Cost of living reporting

Magnitio

Martyn1981 said:

Appliances to switch off before going on holiday - kettle and toaster could cost over £14

 

Even the slightly more sensible suggestion in the article doesn't make sense:

"The average Wi-Fi router uses just 0.008 kWh which means turning it off for a seven-day holiday would save just under £2."

If it means 8 watts, then for 7 days that's 1.3kWh. How does that become "just under £2"?

As someone commented under the article "Absolute twoddle"

QrizB

Martyn1981 said:

I'm not sure if this is genuine, or someone who read the original Sun story, but we are back to £2 per day for kettle and toaster on standby. Seriously, that's two articles, so am I missing something, are there 'smart' toasters akin to Red Dwarf, trying to wipe us out financially.

You've reminded me of Dave Lister's run-in with the NORWEB Federation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEu0o62ycmg

1961Nick

ggmf said:

As discussed by another poster on here, I've recently installed - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07228W28L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to enable me to direct excess solar to the immersion. Based on the assumption that it will probably only be used for 6 months of the year, and then when the battery is fully charged, this works out a lot cheaper than the iBoost or Solic, that would take a long time to recoup the investment. If going for one of these then you need to ensure that the mounting box is deep enough.

I’ve been using that model for a couple of years. I think it cost £30 back then!

Before that I tried a Hive plug (rated at 13A) but it was getting uncomfortably hot after 30 minutes.

Martyn1981

Seems that at least some of the recent reporting on vampire leccy losses might be down to 'the experts' quoting very old data, even reports from California, reports that praised Europe for addressing efficiency and standby losses.

Impact of energy-draining ‘vampire devices’ overstated, says tech expert

As the cost-of-living crisis bites, and households look for any opportunity to cut the bills, headlines suggesting consumers can save hundreds of pounds just by turning off unused chargers have been an appealing prospect. But, experts say, such claims about “vampire devices” are actually more like a zombie statistic.

More importantly, Melson notes, American consumers are not covered by the array of European regulations that have slashed power use for British consumers. He said: “The eco-design directive, European regulation, has driven design changes across the sector. It’s much more regulated, and business practices have evolved.”

The US report that first found the 23% figure even highlights the advantages of European regulation: “The European standard addresses a large portion of the idle load issue highlighted in this study,” the American researchers say.