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

QrizB

QrizB said:

Dolor said:

 How do I know that my boiler is actually condensing: the boiler flue should not be steaming.

Websites of varying reliability say the opposite; that a plume of steam from your boiler flue is evidence that it *is* condensing

Thinking about it, that's got to be the case.

You see the same with car exhausts in cooler weather. When you first start the car, the engine and exhaust are cold and so they absorb the heat from the exhaust gases, causing water to collect in the silencer and a visible plume of steam from the exhaust pipe. Once everything warms up, the exhaust gases are hot and you lose the plume.

QrizB

Dolor said:

half_empty said:

Smart meters concern me for a few reasons and also see benefits but if they start chucking out cheap rates when people are in bed, there is no way in the world I am running high load devices when I am asleep.

No one is talking about cheap rates at night. These will quickly disappear as more EVs are rolled out. This is a typical time of use tariff:

Here's a UK one, Tide from Green Energy UK www.geuk.com (the current tariff offered at my address):

Sorry, three replies in a row is probably enough from me for now!

Verdigris

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.

QrizB

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!

MWT

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!

If it helps to give a result from my experience, we have a Fisher&Paykel Fridge/Freezer in our kitchen, it is located about 1m from a radiator and the gas boiler, and next to the washing machine.

It is rated to use 337kWh a year and when I checked the actual consumption it was actually consuming slightly less than that, at an average of around 0.9kWh per day.

Verdigris

Who needs a radiator on in the kitchen when you've got fridges and freezers to keep it warm enough. My kitchen radiator has been shut down for the past 15 years.

Petriix

While I appreciate your efforts, most of the things you mention are negligible. I'm sure they all add up but modern devices on standby barely use any power.

The main thing is to avoid making or wasting heat. The most energy efficient cycle on my washing machine doesn't use the heating element at all.

Simply knocking a degree off your heating or spending less time in the shower will have more of an impact than any of the other things you mention.

Keeping doors and windows shut and only briefly opening them to go through also makes a big difference. 

MovingForwards

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. 

Sea_Shell

Well it appears that the OP hasn't come back, so I doubt we'll ever get to the bottom of their issues.

But for what it's worth, I don't think they are going to be paying £1000 more any time soon, if ever.

Hopefully they've realised this, and have stopped stressing about it, otherwise they sound like they're going to have a miserable winter.

MWT

Verdigris said:

Who needs a radiator on in the kitchen when you've got fridges and freezers to keep it warm enough. My kitchen radiator has been shut down for the past 15 years.

In our case the radiator has a TRV so is only on when needed, the fridge/freezer is modern and well insulated, using under 1kWh of power a day and is therefore not actually producing much heat, and we are typically only preparing hot food in there once a day so not a lot of other heat sources in use.