What's in your baseload?

tunnel

Since getting an energy monitor I've become increasingly aware of my daily electric usage and more to the point...where it's being used.

I actually presumed my baseload was about 300Wh, how wrong was I, I'm actually eating through 425Wh...a massive 10.2kWh a day.

Included in that figure are:-

Freezer
Fridge freezer
House alarm
Sky box(standby only)
Digital telephones( X 3)
Broadband router/modem
Oven clock
Microwave clock
2 x clock radios
Heating system(with wireless receiver)
2 X kids monitors

I've probably forgot some too, I've tried to turn some off but wife says NO.

My question is...what's in your baseload?

Its just a bit of fun really but would be interesting to see other peoples.

tunnel

rogerblack

I would suggest you invest in a energy meter that you can plug each appliance into.
This can help you decide on a case-by-case basis what to replace.

For example, if the freezer is on its last legs, replacement may pay back in under 4 years.

tunnel

rogerblack wrote: »

I would suggest you invest in a energy meter that you can plug each appliance into.
This can help you decide on a case-by-case basis what to replace.

For example, if the freezer is on its last legs, replacement may pay back in under 4 years.

You could well be right there, the freezer must be 10 year old now. But is it really worth swapping it before it conks out?

zeupater

tunnel wrote: »

You could well be right there, the freezer must be 10 year old now. But is it really worth swapping it before it conks out?

Hi

That's what rogerblack was saying .... get a plug-in socket monitor which can meter the usage over a period of time and use that to make the decision. Energy monitors are great, but they haven't got the ability to take the power factor and actual supply voltage into account ... for example our microwave on standby consumes ~2.5W, however, the unit power factor being ~0.02 in standby causes our monitor (OWL) to display ~125W.

I would have hated to replace a perfectly good microwave on the grounds that it would save wasting 3kWh/day only to discover that the power factor caused the whole house monitor to misread the consumption by a factor of 50!.

As mentioned above, with a plug-in unit you usually have the ability to meter the usage over a period of time, which is really useful for monitoring something which draws power according to a cycle, such as the thermostatic one used in refrigeration equipment, or the total energy drawn over a complete wash cycle, whether it be clothes or dishes ...

You'd probably get a decent idea of your average base-load by simply reading your meter after switching off the normal items such as a TV as you would every night, then read the meter again before anything is switched back on in the morning ... I would hope that it's not really averaging 425W ...

HTH
Z

silverwhistle

The lowest I've been at is 52w but a new oven with a clock! has probably increased that. That's when the new freezer and larder fridge aren't drawing. I've got tradespeople in at the moment and one was interested in my PV, so I showed him my Owl monitor display as I explained the set-up. I was a bit surprised at the draw but showed him the impact of switching on a hair dryer. Later he told me that he'd left one of his tools on (an iron) which explained my high reading.

[Deleted User]

Finally binned the baby monitors so thats two things less on the base load With even more LEDs installed Will it make any difference to my bill :laugh:

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

My biggest single item is a pond pump rated at 85W which is on 24/7. Compared to that the odd clock or three is nothing.

Estwing

Mine hovers around the 50-70w mark, i dont think ill get it any lower, this includes;

-Fridge/freezer
-Boiler/controls
- Phone
- Alarm
-Ipod unit/radio clock
-PV monitor on standby
-smoke detectors
- oven clock
-microwave clock

The_Green_Hornet

My baseload is 60w, which consists of:

- House Alarm System
- Solar PV Inverter
- Clock Radio
- Boiler, Pump and Heating Controls (idle)
- Fridge/Freezer (idle)
- Telephone
- Telephone Call Screener/Answering Machine
- Broadband Router
- Oven Clock
- Microwave Clock
- Freeview HD PVR (standby)
- LCD TV (standby)
- TV Sound Booster (standby)

I can get this down to 58w if I turn off the TV and Sound Booster instead of leaving them in standby.

tunnel

Wow,

Such low figures, me thinks its time to buy one of these plug-in energy monitors. This green and ethical moneysaving looks like it could get expensive:(

Dave_16

I have a marine reef tank, it has 4 sets of led lights, 2 circulation pumps, 2 large sump pumps, 2 300W heaters, 2 smaller pumps and a couple more items. I always new it was and indeed is an expensive hobby.

The tank is in addition to the regular home stuff.
The thing is, I've never broached the subject of leccy use as it would just start questions I would find awkward to answer.

My panels are new and the fit is not sorted yet but the meter runs in reverse when the sun shone today even with everything running in the tank.

Dave