How to use less Electricity?

WantToBeSE

I am sure there must be a 'saving energy' link somewhere on this forum, but cant find one!

We (my 2 children and I) live in a small (tiny) 2 bed terrace house.
We are on pre-pay meters (were here when we moved in last year).

I seem to be getting through approx £40 a month of Elecrticity, and i think this is too much.

I pay 12.275p per KW, and on average (looking at my prevoius 12 months usage) we use 250 units a month.

Anyway, i am looking at ways to reduce this amount. Do you please have any suggestions?

We have gas central heating, already make sure that the lights are tuned off as we leave the room (90% of the time, its hard nagging my 12 year old and 8 year every second of the day), i only fill up the kettle with how much water we need etc.

Any other tips please?

good_advice

£40 for electric sounds about right.
The biggest things to cut back on are the things that heat up.
Slow cooker instead of oven.
hot water bottle instead of electric fire.
How many hours the CH is on.
Clothes horse v tumble dryer.

Myself - I have just bought a Morphy Richards accents one cup instead of kettle £28. It is just persuading the family to use it now instead of boiling several mugs worth in kettle for 1 mug.

WantToBeSE

Thanks goodadvice.
I have always thought £40 a month isnt too bad, but i found myself jobless 4 months ago, and its becoming a struggle, hence the reason i need to cut down a bit.

I have put a slow cooker on my list for Christmas, and i am sure my sister will be getting that one

Th heating is normally on for about 2hours a day (1 hour in the morning, 1 hour in the evening), but its been creeping up over the last few days, as its getting much colder down here.

I dont use electric fires, as the expense isnt worth it, and we definitely use hot water bottles, fleece blankets etc to keep warm

The tumble dryer is a necessary evil to a certain extent, as the house gets very damp, and there is little drying space for my airers, although i do make sure i dont use the tumble unless i really have to.

grahamc2003

good_advice wrote: »

£40 for electric sounds about right.
The biggest things to cut back on are the things that heat up.
Slow cooker instead of oven.
hot water bottle instead of electric fire.
How many hours the CH is on.
Clothes horse v tumble dryer.

Myself - I have just bought a Morphy Richards accents one cup instead of kettle £28. It is just persuading the family to use it now instead of boiling several mugs worth in kettle for 1 mug.

I wouldn't assume a slow cooker costs less than an oven or hob for any particular meal. Lots of variables and it could well work out more expensive.

Ditto clothes horse instead of tumble dryer. The extra moisture in the air will cause more condensation as well as requiring more heat to raise the air temperature.

With a condensing tumble dryer inside your house, as well as drying your clothes, 100% of the energy used also heats your house. Modern dryers use much less than older types - ours uses 0.5kWh to dry partially line dried clothes - I'm waiting for a load straight from the washing machine since last time I measured the use it was 1 kWh which I'd like to recheck.

fannyadams

energy saving lightbulbs?
Look at rating plates on all electric appliances (it'll say something like 1000W or 1kW) this tels you how much electricity it uses. find the ones that have the highest number and they are the energy eaters. Unplug them and see if you really NEED them on.
for info - 1kWH is 1 unit of electricity used after 1 hour of use.
make sure NOTHING is left on standby - that little red light uses up LOADS of electricity!!!
could you borrow an OWL monitor from the library (some libraries lend them out for a small deposit) then you could see what costs the money...
good luck!
FA
x

tlh858

A slow cooker isn't a good option - while it has a lower power rating that your oven, it will obviously be on for many, many hours.
It is also hugely restricted as to what you can actually cook in it.

A better option would be a combination microwave, which will cook many things in a fraction of the time of your existing oven.

As for the tumble dryer - get rid of it. It is not an essential item for anyone.

molerat

My slow cooker uses 80/105 watts so less to cook a meal over 6-9 hrs than warming the oven up. I do use my Panasonic combi a fair bit as well though.

WantToBeSE

Thanks for the advice so far.

My tumble dryer is already a condenser, and only 3 years old.
I will check the slow cooker vs oven KWh usage, i cant afford a combination microwave.

I already use energy saving lightbulbs, and never leave things on standby, especially over night.

molerat

My oven uses 2.5Kw so 25 times the slow cooker. There are some good slow cooker posts on the old style board.

good_advice

What! I cannot believe what people are saying about slow cookers. def. cheaper than an oven.
I cook allsorts in mine, I have 2.

I have 3 places today in house with damp washing. Was on line.
1. I have a high shelf which is very convenient for hanging coat hangers from.
2. In the alcove at the bottom of stairs a clothes horse permanently lives in winter.
3. When there is no one in the sitting room, may be bed time, put a clothes horse in there, the clothes here will be dry by morning.

We have no damp and I air the house every day.

grahamc2003

molerat wrote: »

My oven uses 2.5Kw so 25 times the slow cooker. There are some good slow cooker posts on the old style board.

That's completely irrelevant. For example, your kettle also uses 25 times the power of your slow cooker, but do you boil your water in your slow cooker? If it really is only 100W, I doubt you'd ever get a cup of water up to boiling temperature even if you wanted.

Just googled and the first slow cooker I came across was 330W - the power I'd expect. What model is your slow cooker?