Background Electricity Usage 8760 hours a year

Norman_Castle

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

They use about 1w. Router off overnight, 8 hours? saving 1/3 of its running cost then add the timers 1w. On a modern TV with 0.5w standby it would cost more than not using one.

Ultrasonic

Norman_Castle said:

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

They use about 1w. Router off overnight, 8 hours? saving 1/3 of its running cost then add the timers 1w. On a modern TV with 0.5w standby it would cost more than not using one.

Good point about the timer itself using power - I didn't think of that.

Gerry1

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

You didn't refer to the post in which I said that, but if you had read my previous post you would have seen that I said

That article is a load of tosh.  It claims

Pity they didn't bother to do some proper research or read the Which? report.

Here's what Beko say.

Which? rates my Beko as a Best Buy.

That's why I bought it and it's exactly that, it does what it says on the tin.  BTW, I don't have any connection or interest in Beko.

k_man

Last time I looked for a new fridge freezer, one of the filters on a number of retailers websites (for freezers specifically) was

Suitable for garage/shed use

Or similar

cx6

Yes, if you want to use a fridge freezer in an uninsulated garage where th temperature can go very high or very low then look for the filter that say if it is suitable. An 'ordinary' ff with just one thermostat may give problems.

cx6

Ultrasonic said:

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.

Yes definitely measure your TV standby power first. My TV is old and uses about 3-4W on standby.

Re router. prior to the timer my 8W router was on 24 hrs so used 8 x 8760 in a year

With the timer - timer uses 1 x 8760, router is on 8am to 10pm so now uses 8 x 8760 x 14/24

Saving @ 28p I work out just over £6.00 a year., more after October. £5 cost of timer not included.

Note: if everyone is also out at work / school etc then the router can be timed to be off all day too so the savings would be a lot bigger. For example, if the router was timed to be on only say 4pm to 10pm the savings would be about £11 a year on a 8w router and 1w timer

Effician

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?

The tv's only use 1w between them on standby so not really an issue for the convenience, the router & landline base unit will be next though obviously that will only be an overnight power down as we're in all day.

I try not to do everything all at once rather building habits slowly as they're more likely to stick , doing the same with total day/week/month usage with great results & not feeling like a martyr.

Ultrasonic

cx6 said:

Re router. prior to the timer my 8W router was on 24 hrs so used 8 x 8760 in a year

With the timer - timer uses 1 x 8760, router is on 8am to 10pm so now uses 8 x 8760 x 14/24

Saving @ 28p I work out just over £6.00 a year., more after October. £5 cost of timer not included.

Note: if everyone is also out at work / school etc then the router can be timed to be off all day too so the savings would be a lot bigger. For example, if the router was timed to be on only say 4pm to 10pm the savings would be about £11 a year on a 8w router and 1w timer

There is no argument that a timer (or manual switch off) on the router will save electricity. This doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea though. Have a Google re. whether modem/routers should be left on 24/7 or not and make up your own mind. It's not clear-cut but to play safe I won't be switching mine off.

Note I have found I can roughly halve the power used by my router by switching the WiFi off when not needed. That said, I forgot to switch it off when I left for work this morning.

victor2

Ultrasonic said:

cx6 said:

Re router. prior to the timer my 8W router was on 24 hrs so used 8 x 8760 in a year

With the timer - timer uses 1 x 8760, router is on 8am to 10pm so now uses 8 x 8760 x 14/24

Saving @ 28p I work out just over £6.00 a year., more after October. £5 cost of timer not included.

Note: if everyone is also out at work / school etc then the router can be timed to be off all day too so the savings would be a lot bigger. For example, if the router was timed to be on only say 4pm to 10pm the savings would be about £11 a year on a 8w router and 1w timer

There is no argument that a timer (or manual switch off) on the router will save electricity. This doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea though. Have a Google re. whether modem/routers should be left on 24/7 or not and make up your own mind. I won't be switching mine off.

Note I have found I can roughly halve the power used by my router by switching the WiFi off when not needed. That said, I forgot to switch it off when I left for work this morning.

I leave my Virgin hub on 24/7. I have my own WiFi router (also on 24/7) because Virgin's WiFi is so poor. Annoyingly, the Virgin hub in "modem only" mode still uses about 10W constantly. It uses 11 to 15W in normal use. My own router averages about 7W, so adding the two together is a significant load. Not going to switch them off at night though, partly because of potential problems with doing so, but mainly because I have overnight tasks that run - backups to the cloud and a local NAS device connected to the router. There's other requirements I have too.

k_man

My router is staying on too.
Like you, there are jobs that run overnight.

Also, if there are a lot of network devices, then rebooting/powering off the router (that acts as the DHCP server) can cause some odds things to occur.

Not an issue for simple networks, or if other network devices are already off when the router is off.