Forget Smart Meters, here are my practical top tips for saving energy and using less water,

[Deleted User]

Verdigris said:

You get more "steam" from a condensing boiler because a proportion of the heat in the exhaust gases has been removed, thereby bringing the CO2/water vapour mixture nearer the dew point. That's why you can even see the plume in warm weather.

If you read the science,  the efficiency of a condensing boiler is based on two factors: one, the temperature of the return flow which must be below dew point and, two, the effectiveness of the heat exchanger in extracting heat from the flue gases. The greater the amount of condensation at the heat exchanger, the higher the efficiency of the boiler. This condensate runs down into the syphon trap: it is not expelled into the air.

I agree that if not all the heat is extracted from the flue gases, then there will be a plume of steam. Research shows that a very high proportion of condensing boilers in the UK rarely condense because they are either sized too big for the property; and/or homeowners have set a flow temperature which is too high, or the radiators are not properly sized/balanced. Room zoning, based on my Evohome experience, doesn’t work as you can end up with a 24kW boiler (even modulated down to 7kWs) heating just one radiator resulting in boiler cycling and high return flow temperatures.

If efficiency was measured by the amount of flue steam that is generated, then my local theatre has paid for a boiler upgrade that was very poorly specified. Looking at the flue - even on the coldest of days - there is only a slight vapour mist emanating from the flue stack.

The advice for combi boilers is to set the boiler flow temperature as low as possible. For system boilers, with a HW cylinder, the flow temperature needs to be c.5 degrees above the cylinder set temperature: if not, the boiler will just keep running whenever there is hot water heating.

tim_p

MovingForwards said:

Keu, you are seriously stressing over something that won't have too much of an impact on us light user.

I've been working at home running IT equipment, my partner has their PC on almost constantly and drinks a lot of tea / coffee. I have an electric shower which I run for about an hour when I've dyed my hair, my usual showers are about 20 minutes, partner about 5 minutes a day. I also have a big TV. The washing machine is used a few times a week and I've a separate fridge and freezer. Over summer there was an electric garden shredder, lawnmower and strimmer on the go.

I'm with one of the "big 6" on their variable rate and live in an old flat in Scotland.

It's only been the last 5 years I've lived in places where there was double glazing and GCH and I will admit there's a few things I do on your list as I've gone for so long without 'modern comforts'. For me it's 'normal' to use the cold tap for washing my hands, boiling a kettle to do the washing up or have a wash, wrap up or put a blanket over me (heating goes on for about an hour if it's really cold), not having lights on in unused rooms (in all honesty the only ceiling lights I use are in the kitchen and occasionally the bathroom), I have a side lamp in the lounge.
My partner will run the hot water when doing the washing up, having a wash / shave, but he just uses the cold tap for rinsing the washing up and washing his hands.

I have spent £384.03 on electric, £274.20 on gas over the last 17 months. 

Are you sure?  I’d have thought 2 x 20 mins a day electric showers alone would cost just the electric portion without everything else you mention. 

MovingForwards

tim_p said:

MovingForwards said:

Keu, you are seriously stressing over something that won't have too much of an impact on us light user.

I've been working at home running IT equipment, my partner has their PC on almost constantly and drinks a lot of tea / coffee. I have an electric shower which I run for about an hour when I've dyed my hair, my usual showers are about 20 minutes, partner about 5 minutes a day. I also have a big TV. The washing machine is used a few times a week and I've a separate fridge and freezer. Over summer there was an electric garden shredder, lawnmower and strimmer on the go.

I'm with one of the "big 6" on their variable rate and live in an old flat in Scotland.

It's only been the last 5 years I've lived in places where there was double glazing and GCH and I will admit there's a few things I do on your list as I've gone for so long without 'modern comforts'. For me it's 'normal' to use the cold tap for washing my hands, boiling a kettle to do the washing up or have a wash, wrap up or put a blanket over me (heating goes on for about an hour if it's really cold), not having lights on in unused rooms (in all honesty the only ceiling lights I use are in the kitchen and occasionally the bathroom), I have a side lamp in the lounge.
My partner will run the hot water when doing the washing up, having a wash / shave, but he just uses the cold tap for rinsing the washing up and washing his hands.

I have spent £384.03 on electric, £274.20 on gas over the last 17 months. 

Are you sure?  I’d have thought 2 x 20 mins a day electric showers alone would cost just the electric portion without everything else you mention. 

I'm sure and I did brace myself thinking the electric would be higher due to the shower.

I submit my readings each month, get an actual bill shortly after and then pay it off on payday.

My OH has a 5 min shower each day. Mine are 20 mins 2 - 7x a week, 60 mins when I dye my hair.

The utility company have done a downloadable energy consumption thing and it pops into a spreadsheet.

Electric is 2176 kWh
Gas is 8540 kWh
May 2020 - Sept 2021

Current bill (not included in the above) is £46.63 of which £27.60 is electric, £13.39 is gas, £2.05 is VAT.

poppellerant

Keu said:

6. Measure the fridge and freezer temperature while you set temp dial low, while doing this measure energy usage and see how low you can get it.  Do not over fill freezer drawer, the free flow of air makes for an efficient fridge. Check the energy rating for your fridge online from the website of manufacturer.  Then compare that to what you are getting from the energy monitor.

9. Do not use heating except if below 0 degrees outside, wear thermal underwear, jumpers and have blanket or duvet in living room

11.  If your heating system has a tank and you have storage heaters so only electric energy turn off the switch that heats that tank. Use electric shower to wash yourself in bathroom, open door so some heat from shower gets out. Brush teeth and wash hands in cold water..  For washing up boil kettle, rinse washing up in cold water first then add boiling water to sink, wash all items with soapy sponge and only rinse soap off (in cold water) when all items done 

17. Get rid of things you really do not need that use a lot of energy, dishwasher is one, fish tanks and do not wash above 40 degrees on washing machine.

26. Resist until your dying breathe getting a smart meter, they are totally useless and you pay for the in house display, I mean, no sheet sherlock it uses more when the kettle is on or the washing machine.

While you've made some suggestions that I might take onboard, I've quoted the ones I take the biggest issues with - especially 20-22, for hygiene reasons.  Now here's why.

#6 - You are actually encouraged to keep your freezer as full as possible, although not crammed, as a full freezer retains the cold better than an empty one.  Also when you open the freezer door, there is more space for the warm air outside to get to, as a result the freezer will have to work harder to cool down those empty spaces.

Though you are correct that the free flow of air is better for the fridge, as the air can circulate better.

#9 - It doesn't matter about the temperature outside, it's the temperature inside that matters.  I personally feel that anything below 16c can't be good for you.  But even as I type this, I am yet to put my heating on this autumn and wrapped up in a room which is about 19c, while outside it is 10c.  But it can be -5c outside and still be 19c inside.  Do your cooking to help heat the house up.

#11 - I urge you to not let the damp air from the bathroom nto the rest of the house, especially after showers or baths.  Together with your other suggestions of no heating unless it's 0c outside, this is the perfect way to cause damp problems in your house.  Also damp air can make a house feel colder, so your suggestion would make people feel colder.  My own suggestion would be to open the bathroom window just beyond ajar and close the bathroom door for several hours.  When drying washing in my bathroom, I often leave the window on locked vent during the night.

#17 - Although I wash mostly on 30c cycles, I would encourage 60c cycles for bedding and/or towels.  Especially if you want to reduce the skin of producing skin allergies and want to kill dust mites from your bedding.  Also the occasional hot cycle with biological powder (not non-bio detergent and not any form of liquids) to clean your whites will help to kill and germs and mould in your washing machine and stop it smelling musty from the build up of mould.

#26 - I'm not sure how you work out that you pay for the In Home Display (IHD).  When I got my smart meter installed, neither my unit or standing charges increased and I certainly wasn't asked to pay for the IHD.

Liku

Agree about the bathroom thing, plus the recommendation they gave about drying clothes indoors and keeping it cold is a sure way to get mould.

But I personally find 16C to be rather pleasant as long as I have a jumper on. I'm sure I could adapt to lower too. But it is dangerous for people with some health conditions.

Norman_Castle

Keu said:

7. Do your washing up of cups and other things at the same time as you wash up after a meal, if you have a partner or are fussy yourself you may want to do this in the morning so it is clear most of the day, with just cups in the sink.  Do not push washing up liquid in the sink but rather on a sponge scourer, it lasts way longer.

8. Rinse in cold water, if you do not like 7 then rinse cups in cold water.


11.  If your heating system has a tank and you have storage heaters so only electric energy turn off the switch that heats that tank. Use electric shower to wash yourself in bathroom, open door so some heat from shower gets out. Brush teeth and wash hands in cold water..  For washing up boil kettle, rinse washing up in cold water first then add boiling water to sink, wash all items with soapy sponge and only rinse soap off (in cold water) when all items done  

23. Audit the energy usage of your lights, change your lights to LED but expect them to use more if you have a smart meter.

7+8. Don't use excessive amounts of washing up liquid then you won't need to rinse anything. I use Ecover, most other washing up liquids have a foaming agent added to create bubbles which give the impression of being soapy. This isn't soap and doesn't aid cleaning. This is what you are rinsing off.

11, Who cleans their teeth in hot water?

23, How do led lights use more power through a smart meter?

QrizB

QrizB said:

QrizB said:

Keu said:

QrizB said:

Keu said:

...Get to know your device, for example my fridge uses 1kWh more a day if I have heating on.

Your fridge should be using less than 1kWh per day, even with the heating on. Is it ancient and/or faulty?

Shoulda Coulda Woulda it does not live up to the promises on the side, it is relatively modern Liebherr, the current model of same size etc uses less but why would I believe that label when this one does not match up.

OK, well I've got an energy meter (like the one you link to) and I've just put it on my fridge. According to the label ithe fridge should use less than one kWh per day. I'll check the meter tomorrow and report back with what it says.

24h on and my energy meter is giving me some funny (very low) readings that make me wonder if I've messed up somehow. I've re-zeroed it and will give it another go. Sorry to keep you all waiting!

I've monitored my fridge (a Currys Essentials CUL55W12) and freezer (a Currys Essentials CUF55W12), each for 24h. Over the period each of them used around 0.3kWh of energy. This is pretty good agreement with the official rating of ~120kWh/yr for the fridge, a bit lower than the ~180kWh/yr for the freezer.

kd99

save water and power - If you have mains pressure hot water  (not a stored hot tank) running the hot water tap into a plastic bottle, until it gets hot enough for the washing up bowl, keep the 'saved' water to top up the kettle when needed - it will be a lot warmer than using the mains cold tap to top up.

Torry_Quine

Norman_Castle said:

Keu said:

7. Do your washing up of cups and other things at the same time as you wash up after a meal, if you have a partner or are fussy yourself you may want to do this in the morning so it is clear most of the day, with just cups in the sink.  Do not push washing up liquid in the sink but rather on a sponge scourer, it lasts way longer.

8. Rinse in cold water, if you do not like 7 then rinse cups in cold water.


11.  If your heating system has a tank and you have storage heaters so only electric energy turn off the switch that heats that tank. Use electric shower to wash yourself in bathroom, open door so some heat from shower gets out. Brush teeth and wash hands in cold water..  For washing up boil kettle, rinse washing up in cold water first then add boiling water to sink, wash all items with soapy sponge and only rinse soap off (in cold water) when all items done  

23. Audit the energy usage of your lights, change your lights to LED but expect them to use more if you have a smart meter.

7+8. Don't use excessive amounts of washing up liquid then you won't need to rinse anything. I use Ecover, most other washing up liquids have a foaming agent added to create bubbles which give the impression of being soapy. This isn't soap and doesn't aid cleaning. This is what you are rinsing off.

11, Who cleans their teeth in hot water?

23, How do led lights use more power through a smart meter?

This reminded me of my aunt  years ago visiting from Australia. She warmed some water up a few seconds to brush her teeth as she found tap water too cold.

Littlewesty

My 2 tips for saving both energy and water are so simple yet effective.
With washing Pods I don't think it's necessary for 2 rinses, so turn down to 1 rinse, which will save water and electricity as shorter cycle.  Then secondly a setting of 30 degrees is plenty  for most washing which will save power on heating the water and less run time.  I am monitoring my savings :-)