Sub £50 energy consumption monitor. It says it'll save you 25% off energy bills

El_Presidente

I don't know if anyone is interested (and this has probably been done a few times before) but I have put together a basic Excel spreadsheet that helps me 'keep in touch' with my Electricty energy usage.

It tracks your usage via modern meters with a flashing LED, plus allows all sorts of calculations of average bills, plus calcs for individual device costs based on wattage.

Supplied 'as is' for people to play with - no warranties, not guaranteed to be bug-free etc.

I can't post as an attachment here, but please reply on this thread if you feel I should arrange to post and attach it as a new thread.

LadFromWales85

Which is technically the best unit between the two (The Owl and the Maplin Energy-Saving Meter)

I'm currently reading my meter daily as I've not long moved into my first place, and I'm keeping tabs on whats changed so as to work out what saves me money and what doesn't.
Got a Russell Hobbs 'Thermal Technology Kettle' the other day, keeps water above 85c for 3 hours (according to the box), but the water is still hot enough for a coffee (not for a tea, needs to be boiling IMHO) 3 hours later, so I don't have to reboil, which means boiling from cold, as I can't stand the taste of water thats been reboiled!

Being a self confessed geek, I wouldn't mind one of these monitors that I can plonk on my desk and glance at whenever...is it worth getting a plug-in monitor as well, just to check specific devices?

El_Presidente, could you put the file on a webserver and give the link, or pm me the link, wouldn't mind a look, though it probably won't work in OpenOffice!

randomtask72

(BTW anyone aware of energy bulbs that can work with dimmers?)
I only know of these: http://www.varilight.co.uk/ (DigiFlux)

josonic

DocBambs wrote: »

(BTW anyone aware of energy bulbs that can work with dimmers?)

Megaman have a DorS range of energy saving bulbs that have 4 step dimming using an ordinary light switch. See http://www.megaman.cc/global/technology/dors.php for the DorS Dimming Technology, and http://www.megaman.cc/global/products/product.php?sid=39 for the products.

Megaman also have a DIMMERABLE range of energy saving bulbs that "works perfectly on most incandescent dimmer circuits and switches without a transformer, allowing you to create your own lighting anytime and anywhere".
See http://www.megaman.cc/global/products/product.php?sid=17

I have also seen a bulb in B&Q that says it can be dimmed, but I don't know if would work on a dimmer, it was about £9

Poppycat

I rang up SP a few months back about having one of these fitted but alas it was a no

martinp79

El_Presidente wrote: »

I don't know if anyone is interested (and this has probably been done a few times before) but I have put together a basic Excel spreadsheet that helps me 'keep in touch' with my Electricty energy usage.

It tracks your usage via modern meters with a flashing LED, plus allows all sorts of calculations of average bills, plus calcs for individual device costs based on wattage.

Supplied 'as is' for people to play with - no warranties, not guaranteed to be bug-free etc.

I can't post as an attachment here, but please reply on this thread if you feel I should arrange to post and attach it as a new thread.

I'd be interested in seeing that. Thanks.

Cardew

stphnstevey wrote: »

Which electricity companies?

Don't know!

Several posts on this forum have spoken about it and was in National press some while ago.

In this thread SSE are mentioned as a company who gives them away:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=81565&highlight=electrisave

As said above - for me they have little use; but the £6 Lidl/Aldi device does.

marcmoustache

MSE_Martin wrote: »

You could just wait for a smart meter

Smart meters, different from home energy meters will, under new European regulations, have to be installed when any energy meter is replaced after 2008. As well as tracking energy consumption they will take readings and automatically send them back to your energy provider.

Martin

Martin,

This isn't strictly true, the European Energy Services Directive (ESD) requires (from the government Energy Billing Consultation):

"... that Member States ensure that, in so far as is “technically possible, financially reasonable and proportionate in relation to the potential energy savings”, final customers for electricity, natural gas, district heating/cooling and domestic hot water are provided with competitively priced, individual meters that accurately reflect the customer’s actual energy consumption and provide information on actual time of use.

It further requires that, when an existing meter is replaced, such competitively priced individual meters should always be provided unless it is “technically impossible” to do so or it is “not cost-effective in relation to the estimated potential savings in the long-term”."

What this really means is that the UK doesn't have to fit smart meters from 2008 - and they won't be, believe me! If we do fit smart meters it will cost the man in the street a fortune in additional energy costs to pay for it.

The government is suggesting that these clip on devices will be provided free of charge by Suppliers from April 2008 where requested by customers and with all new or replacement [electricity] meters. Although they're trying to back away from this proposal.

mech_2

bugsonic wrote: »

I bought one of the plug in monitors from Lidl's a couple of years ago and it proved invaluable.

My Mum didn't believe her fridge and freezer were the biggest drain on her electric each month. Think about it, they're always switched on. Using this device I proved to her her old fridge and freezer, combined, were using over £30 of electric a month.

I pursuaded her to buy new energy efficient products and they now use around £10 a month. They weren't expensive to purchase either, just over £200 for the both.

I find this a little bit hard to believe. Not that I think the comment is dishonest, but I worry about the accuracy of the meter. £30 a month is £360 a year. I've never paid more than £300 for for my entire electricity usage in any given year, including back when I had a beaten up >10 years old fridge-freezer. I reckon maybe my old fridge-freezer used about £110 of electricity a year.

I now have a separate fridge and freezer, B-rated, which together use less than £75 a year (based on what my meter said before and after a two week holiday). So £10 a month doesn't seem that unrealistic. But B rated is really not very good. A++ rated ones would use less than half as much electricity. So, based on my experiences, I worry that the meter could be out by as much as a factor of 2.

It would be interesting to know the sizes of the old appliances and the size and energy ratings of the new ones. A-rated really isn't that brilliant. The scale goes up to A++ (don't you just love these crazy, arbitrary scales that start at A and then have to be retrospectively revised?).

markprichard

martinp79 wrote: »

I'd be interested in seeing that. Thanks.

Me,too. I love anything spreadsheet oriented.