How to use less Electricity?

yangptangkipperbang

tlh858 wrote: »

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

WantToBeSE wrote: »

My tumble dryer is already a condenser, and only 3 years old.

If you've got one - keep it and use it when you have to ! The poor old tumble drier is always cast as the work of the Devil. It isn't - it is a godsend when you can't hang washing outside. FAR better than having wet washing hanging all round the house.
As someone has already said, all the heat from a condenser dryer goes into the house anyway - so you are getting twice as much benefit for your money...............

grahamc2003

molerat wrote: »

Mine is an old Tower 2.5l with stoneware pot and lid from around 1978. 80/105w, the compact 1.5l from that era was 50w ! I know it won't boil water but you will get a nasty shock poking your fingers into a stew. 80w x 6 hrs = 480w, 2.5Kw for 30 mins just bringing the oven up to temp = 1250w. The only real mistake I have made with it is soup containing scotch, as it is virtually a sealed container and does not boil the results were somewhat interesting .... hic !!

I'd like to dispell this meme where the belief is that slow cookers are always cheaper to run than alternatives - they aren't. Even in the example above (with incorrect units and a lack of understanding between energy and power), once you factor in a gas price at 1/3rd of electricity, then a gas oven is cheaper than the electric slow cooker in the example.

What should be compared is the cost of a pot on a hob or, if an oven, cooking probably 4 times the amount of food. Then allow for the price difference between gas and elec for those with gas cookers.

I have a slow cooker and was really surprised at the lack of any insulation whatsoever - i.e. when hot, all the energy used is simply to replace the energy lost through poor insulation, not to cook the food (in fact there are systems available where once heated, the food is put in a highly insulated container and there's no further energy input required to cook the food (like stew etc), just time.

For the 80W slow cooker - is food put in cold or does it have to be pre-heated?

mjm3346

Clothes horse v tumble dryer

Clothes horse certainly doesn't help damp problems even if it is not as bad as this report on the BBC website suggests


"Drying laundry in the home poses a health risk to those prone to asthma, hay fever and other allergies, according to new research"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-20176376

tlh858

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

I The poor old tumble drier is always cast as the work of the Devil. It isn't - it is a godsend when you can't hang washing outside. FAR better than having wet washing hanging all round the house.

Far better not to wash clothing when it's raining.
And if for some reason it rains continuously for weeks, there are handy places called launderettes where you can dry vast quantities of washing ten times faster than any domestic tumble dryer ever could.

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

As someone has already said, all the heat from a condenser dryer goes into the house anyway - so you are getting twice as much benefit for your money...............

With that thinking, you may as well use the full size oven instead of the slow cooker, since all of the heat goes into the house anyway.

mjm3346 wrote: »

Clothes horse v tumble dryer

Neither, both are useless and totally unnecessary.

good_advice wrote: »

The whole point of a slow cooker is that you cook cheap meat over a long time to make it tender.

Splendid for those persons who delight in consuming poor quality substances passed off as meat, which are only edible after they have been slowly warmed through for the better part of a day. What's next - adding plenty of spices presumably, as we all know what they were once used for.
If you can't afford decent meat, don't buy any. Other types of food are available.

molerat wrote: »

2.5Kw for 30 mins just bringing the oven up to temp = 1.25 kWh.

If your oven takes half an hour just to heat to temperature, it has a serious problem.
The days of heating the oven first and then putting food inside are long gone, due to the fact that most ovens have a fan inside. (Before anyone looks, you can probably find a few which do not, but why anyone would buy such a thing is a mystery).
For many things, they could have been put into the cold oven, oven switched on and the meal cooked and on the table in half an hour, using far less than 1.25kWh as the element would not be on 100% of the time.

In summary:
250 units of electricity a month is less than the average house uses (that average being about 300 per month as stated by most energy suppliers).
£40 per month is hardly excessive, although could probably be reduced by changing to another tarriff and/or supplier.
No one needs a tumble dryer in their home, they are expensive luxuries, just like Sky television, monster wagon cars and all products made by Apple.
Slow cookers are relics from the 1970s which can slowly cook certain types of items and are ideal for those who want to wait 8 hours for their substandard meaty meal to be ready.
If you hang wet washing around your home, your house will go mouldy and severely affect your health.

yangptangkipperbang

tlh858 wrote: »

Far better not to wash clothing when it's raining.

Where have you been this so called summer ?

tlh858 wrote: »

there are handy places called launderettes where you can dry vast quantities of washing ten times faster than any domestic tumble dryer ever could.

Ah yes - the launderettes. Those places whose numbers have declined faster than Gordon Brown's gold reserves.

Between 1985 and 2010 the number of laundrettes in the UK has fallen from 12500 to 3000 and most of these are in large towns/cities (figs from National Association of the Launderette Industry).

There are also major logistical problems involved, this assumes that there actually is one within 10 miles of where you live.
We have one where I live - it is surrounded by double yellow lines.
Have you actually tried hauling a family load of wet washing to a laundrette - sheets, towel, clothes.
What do you do with the kids while you are waiting ?
They are NOT a cheap solution.

As for your comment about drying faster - I'll agree with you there:- most laundrette dryers have two levels of heat: HOT and INCINERATE - even though the dial on the machine says other, more gentle, things. Yes they are dry - but totally ruined.

good_advice

Well, tonight after work, I did 2 wash loads and all is hanging up around the downstairs. We just have to live with the washing in winter. Hopefully most will be dry by morning.

Norman_Castle

Look at rating plates on all electric appliances (it'll say something like 1000W or 1kW) this tels you how much electricity it uses.

The energy ratings are maximums supplied to prevent overloading sockets. Many items use much less than their maximum. Cookers and slow cookers will have thermostats so costs cannot be calculated simply from power ratings. Electric heating including water heating are high usage. Fridges use a lot of energy. Using the longest spin on the washing machine will help dry washing and costs no more.

good_advice

Agree with a 16 spin on washing machine, mine is only a 12 and will be getting the higher spin next time.
Micro fibre towels also dry quicker than cotton ones.

harrypotter1981

way tooooooooo much i live in a 5 bed house 2 foster children load of washing every day and tumbled dry every day cooking everyday £62! sometimes cheaper, want to know my trick????? Spend more buying the product in the first place, washing machine, bosch 7kg A+, tumble drier B rated Had these 3 years and the savings compared to a D rated tumble and B rated washing machine they are well paid off themselves and me is raking the savings in, also eco kettle,A++ fridge freezer,, eco lights, oh tumble drier also is a condenser one and heats the oposite end of the house to the woodburner, works a treat. So when you buy your next appliance dont go for cheaper ones think of the future not present. ps good electric supplier helps too, shop round for best deals, hope this may help

techno12

An easy one is to reduce the backlight level on TVs. They are typically set at 100% which is way too bright, but look good in showrooms.

My 47" LCD uses around 120w now - it originally used 250w. I reduced the backlight brightness from 100% to 30%. Picture looks better too.