Background Electricity Usage 8760 hours a year

ctdctd

I went through the exercise of reducing my base load last year and got it from a measured 85W to 45W by using smart sockets to switch off Robot vacuum, Orbi WiFi extender & TV/AV/Active Subwoofer/LED lights system when not in use.

Current load is made up of Cordless phone (3W)/ Oven (3W)/ microwave (3W)/ Echo's x 3 (9W)/ Smart Plugs x 4 (4W)/ Router (8W)/ Orbi WiFi x 1 (10W) & Boiler (5W)

Norman_Castle

TheMightyShowerHead said:

Reading this got me thinking. I've got an old pentane upright freezer (A Kyoto KU89 "duluxe") Do you remember when Iceland made kitchen appliances? I vaguely do and I'm in my 30s. It's older than the alphabet raiting system.
I defrosted it today because it desperately needed doing. And I wasn't being gentle while still trying not to break it. Which got me thinking about if it would be cheaper energy wise to replace it. I'm loathe to get rid because it still works. But obviously if it's going to recover the cost in the medium term what with energy prices only going up it might be time to bite the bullet. 

It's rated to run at 140w. It's 250L capacity. What do the newer freezers run at these days? Appreciate it would be rough calculations only but do you reckon I would actually save if I were to spend a few quid on a new freezer?

My under counter fridge is about 30 years old. I've had a plug in monitor for about 15 years and sporadically check running costs. I checked the fridge last year and from memory the cost was about £48 per year but I've also found old notes stating £69 per year, summer. Presumably measured during hot weather.. Based on the stated running costs of a new fridge from memory it would have taken about 8 years to recoup the cost. Based on my experiences of friends whose fridges never seem to last very long I decided to keep my old fridge. In recent years I've been defrosting it every 6-8 weeks which I suspect helps. It also seems quicker to defrost if not left too long.

As its an under counter fridge its only got a small ice box so from necessity I often remove food from its packaging and put it into freezer bags which allows me to fit much more in. For a while I also had a very small freezer but that was costing £30 per year to run which is more than I'd save by buying offers and freezing them.   

cx6

"Most of the time a garage is likely to be cooler than the kitchen so I'd expect the duty cycle to be a lot lower."

Beware putting a fridge freezer in a garage or other unheated space

https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/201-buying-guides-a-help/all-appliances/2793-fridges-a-freezers-in-garages-or-outhouses

Effician

cx6 said:

Today I found out that when my washing machine is not in use, all the lights are off etc it still used 5W 

Good call, switched our w/m off at plug & saved 4 more watts/hr, baseload now stands at 12w made up of ---2x 42" tv on standby, router/ cordless landline & ihd on constant.

TheMightyShowerHead

cx6 said:

"Most of the time a garage is likely to be cooler than the kitchen so I'd expect the duty cycle to be a lot lower."

Beware putting a fridge freezer in a garage or other unheated space

https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/201-buying-guides-a-help/all-appliances/2793-fridges-a-freezers-in-garages-or-outhouses

I understand it wasn't ideal. But space was limited in a poorly designed kitchen. But it stood up to the test well and is now in the corner of the kitchen diner. 

Ultrasonic

cx6 said:

I am trying to calculate given the cost of running a freezer if it is worth running one - I know you save money by freezing leftovers etc but even so ...

If you're purely looking to save money, only cook what you need so you don't have any 'leftovers'.

cx6

Effician said:

cx6 said:

Today I found out that when my washing machine is not in use, all the lights are off etc it still used 5W 

Good call, switched our w/m off at plug & saved 4 more watts/hr, baseload now stands at 12w made up of ---2x 42" tv on standby, router/ cordless landline & ihd on constant.

Any way you can switch off the TVs rather than leaving on standby? Do they have a hard on/off switch, or is it easy to access the plug switch, or maybe a switched extension lead?

Ultrasonic

cx6 said:

Effician said:

cx6 said:

Today I found out that when my washing machine is not in use, all the lights are off etc it still used 5W 

Good call, switched our w/m off at plug & saved 4 more watts/hr, baseload now stands at 12w made up of ---2x 42" tv on standby, router/ cordless landline & ihd on constant.

Any way you can switch off the TVs rather than leaving on standby? Do they have a hard on/off switch, or is it easy to access the plug switch, or maybe a switched extension lead?

If they're modern TVs they'll probably use less that 0.5 W in standby. Worth checking though.

cx6

Something like this used on a router of TV might pay for itself quite quickly

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Status-S24HRSQT3-Square-Mechanical-Timer/dp/B01L4P5EYG/ref=asc_df_B01L4P5EYG/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=232042431268&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11350190594533851001&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006886&hvtargid=pla-613531797552&psc=1

Ultrasonic

cx6 said:

Something like this used on a router of TV might pay for itself quite quickly

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Status-S24HRSQT3-Square-Mechanical-Timer/dp/B01L4P5EYG/ref=asc_df_B01L4P5EYG/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=232042431268&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11350190594533851001&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006886&hvtargid=pla-613531797552&psc=1

For a TV using less than 0.5 W it would take years to recoup the cost, so best find out what power is being used first. 

Edit: missed the router comment - I wouldn't use one on a router personally.