Background Electricity Usage 8760 hours a year

Slinky

Effician said:

Ultrasonic said:

Thinking about it, the energy used by a washing machine will depend on the temperature of the water coming into it. So possibly a wash done at dusk may use less power than one run in the middle of the night?

Or chuck some cheap gas heated hot water into the drum before starting the programme.

This is what I've been doing. Our timer on the E7 has slipped so I'm currently getting cheap rate until 7.34am, will be 8.34am next week, so an early wash with 10 litres of water drawn off the hot tank is finished by roundabout the time the more expensive rate. This is why figures from the manuals or people looking them up for me is no use, I need to actually test what's happening. During February my leccy usage dropped by 2kw per day after I started using the gas heated water. I fill it from a watering can tipped through the powder drawer.  Occasionally the machine draws in a bit more if it's towels or something else thick.

Slinky

coffeehound said:

Effician said:

Ultrasonic said:

Effician said:

Ultrasonic said:

Thinking about it, the energy used by a washing machine will depend on the temperature of the water coming into it. So possibly a wash done at dusk may use less power than one run in the middle of the night?

Or chuck some cheap gas heated hot water into the drum before starting the programme.

Wouldn't that make the washing machine 'think' it had a heavier washing load and pump more (cold) water in as a result?

Seems to work fine for us but if you think it may be an issue pour the hot water into the powder draw whilst it's filling. The best we've managed is 6mins heater on time for a 40c full load .

My last two w/m's have done a quick pump out at the start of the cycle, presumably to drain the bilge.  So putting your warm water in through the soap dispenser sounds a safer bet 

Our dishwasher does this so I've not bothered using the same trick there.

Sea_Shell

Another thread has made me query the efficacy of using my laptop either powered or from the battery.

In the morning, I usually switch on the power, so it both recharges and powers itself simultaneously.

Once fully charged is it best to leave the power on, whilst using it, or turn off the power and run down the battery?

Or once the battery is full, will it only use what it needs to function IYSWIM.

I usually then switch it off when finished what I'm doing for the morning, and use battery later in the day.

What's most efficient, both for power use and preserving the life of the battery?   Or are the differences miniscule?


ETA I think my question has been answered elsewhere by @MWT


Mine has (I think) a removable battery, and it stays on the desk all the time.

Norman_Castle

Effician said:

Slinky said:

Effician said:

Slinky said:

Ultrasonic said:

Norman_Castle said:

Ultrasonic said:

Slinky said:

Can anybody recommend a particular monitor?

Get a smart meter fitted then you won't have to pay for one. My IHD is all I've used. Ones you can buy will give you finer resolution (0.1 W vs 1 W) but this isn't desperately useful.

 A smart meter cannot tell you the cost of a washing cycle or running a fridge over many days. 

True but I'm not sure why I'd want to measure that? Plus the manuals for white goods will give some idea if needed.

The context of this thread though was the background electricity use with no obvious activity, and this can be measured with a smart meter IHD so this was the context I was commenting from.

I'd like to know the costs of washing machine use etc as I've currently got E7 old style meter and I'm trying to work out whether the cheaper rate of running it at night is worth it to me.

Could be anything between 300wh & over 2kwh depending on the programme & efficiency of the washing machine

That's why I'd like to be able to measure it. I don't think manuals are really geared up for giving precise data - we didn't all used to be concerned about small differences when those things were written. It's obvious from this thread that watts = £££ these days

We'll do 2 x  20c quick washes this week at about 300wh

What do you mean by 300wh?

Effician

Norman_Castle said:

Effician said:

Slinky said:

Effician said:

Slinky said:

Ultrasonic said:

Norman_Castle said:

Ultrasonic said:

Slinky said:

Can anybody recommend a particular monitor?

Get a smart meter fitted then you won't have to pay for one. My IHD is all I've used. Ones you can buy will give you finer resolution (0.1 W vs 1 W) but this isn't desperately useful.

 A smart meter cannot tell you the cost of a washing cycle or running a fridge over many days. 

True but I'm not sure why I'd want to measure that? Plus the manuals for white goods will give some idea if needed.

The context of this thread though was the background electricity use with no obvious activity, and this can be measured with a smart meter IHD so this was the context I was commenting from.

I'd like to know the costs of washing machine use etc as I've currently got E7 old style meter and I'm trying to work out whether the cheaper rate of running it at night is worth it to me.

Could be anything between 300wh & over 2kwh depending on the programme & efficiency of the washing machine

That's why I'd like to be able to measure it. I don't think manuals are really geared up for giving precise data - we didn't all used to be concerned about small differences when those things were written. It's obvious from this thread that watts = £££ these days

We'll do 2 x  20c quick washes this week at about 300wh

What do you mean by 300wh?

0.3 of a kwh

Norman_Castle

Effician said:

Norman_Castle said:

Effician said:

Slinky said:

Effician said:

Slinky said:

Ultrasonic said:

Norman_Castle said:

Ultrasonic said:

Slinky said:

Can anybody recommend a particular monitor?

Get a smart meter fitted then you won't have to pay for one. My IHD is all I've used. Ones you can buy will give you finer resolution (0.1 W vs 1 W) but this isn't desperately useful.

 A smart meter cannot tell you the cost of a washing cycle or running a fridge over many days. 

True but I'm not sure why I'd want to measure that? Plus the manuals for white goods will give some idea if needed.

The context of this thread though was the background electricity use with no obvious activity, and this can be measured with a smart meter IHD so this was the context I was commenting from.

I'd like to know the costs of washing machine use etc as I've currently got E7 old style meter and I'm trying to work out whether the cheaper rate of running it at night is worth it to me.

Could be anything between 300wh & over 2kwh depending on the programme & efficiency of the washing machine

That's why I'd like to be able to measure it. I don't think manuals are really geared up for giving precise data - we didn't all used to be concerned about small differences when those things were written. It's obvious from this thread that watts = £££ these days

We'll do 2 x  20c quick washes this week at about 300wh

What do you mean by 300wh?

0.3 of a kwh

So 0.3kwh. As we're all being charged by the kwh it'd be easier to refer to it that way.

QrizB

Sea_Shell said:

What's most efficient, both for power use and preserving the life of the battery?   Or are the differences miniscule?

With previous static laptops I've discharged the battery to about 50% then removed it and kept it in the fridge. The laptop has run fine solely from mains and the battery has been fine stored that way too.

With my current laptop I haven't bothered. I've needed one new battery in six years of daily use.

Sea_Shell

QrizB said:

Sea_Shell said:

What's most efficient, both for power use and preserving the life of the battery?   Or are the differences miniscule?

With previous static laptops I've discharged the battery to about 50% then removed it and kept it in the fridge. The laptop has run fine solely from mains and the battery has been fine stored that way too.

With my current laptop I haven't bothered. I've needed one new battery in six years of daily use.

Well, I can't be doing much wrong, as i've been using it the same way since 2012!!!    I did need a new hard drive last year, but battery has been fine.   However, i've not tested it to see how long it lasts on battery.  

It's currently on battery and it says 55% remaining (1hr 26m), so I'm guessing 3 hrs on battery isn't great, but then it is 10 years old.   (can't remember what its performance was new)

Oh dear....it's lost 2% whilst i've been typing this!!!!      

ETA - Oh dear oh dear...it's now down to 34%, 25mins later (49 mins remaining)

All i've been doing is websurfing, posting here and updating my spreadsheets...not asking much of it. 

Is it FUBAR'd

cx6

@Sea_Shell assuming you don't need the portability of your laptop ie it always stays on the kitchen table or wherever then remove the battery and use it on mains power only.

k_man

@Sea_Shell
And if it works for you (up until you started looking), then clearly it isn't FUBAR.

3 hours or so for a 10 year old laptop isn't that unusual.
It may not have been much more than that from new.

Unless of course, you want an excuse for a new laptop.