Will this really make a difference to my energy bills?

wittynamegoeshere

Have always switched off desktop PCs at the wall for years and years.  Have never had a flat battery or any other issue, I think some people just invent theoretical issues.  The batteries seem to last forever, and the electronics are very robust.

I actually find this way much more convenient, one switch does everything on the desk including monitor, lamp and even an oil filled radiator by my feet.  This also ensures I don't leave the heater on by accident, everything's either on or off, and the lamp makes it pretty obvious when it's on.

I've set the BIOS settings on the PCs to switch on at AC power on.  Every PC seems to have this option tucked away somewhere.

wild666

Shedman said:

wild666 said:

Owleyes00 said:

Hi! I have always been a bit laissez-faire with regards to energy bills, set up the direct debit and never thought that much about it (bills were adjusted up or down and I never seemed to be using excessively). However I have recently moved to a much bigger property and with rising energy costs (although I am on a fix from my previous rate until June 22 which is nice!) I am trying to make some small changes to reduce my bills. The changes I have made are:
-turning things off at the plug when not using it
-keeping curtains drawn in rooms I’m
not using and keeping doors shut to keep rooms warm
-turning lights off when I leave a room and trying not to switch them on if I don’t need to
-running a sink of water to do my morning ablutions rather than letting the tap run
-washing on 20 and 30 or eco 40 for underwear, reducing drier usage to pants, towels and bedsheets and trying to do fewer loads a week
-switching radiators off in rooms I don’t use e.g. in my office at the weekend
-conscious use of my heating 
-cooking more meals in the slowcooker rather than on the hob
-switching to showers on most days and trying to limit myself to one bath a week (I love a bath and previously would have one most days)

I am finding it all very tedious and am wondering if it’s all going to make a significant difference to my energy bills? If it’s only going to shave a few pounds off I’m not sure I can be bothered! Is there more I can be doing (without punishing myself!)??

Turning appliances off rather than leaving them in standby mode will save money the more appliances turned off the more the savings will be. TV, surround sound equipment, DVD player, stereo, Desktop/Laptop PC, Smart speakers, games consoles, charging leads, left plugged in with the socket switched on, kettle, cooker, microwave, extractor fans, shower, all those appliances draw power left switched on. Try it for a day, week, month, taking a reading at the start and at the end or regular intervals. In a month it could save 60 to 70 kWh, if you pay 20p per kWh that's  £14 per month.

I'd be mighty surprised if turning off things that are in standby (especially if they are not ancient devices) would save 2 kWh a day as you suggest.  Most only consume 1 to 2 watts in standby.  Alexa's and the wifi router / mesh discs and Sky/Freeview Recorder boxes probably consume the most (3 to 6 watts each..I've got 8 Alexas and 5 mesh discs incl router and from my testing they consume around 65-80 watts a day in total) but you'd want them left on anyway otherwise kind of defeats the objective. Even my computer in sleep mode only uses 5-8 watts.  Somebody on another thread did find that a 12v transformer heater for their fish tank was consuming a lot but I suspect it was faulty.  

There have also been arguments put forward that suggest that the additional stress on electrical components from starting up from cold rather than standby could shorten their lifespan so the saving in electric could well be offset by the need to replace more often.  Not sure if there is any credence in that though.

I have worked out that by going around and switching everything off it would only save less than the wife pouring herself an extra Gin & Tonic a week...but I'm not brave enough to suggest that so I guess if I want to save a few pennies might have to start turning things off instead 😀

The most energy I use, 600Watts, is used when I cook, I have one hot meal per day, most of the rest of the energy is used on the Desktop, and the items I leave on 24/7, fridge, freezer and router, in-between that my meter is using between 0.01and 0.1 Watts of electric every 30 minutes, I have my usage downloaded daily in 30 minute segments. Before I turned everything off the daily usage was 6.5 kWh per day, now it's down to 3.1 kWh per day except on a Friday when it jumps to 7 kWh washing and drying clothes/bedding. The weekly usage has dropped from 47 kWh down to 25.8 kWh, that's 22 kWh per week saved or 1,144 kWh per year. 

I don't have the most energy efficient devices but when my usage drops from 2200 kWh down to just over 1050 kWh per year that's some saving plus I don't mind switching on an appliance when I want to use it and turning it off again afterwards. I admit that those who pay more for more efficient appliances would see a lower saving but the extra paid for the efficiency of that appliance could cost more in standby over, for example, a 10 year period, than turning it off at the socket when not in use.

EssexHebridean

Astria said:

If that's your watch battery, what watch do you have? It must be quite large.

A CR2032 is typically 20mm in diameter, where as my watch better is more like 6mm.

I don't think the battery in my cars key-fob is that big!

Well there you go then, as that’s precisely the battery my car key uses. 😁

wild666

Arguably £4-5 a month saving isn't that much (although it is for me) but with 20 million odd houses in the UK, if 40% of them homes could save 40-50 kWh's a month that's alot less strain on the grid and alot less pollutants being released into the air.

My saving is nearer £16 per month since Octopus took over the supply from Avro. Down from 196 kWh to 110 kWh per month, if I'd done that with Avro my electric bill would have being around £25.70 per month and the gas around £6.65, around £32.35 per month.
With Octopus it will be in the region of  £29.95 for electric and £10 gas, £40. still less than my monthly DD to Avro of £48. £8 more per month with Octopus but around £175 saving in turning everything off at the socket, an overall saving of £79, £6.59 per month.

northernsoul

I have done lots of tests.  I am on Octopus variable tariff.   So, to give people an idea

 Gas 3.94/kWh. Measured at the meter. Boiler is Vailant eco plus 837 28kw

3 minute shower .117 m3 , 1.32kWh , 5.2p (measured once)

4 minute shower 7.5p (average over 8 showers)

5 min   2.14kWh  8.4p (average over 6 showers)

6 min     9.4p (measured once)

Bath (full to overflow) 23p  (average over 9 baths)

Half kitchen bowl 2.7p (boiler next to sink)

Full kitchen bowl 2.9p

 

Got lots of readings of central heating cost per hour, over 14 hours and once over 24 hours (32% more to run 24 hours - £1.55 for 1st 14 hours which would equate to £2.04 for 24 hours – temp range during 24 hours 9C to 2C – 2 bed 120 year old terrace house in Yorkshire)

 

Electricity 19.89p/kWh. Measured by plug in meter (not as accurate as measuring at the actual meter but within 10%)

Samsung eco wash 0.47 kWh 10.3p ( average of 7 washes)

40C wash 17p (av 7 washes)

60C wash 19p  (av 7 washes)

Dishwasher eco wash 0.714kWh 15.6p

Dishwasher super wash 25.6p

 

Frying chips in deep fat fryer 5.9p

Frying chips in Air fryer 9.6p

 

Microwave using oven feature to cook pizza from frozen 28 minutes  8.8p

Main oven to cook pizza from frozen 28 minutes 13.1p

 

1 year old freezer (measured over 111 hours) £24 a year

4 year old fridge (measured over 47 hour) £21 a year

(would prefer to measure items which are mainly off most of the time at the actual meter – might do that in next few days)

 

My base usage of electricity (measured 12 midnight to 8am) is 69w per hour – 1.4p/hr – 33p/day - £119/year (15 items running).  

 

Hope this is of interest to people because these are actual readings (100% accurate for gas and fairly accurate using plug in meter)

Penelopa.Pitstop

I switch off big power strip where 2 x Desktops, 2 x speakers set, 2 x laptops and some other devices are connected and it can save up to 100W per hour. So all these devices use quite a lot of electricity when on standby.

I also switch off socket in living room with a few USB devices and screen. It's a habit and everything works ok.

My houses is using around 150W per hour when most things are switched off and fridge is not using compressor. 

Im terms of heating, I keep rooms on top floor open, to make sure warm air circulates between them. I don't heat this floor. Bathroom radiators and heating on lower floor give enough warmth.

Bigphil1474

OP, we have our hot water on timer for an hour in the morning which does us all day - means I still get my daily bath, which I couldn't do without. I've tried having the hot water on for less time and not having a bath, and the hot water doesn't last all day. Must be the size of the tank. So, in my mind, the bath doesn't cost anything, whereas a shower would.

wild666

northernsoul said:

I have done lots of tests.  I am on Octopus variable tariff.   So, to give people an idea

 Gas 3.94/kWh. Measured at the meter. Boiler is Vailant eco plus 837 28kw

3 minute shower .117 m3 , 1.32kWh , 5.2p (measured once)

4 minute shower 7.5p (average over 8 showers)

5 min   2.14kWh  8.4p (average over 6 showers)

6 min     9.4p (measured once)

Bath (full to overflow) 23p  (average over 9 baths)

Half kitchen bowl 2.7p (boiler next to sink)

Full kitchen bowl 2.9p

 

Got lots of readings of central heating cost per hour, over 14 hours and once over 24 hours (32% more to run 24 hours - £1.55 for 1st 14 hours which would equate to £2.04 for 24 hours – temp range during 24 hours 9C to 2C – 2 bed 120 year old terrace house in Yorkshire)

 

Electricity 19.89p/kWh. Measured by plug in meter (not as accurate as measuring at the actual meter but within 10%)

Samsung eco wash 0.47 kWh 10.3p ( average of 7 washes)

40C wash 17p (av 7 washes)

60C wash 19p  (av 7 washes)

Dishwasher eco wash 0.714kWh 15.6p

Dishwasher super wash 25.6p

 

Frying chips in deep fat fryer 5.9p

Frying chips in Air fryer 9.6p

 

Microwave using oven feature to cook pizza from frozen 28 minutes  8.8p

Main oven to cook pizza from frozen 28 minutes 13.1p

 

1 year old freezer (measured over 111 hours) £24 a year

4 year old fridge (measured over 47 hour) £21 a year

(would prefer to measure items which are mainly off most of the time at the actual meter – might do that in next few days)

 

My base usage of electricity (measured 12 midnight to 8am) is 69w per hour – 1.4p/hr – 33p/day - £119/year (15 items running).  

 

Hope this is of interest to people because these are actual readings (100% accurate for gas and fairly accurate using plug in meter)

I turn everything off that doesn't need to be on. I was using 6 to 8 kWh's per day but now I use between 2.1 and 4.27 kWh's per day. Only once per week do I use more and that's when I do the washing and drying the usage goes up to 7.5 to 8.3 kWh's and that's averaging a monthly usage of 115 to 120 kWh's for electric. Gas I might use on average 10 units per month in winter but only 1 unit per week in summer, sometimes less.

k_man

wild666 said:

northernsoul said:

I have done lots of tests.  I am on Octopus variable tariff.   So, to give people an idea

 Gas 3.94/kWh. Measured at the meter. Boiler is Vailant eco plus 837 28kw

3 minute shower .117 m3 , 1.32kWh , 5.2p (measured once)

4 minute shower 7.5p (average over 8 showers)

5 min   2.14kWh  8.4p (average over 6 showers)

6 min     9.4p (measured once)

Bath (full to overflow) 23p  (average over 9 baths)

Half kitchen bowl 2.7p (boiler next to sink)

Full kitchen bowl 2.9p

 

Got lots of readings of central heating cost per hour, over 14 hours and once over 24 hours (32% more to run 24 hours - £1.55 for 1st 14 hours which would equate to £2.04 for 24 hours – temp range during 24 hours 9C to 2C – 2 bed 120 year old terrace house in Yorkshire)

 

Electricity 19.89p/kWh. Measured by plug in meter (not as accurate as measuring at the actual meter but within 10%)

Samsung eco wash 0.47 kWh 10.3p ( average of 7 washes)

40C wash 17p (av 7 washes)

60C wash 19p  (av 7 washes)

Dishwasher eco wash 0.714kWh 15.6p

Dishwasher super wash 25.6p

 

Frying chips in deep fat fryer 5.9p

Frying chips in Air fryer 9.6p

 

Microwave using oven feature to cook pizza from frozen 28 minutes  8.8p

Main oven to cook pizza from frozen 28 minutes 13.1p

 

1 year old freezer (measured over 111 hours) £24 a year

4 year old fridge (measured over 47 hour) £21 a year

(would prefer to measure items which are mainly off most of the time at the actual meter – might do that in next few days)

 

My base usage of electricity (measured 12 midnight to 8am) is 69w per hour – 1.4p/hr – 33p/day - £119/year (15 items running).  

 

Hope this is of interest to people because these are actual readings (100% accurate for gas and fairly accurate using plug in meter)

I turn everything off that doesn't need to be on. I was using 6 to 8 kWh's per day but now I use between 2.1 and 4.27 kWh's per day. Only once per week do I use more and that's when I do the washing and drying the usage goes up to 7.5 to 8.3 kWh's and that's averaging a monthly usage of 115 to 120 kWh's for electric. Gas I might use on average 10 units per month in winter but only 1 unit per week in summer, sometimes less.

@wild666 Have you analysed how much each of the things you turn off is saving you?
It may be that 90% of the things you turn off make virtually no difference, and are being exposed to extra power cycles, but a few are the real big drains.

EssexHebridean

k_man said:

wild666 said:

northernsoul said:

I have done lots of tests.  I am on Octopus variable tariff.   So, to give people an idea

 Gas 3.94/kWh. Measured at the meter. Boiler is Vailant eco plus 837 28kw

3 minute shower .117 m3 , 1.32kWh , 5.2p (measured once)

4 minute shower 7.5p (average over 8 showers)

5 min   2.14kWh  8.4p (average over 6 showers)

6 min     9.4p (measured once)

Bath (full to overflow) 23p  (average over 9 baths)

Half kitchen bowl 2.7p (boiler next to sink)

Full kitchen bowl 2.9p

 

Got lots of readings of central heating cost per hour, over 14 hours and once over 24 hours (32% more to run 24 hours - £1.55 for 1st 14 hours which would equate to £2.04 for 24 hours – temp range during 24 hours 9C to 2C – 2 bed 120 year old terrace house in Yorkshire)

 

Electricity 19.89p/kWh. Measured by plug in meter (not as accurate as measuring at the actual meter but within 10%)

Samsung eco wash 0.47 kWh 10.3p ( average of 7 washes)

40C wash 17p (av 7 washes)

60C wash 19p  (av 7 washes)

Dishwasher eco wash 0.714kWh 15.6p

Dishwasher super wash 25.6p

 

Frying chips in deep fat fryer 5.9p

Frying chips in Air fryer 9.6p

 

Microwave using oven feature to cook pizza from frozen 28 minutes  8.8p

Main oven to cook pizza from frozen 28 minutes 13.1p

 

1 year old freezer (measured over 111 hours) £24 a year

4 year old fridge (measured over 47 hour) £21 a year

(would prefer to measure items which are mainly off most of the time at the actual meter – might do that in next few days)

 

My base usage of electricity (measured 12 midnight to 8am) is 69w per hour – 1.4p/hr – 33p/day - £119/year (15 items running).  

 

Hope this is of interest to people because these are actual readings (100% accurate for gas and fairly accurate using plug in meter)

I turn everything off that doesn't need to be on. I was using 6 to 8 kWh's per day but now I use between 2.1 and 4.27 kWh's per day. Only once per week do I use more and that's when I do the washing and drying the usage goes up to 7.5 to 8.3 kWh's and that's averaging a monthly usage of 115 to 120 kWh's for electric. Gas I might use on average 10 units per month in winter but only 1 unit per week in summer, sometimes less.

@wild666 Have you analysed how much each of the things you turn off is saving you?
It may be that 90% of the things you turn off make virtually no difference, and are being exposed to extra power cycles, but a few are the real big drains.

I seem to recall it was established on another thread that an older, very power heavy TV was a good part of the issue here…