens.

That's interesting.

I got my gas & elec statement today - I've been worrying a bit about them as have been housebound for the past 8 weeks following surgery and was wondering what difference this would have (usually out for around 9 hours/day).

The gas is fine (1 unit less used than estimated) and I've been very lucky that it's been so mild as haven't needed the heating on which was a big worry.

However, the elec is way over (193 units) - I put this down to spending most of the day on the laptop (compared to about 1 hour max usually) and again the TV/Sky has been on nearly continuously:(.

A bit frustrating but not a huge amount I can do about it as there's only so much reading/knitting I can do!:)

Alex-Riley.

I use a lot of leccy cos I'm well lazy everything is left on standby i can't remember the last time i switched something off (apart from my fairy lights) at the wall