How much does it cost you in electricity to run your computer?

ybbon66

I've got my OWL monitor nearby and it is set for the rate we have.

Right now I have my laptop on and a dekstop (450w PSU), not sure what else is on, probably TV, tivo box, HD box and a couple of things on standby including my wife's laptop.

Current cost is 5.283p/Hr I think when we got it we turned the PC's off and the rate was down to 2p/hr or something. We're on EDF's fixed until 2014 rate.

This is an OWL +CM160 which was easy to setup, but not sure how it works in flats as the sensor is on the input on our meter which for me is easy to get to, oh and it was £35 or so at B&Q so maybe more expensive than the equivalent at maplin

Anyway, just my 2p (or 5.283p ) worth.

Dave_C_2

Norman_Castle wrote: »

8. To the person who said check you've got your monitor set at the right rate - umm - I'm not exactly sure how to do that.

Until you have set the unit price the costs will be meaningless. Have you read the instructions?

This had me baffled as well until I read this post. If I understand correctly by "monitor" you mean the Maplin power meter, not the PC Display.

Dave

A.Penny.Saved

The_Fear wrote: »

Hi all,

Thank you for your replies. Newbie alert - I don't seem to be good at being able to reply in the right place and/or quoting your text. Sorry about that. Please tell me how to use the forum threads correctly if you wish

To reply to some of the above.

1. Yes I have checked that other flats aren't using my energy.

2. Turns out EoN had me on the wrong rate; after a couple of credits my bill should now average £85 from August to Feb.

3. The heating bill isn't right when you consider that I live in an 18ft by 9ft studio; I'm pretty sure that most of the heat is going straight out of ill-fitted windows. I've asked my managing agent to address this as part of signing a new lease.

4. I know that leaving heating on is dumb, but given the above, if it's not left on, it's near-on impossible to warm the place up (old oil filled wall heater, takes 6-8 hours).

5. Re: 4) - I need to find a more energy efficient method of heating the place.

heating all day is wasting a lot of heat and doesn't benefit you. It might be worth trying a convector heater with a timer to turn itself on half an hour before you arrive home. Make sure that it is in a safe location, well away from anything that could fall over and cover it by accident.

6. Yes it's possible Maplin sold me a pile of junk (I had to get on the damn floor and use the torch on my phone with ALL the lights on to set and read it); it's also possible I mis-read the unit rate because it's not exactly clear. It read 2035 which I took to be 20p but I guess could be 2p an hour?

Unlikely to be 2p an hour, if only, everyone would want that plan. Electric is around 12p a unit depending upon location sometimes with a higher rate for the first few hundred units, typically 20p. If your paying 20p for every unit then your on a high priced plan.

7. Low energy bulbs sound the way forward, but are they as bright? Given the dismal lighting levels, I'm considering ordering the 'mother and child' lamp from Amazon, which reviews say give off amazing light levels.

It depends upon the wattage. They can be purchased from around 4/5 watts which provide a small amount of background light to about 23 watts which are very bright which I got from Wilkinsons. 20 watts are the more common largest sizes. I use 2 x23 in my kitchen, 20 watts inside the front door and top of landing and 2x15 watts in the lounge when I need more light. Mainly I use a 5 watt wall light behind a ceramic shade which provides a small amount of background light while watching TV etc.

They provide a different spectrum to filament lamps and they don't suit everyone. All artificial light provides a different spectrum to daylight so is not an effective substitute.

The_Fear wrote: »

Re 2. - that's £85 a month. And yes, I am looking at other energy providers as I got lumbered with EoN and they won't move me from a prepayment meter to a normal direct debit account until October. Having the power go out at 10pm at night when you're fully lathered up in the shower and having to feel your way downstairs in the pitch black to a communal meter cupboard is something I only want to experience ONCE in my lifetime.

You never know, you might meet the woman/man of your dreams while covered in soap suds.

esuhl

Notmyrealname wrote: »

How do you come to that conclusion?

I have an energy meter.

Norman_Castle

This had me baffled as well until I read this post. If I understand correctly by "monitor" you mean the Maplin power meter, not the PC Display.

I mean the Maplin energy monitor http://www.maplin.co.uk/batteries-and-power/mains-electrical/power-and-energy-monitors not the pc display.

The_Fear

Thanks again for all your replies. In answer to some:

1. Yes I did set the unit price on the Maplin power meter (and yes, that is the gadget I am referring to).
2. Regarding wasting heat, just to reiterate: during the coldest winter months, I really had no choice. Please bear in mind the lack of natural daylight - without keeping the heating on (and I had it on a very low setting), a) my clothes took four days to dry and b) I would return to a flat that was so cold that it took 6-8 hours to warm up each night. So I'd be shivering all night, and it would just about be warm enough by the time I was ready to go to bed. I'm not happy about wasting so much heat and electricity (not to mention the environmental effect) and have addressed the issue of ill-fitting windows with my managing agent.
3. If anyone has any bright ideas on how I would prove exactly how much heat is escaping from these windows to the builder they send, I'd love to hear them.
4 . Stupidly, I also have a convector heater. But because it's ugly and gets in the way of everything, I didn't use it all winter. I am using it now!! It heats the room up marvellously. I even get too warm (the oil filled radiator never had that effect). However. Within 15 - 45 minutes of turning it off, the room returns to nearing-outside temperatures. The room is not holding the heat at all.
5. EoN have me on a standard pre-pay charge of 13.2p per unit plus a 30.3p per day standing charge. Electricity consumption seems to have gone down considerably in the last few days (whether that's because they took me off the Economy 7 charge which they found was wrong for me, or because I'm being tighter with heating and/or using the convector rather than the oil-filled is anyone's guess).
6. I'm switching my account to British Gas, which according to uSwitch and the like, will be saving me at least £90.00 a year. Additionally, I only have to be with them before 28 days before they'll switch me to a direct debit account and will not charge for a new meter (unlike EoN and Scottish Power who both insist on a year on pre-pay before changing meter - or you can do it sooner with SP if you want to pay £43 for a meter). I have used 2840 units over a 193 day period. Finally;
7. This will reduce the chances of meeting the man of my dreams whilst covered in soap suds - what a shame.

macman

The_Fear wrote: »

Thanks again for all your replies. In answer to some:

1. Yes I did set the unit price on the Maplin power meter (and yes, that is the gadget I am referring to).
2. Regarding wasting heat, just to reiterate: during the coldest winter months, I really had no choice. Please bear in mind the lack of natural daylight - without keeping the heating on (and I had it on a very low setting), a) my clothes took four days to dry and b) I would return to a flat that was so cold that it took 6-8 hours to warm up each night. So I'd be shivering all night, and it would just about be warm enough by the time I was ready to go to bed. I'm not happy about wasting so much heat and electricity (not to mention the environmental effect) and have addressed the issue of ill-fitting windows with my managing agent.
3. If anyone has any bright ideas on how I would prove exactly how much heat is escaping from these windows to the builder they send, I'd love to hear them.
4 . Stupidly, I also have a convector heater. But because it's ugly and gets in the way of everything, I didn't use it all winter. I am using it now!! It heats the room up marvellously. I even get too warm (the oil filled radiator never had that effect). However. Within 15 - 45 minutes of turning it off, the room returns to nearing-outside temperatures. The room is not holding the heat at all.
5. EoN have me on a standard pre-pay charge of 13.2p per unit plus a 30.3p per day standing charge. Electricity consumption seems to have gone down considerably in the last few days (whether that's because they took me off the Economy 7 charge which they found was wrong for me, or because I'm being tighter with heating and/or using the convector rather than the oil-filled is anyone's guess).
6. I'm switching my account to British Gas, which according to uSwitch and the like, will be saving me at least £90.00 a year. Additionally, I only have to be with them before 28 days before they'll switch me to a direct debit account and will not charge for a new meter (unlike EoN and Scottish Power who both insist on a year on pre-pay before changing meter - or you can do it sooner with SP if you want to pay £43 for a meter). I have used 2840 units over a 193 day period. Finally;
7. This will reduce the chances of meeting the man of my dreams whilst covered in soap suds - what a shame.

If you'd said that from the start, the problem would have been obvious! E7 charges you a premium rate outside the cheap rate hours (7 hours between midnight to 8am, depending on region), so all your heating (unless overnight) was being charged at that premium rate. E7 is used mainly for properties with night storage heaters, it's not intended for heating with convectors or oil filled rads. Typically peak rate E7 will be 33% more expensive than single rate.

The_Fear

Hey, give me a break, I'm new to all of this! I lived in an all-inclusive flat for three years and I'm having to painstakingly educate myself about all things utility.

And you may well be right re: Economy 7, and that is pretty much what EoN said, but I've kept every pre-pay receipt and refund receipt and it still averages out at £85.00 a month including what they have recently refunded after switching me back to a standard tariff. AND they told me the refund I received in October for still being on the same rate as the previous tenant was actually too much.

Can someone tell me how you post replies with a comment highlighted please? As I'm on a money-saving mission, I've a feeling I'll be sticking around.

esuhl

The_Fear wrote: »

Can someone tell me how you post replies with a comment highlighted please? As I'm on a money-saving mission, I've a feeling I'll be sticking around.

You use quote tags in square brackets. If you click the "Quote" button, your reply will be pre-populated with the relevant post (excluding any quotations made by that user), enclosed in quote tags (which in this case will include the name of the user and a link to the quoted post at the start of the quotation).

Here's a list of other tags you can use to mark up your posts:
https://www.vbulletin.com/forum/misc.php?do=bbcode

I haven't tried many others, but I assume they all work on vBulletin systems.

Norman_Castle

Can someone tell me how you post replies with a comment highlighted please?

You can cut and paste into the reply box, then highlight and click the Wrap

icon.