Saving electricity - would socket timers be worth it?

HappyMJ

Andy_WSM wrote: »

But why?! The difference isn't even a penny's worth of electricity! You'll likely use more gas running a bowl of hot water - and won't get dishes as clean!

Saves quite a bit of water though...but it must be run daily with dishes that do not have any dried food on them i.e fresh from dinnner and all breakfast dishes from that day rinsed under the tap so instead of running it every other day on the "Normal" cycle the details of which haven't been quoted but it does cost about the same as Eco on mine it'll probably end up costing more.....and the quick wash doesn't dry the dishes so the glasses might end up streaky.

Andy_WSM

HappyMJ wrote: »

Saves quite a bit of water though...but it must be run daily with dishes that do not have any dried food on them i.e fresh from dinnner and all breakfast dishes from that day rinsed under the tap so instead of running it every other day on the "Normal" cycle the details of which haven't been quoted but it does cost about the same as Eco on mine it'll probably end up costing more.....and the quick wash doesn't dry the dishes so the glasses might end up streaky.

"Quite a bit" as in not even a penny's worth once you've allowed for a bowl of water for washing up?

Really? This is beyond money saving when you're looking at shaving a penny off here & there. What sort of lives do you have?!

HappyMJ

Andy_WSM wrote: »

"Quite a bit" as in not even a penny's worth once you've allowed for a bowl of water for washing up?

Really? This is beyond money saving when you're looking at shaving a penny off here & there. What sort of lives do you have?!

That's what I was trying to say earlier the Eco cycle is a bit of a con. People think it saves money when in reality it doesn't. It saves 2 litres of water takes much longer than the normal cycle uses lower temperatures and the dishes won't be as clean. I pay the extra penny for a quicker cycle, higher temperature and cleaner dishes.

macman

Kittykat85 wrote: »

The reason I've hardly mentioned it is because I've hardly used it.
I have gas central heating and a combi boiler. Heathing is controlled by an "always on" thermostat that is 16 during the day and 8 overnght. I've put it on manually for a total of about 6 hours to help my clothes dry ready or work.
As far as water heating goes I shower once a day for 10-15mins.
I use my dishwasher twice per week on Eco rather than washing up by hand daily. Boiler does come on as soon as hot water tap is tuned even if you only use a little to wash your hands etc.

I've used 108 units of electricity (I believe it's measured in KWh but I have no key to the electricity meter cupboard so can't check, I'll just be bugging the estate agent every month)

108kWh is only about £13 + standing charges. Yes all electricity meters measure in kWh. You must be allowed access to your own meter, enforce your rights. How else can you check your billing?
You are already a very low user, so in a modern and presumably well insulated flat, there's not a lot else you can do other than switch to the cheapest tariff using a comp site with your annual kWh figures.

jalexa

Kittykat85 wrote: »

I have gas central heating and a combi boiler. Heathing is controlled by an "always on" thermostat that is 16 during the day and 8 overnght. I've put it on manually for a total of about 6 hours to help my clothes dry ready or work.

Why is it on at 16 "during the day" if you go out to work?

Your usage is already so low that savings are quite difficult. However if you own the flat then a more capable programmable stat providing more switching periods (typically 6) could improve comfort levels (but not necessarily economy) by allowing an early morning boost, then low during the day followed by an early evening boost. You do want to be comfortable?

When you say "manually for a total of 6 hours", over what period and what stat temperature?

And to answer your posted question - no.

C_Mababejive

I have a 7 day digi timer on the main supply which feeds tv/dvd/sat box/router/and similar av things which cuts power from midnight to 0700. That has got to be worth it annually and if everyone did the same,on a national scale it would be good for the planet !

victor2

C_Mababejive wrote: »

I have a 7 day digi timer on the main supply which feeds tv/dvd/sat box/router/and similar av things which cuts power from midnight to 0700. That has got to be worth it annually and if everyone did the same,on a national scale it would be good for the planet !

Not all equipment powers up in the same state it was in when the power is cut. For example, if my DVD player is in standby and I cut the power, when I switch it back on, the DVD comes back in the On state, using more power than when it was in standby.
Modern TVs typically use less than 1W in standby. Mine costs me just under 20p a year to leave in standby, so I do!
What I do have is a PowerDown adapter with the TV in the master socket. When I switch off the TV with the remote, the Freesat receiver and Wii get their power cut, since they'll never be used without the TV on.

Broadband modems/routers don't always like their power being cut either. I believe it can cause them to go back to a relatively low speed for quite some time. But I'm by no means an expert on that and don't have such an issue with my cable modem, which I leave on 24/7 anyway as certain family members are know to access the internet when others are asleep!

Derivative

Yes.

When you get down into stuff on standby mode, you're well into diminishing returns territory.

A 1W appliance left on for a year uses about 9kWh per year.

Your timer plug probably uses more power to actually manufacture.

It would be interesting to see how many years we are looking at for breakeven.

In computer programming we call such stuff "premature optimization" - trying to increase efficiency without actually knowing all the variables.

Kittykat85

jalexa wrote: »

Why is it on at 16 "during the day" if you go out to work?

Your usage is already so low that savings are quite difficult. However if you own the flat then a more capable programmable stat providing more switching periods (typically 6) could improve comfort levels (but not necessarily economy) by allowing an early morning boost, then low during the day followed by an early evening boost. You do want to be comfortable?

When you say "manually for a total of 6 hours", over what period and what stat temperature?

And to answer your posted question - no.

Sorry, should have explained that better. I set it to 8 overnight (the lowest possible is 6), up to 16 from 6:30 until 8am then back down to 8. Set at 16 from 6pm until 10pm.
I live in a 3 year old, A rated flat and often have to fling windows open rather than worry about being chilly.
I turned it up to 20 on two occasions when my work clothes weren't dry (downside to not having a washing line!!) Even then boiler only kicked in for about 30/45mins as flat holds heat REALLY well.
Does that make sense?

mikemaple

We got one of these for out Plasma TV - no idea how much it saves - but it keeps my misses happy

https://energenie4u.co.uk/index.php/catalogue/product/STANDBY-SAVER-1

our biggest saver was to 1) wear jumpers and 2)get an electric oil filled radiator, this means if it's chilly we don't have to heat the whole house unless we want to - we can just heat the living room.

Draft excluders on the living room doors work well as do rugs on laminate - nothing like cold feet to make you feel cold and don't forget slippers ! (we got one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tesa-Under-Door-Draught-Excluder/dp/B000VD94QW/ref=dp_cp_ob_diy_title_0