Smart plug sockets and bulbs

[simon]

Hello. 

As me and my partner are about to have a child in a few months i am looking at ways which we can keep costs down. 

This particular issue is our home energy usage. 

Now i always switch energy providers when our deals expire so i am always on the cheapest rates i can get. 

However my issue is the appliances which are regularly left running or on standby mode.  We just do not plug things out and i was thinking that with a baby in the mix too it could be more of an issue that we simply forget to turn appliances off..

This includes a microwave with digital clock on 24 7 

1 old tv on standby mode most of the time, all night
1 newer tv on stand by all night  
And mobile phones plugged in charging all night every night. 

So the idea is that the smart plugs will enable us to schedule on and off times and manually control appliances via mobile. 
These particular plug sockets and light bulbs use 1watt of power. 

As for smart bulbs they are dimmable so should use less power and convenient to turn on and off via mobile or schedule. 
This i hope will be a saving of some kind on our energy bill even of its a small amount that adds up over time and added convenience for us as a user.
This is part of a long term strategy to be more environmentally friendly and save a little money in this particular area. 

Basically looking for opinions for and against smart plugs and bulbs.

Thank you. 

Swipe

Regarding all those things listed, you may save a couple of pence a day if you are lucky.

JJ_Egan

Dont forget the cost of the smart stuff if just replacing working items .

Alter_ego

You'll be lucky to save the costs of fitting them in your lifetime. Perhaps you child will benefit?

brewerdave

Only problem I have found with smart plugs is that they are inclined to lose connection to the wireless network in a random fashion . Or at least, the three I use ,do !! Have to use the app to set them running again. Haven't bothered with smart bulbs as they appear to be too expensive.

[Deleted User]

It is very easy to spend £s to save a few pennies. The average microwave clock will use c.2 watts. Depending on your tariff, experts suggest that it will cost you c.0.3p to charge your phone or about £1.09 for the full year. My advice, FWiW, is concentrate on high standby use items such as TV boxes; games consoles and computers.

It also worth looking at time-of-use tariffs such as Octopus Go (no EV needed) with a 4/5 cheap period at 5p/kWh. Even the peak cost is less than most fixed tariffs. Given that you or your OH are likely to be up and around in the quiet hours, putting the washing machine and dishwasher on when it’s cheap will save you a lot more than a smart plug for a microwave clock

https://earthbound.report/2019/02/21/towards-a-zero-carbon-home-reducing-the-baseload/

MWT

I would certainly not buy smart bulbs as a cost saving measure, too expensive in the first place and essentially disposable items...

I would suggest getting just one smart plug to start with, but make sure it has energy monitoring capability and is properly rated for the highest load you wish to use it with.

That way you can check the various devices you are concerned about to see if it is worth dedicating a plug to control them.

You will rapidly find that in most cases the answer is 'no'...

Gerry1

You're likely to save far more by making sure you really are on the best tariffs.  Did you compare all suppliers, or just the default (=expensive) ones that most comparison sites show you?  Did you compare separate suppliers for gas and electricity?

Energy is a black art and it's easy to pay far too much by accepting the defaults or using an autoswitch service.

Tallerdave

Spend your money on an energy monitor to find out what contributes most to your base load. Replacing an old fridge freezer would probably have the greatest impact. 

matelodave

LED bulbs are cheaper than dimmable LED bulbs and you wont save anywhere near the cost of a dimmable one by dimming it. Even a 10watt bulb on 24/7 will only consume about £13 a year.

Similar to smart sockets, they are a nice toy and can save you the effort of getting up and down but they wont really save you a great deal of money (and TBH it's a bit of a pain to keep picking up the phone to switch them on & off)

As said above, concentrate on the stuff that uses lots of leccy like the washing machine, diswasher, tumble dryer, immersion heater first, then stuff like Sky boxes, playstations, computers etc. It's not hard to get into the habit of turning stuff off - just do it eery time you've finished with it or even have a quick check before you go to bed. You can easliy spend far more than you'll ever save on magic gadgets