Energy Frugality

amcg100

I think we have all come to expect Luxury as standard, particularly in relation to energy. My energy spend from 1st October to 31st March was £25.50 per week.  For this I had central heating, a daily tank of hot water and all the usual household appliances.  Facing a huge increase from 1st April, during March I started to look round for ways to save on electricity – the result is remarkable – I implemented my plan 1st April and have calculated that in the first four days I have used £11.53 of electricity at the new rates. This works out at £20.18 per week, less than what I was paying before. This is despite my night time unit rate increasing from 7.5p Kwh to 18.147p/Kwh and day rate moving from 27.602 up to 32.159. Standing charge was also increased by 25p per day.

Here are some of the changes I made on 1st April

1.       Switched off central heating.

I have invested in thermal underwear and am warm as toast without any heating being on. Ok, I don’t have the luxury of sitting around in shorts and a T shirt but there lies the choice.

2.       Switched off immersion heater.

My water heater came on at night and gave me a full tank of hot water every day. I realised I was not using the water. I only used it for washing dishes. I have found that most dishes scrub up under a cold tap if you wash them straight away. If I were to need some hot water I can fill a bucket from the shower.

Ok, It takes a bit of effort, and I don’t have the luxury of leaving dishes around to get sticky, but there lies the choice.

3.       Small thing – but my microwave oven has an LED clock which was previously on 24/7. I now switch it on and off at the socket each time it is used.

Once again a little bit of effort, but there lies the choice. The same applies for many other small appliances around the flat. Rule of thumb – if it is not being used, switch it off at the socket.

4.        My Bedroom TV and sound bar were previously on standby 24/7. They are now switched off at the socket.

Ok, so now if I want to watch TV in bed I have to get up and walk across the bedroom to switch it on – but there lies the choice.

5.        My main AV Consul, - TV, Playstation, Amazon Stick, Now TV Box, surround sound, and hifi were all on standby 24/7. Now they only get plugged in if they are being used.

Ok, it’s a hassle fiddling about with plugs all the time but there lies the choice.

6.       My Computer was left on 24/7. Now I shut it down when not in use.

Ok, it’s a hassle waiting for it to boot up, but there lies the choice.

 

Assuming I continue with the regime, I can be comfortable putting my heating on for a couple of days if the weather is particularly cold and using the immersion for a specific purpose if I need a lot of hot water. It’s going to take a lot of effort and a lot less luxury, but if you don’t want to (or cant) pay the increase some lifestyle changes can turn the energy price hike on its’ head.

pochase

So why are you still on an E7 tariff if you are switching off heating and immersion heater? Looks to me like you are not using much energy at night now.

Standby cost most of the appliances you mentioned should be in the region of 1wh per hour, so yes there is a potential savings, but is saving a few £ per year worth the inconvenience?

MattMattMattUK

amcg100 said:

3.       Small thing – but my microwave oven has an LED clock which was previously on 24/7. I now switch it on and off at the socket each time it is used.

Once again a little bit of effort, but there lies the choice. The same applies for many other small appliances around the flat. Rule of thumb – if it is not being used, switch it off at the socket.

4.        My Bedroom TV and sound bar were previously on standby 24/7. They are now switched off at the socket.

Ok, so now if I want to watch TV in bed I have to get up and walk across the bedroom to switch it on – but there lies the choice.

5.        My main AV Consul, - TV, Playstation, Amazon Stick, Now TV Box, surround sound, and hifi were all on standby 24/7. Now they only get plugged in if they are being used.

Ok, it’s a hassle fiddling about with plugs all the time but there lies the choice.

If these are modern ish (last 10 years) then the total of all the above was probably less than 10w total draw in standby, if less than five years old then the draw will of all of them will potentially be less than 5w. That means an annual saving of around 44 kWh, or £12.70. Is it worth the cost, as well as the potential shortening the lifespan of the products by constantly turning them off at the wall?

amcg100 said:

6.       My Computer was left on 24/7. Now I shut it down when not in use.

Ok, it’s a hassle waiting for it to boot up, but there lies the choice.

This one actually makes sense, but it should not take long to boot up, if it does take longer than 30 seconds (on HDD) or 10 seconds (on SSD) then you need to clean up your OS installation.

amcg100

pochase said:

So why are you still on an E7 tariff if you are switching off heating and immersion heater? Looks to me like you are not using much energy at night now.

Standby cost most of the appliances you mentioned should be in the region of 1wh per hour, so yes there is a potential savings, but is saving a few £ per year worth the inconvenience?

Good point, but there are no single rate tariffs to switch to that would save me on the day rate. Remaining on E7 also gives me the option of using the heating and hot water if I choose to do so. The change I have made is that I am not just leaving it switched on and forgeting about it as I did before.

amcg100

MattMattMattUK said:

amcg100 said:

3.       Small thing – but my microwave oven has an LED clock which was previously on 24/7. I now switch it on and off at the socket each time it is used.

Once again a little bit of effort, but there lies the choice. The same applies for many other small appliances around the flat. Rule of thumb – if it is not being used, switch it off at the socket.

4.        My Bedroom TV and sound bar were previously on standby 24/7. They are now switched off at the socket.

Ok, so now if I want to watch TV in bed I have to get up and walk across the bedroom to switch it on – but there lies the choice.

5.        My main AV Consul, - TV, Playstation, Amazon Stick, Now TV Box, surround sound, and hifi were all on standby 24/7. Now they only get plugged in if they are being used.

Ok, it’s a hassle fiddling about with plugs all the time but there lies the choice.

If these are modern ish (last 10 years) then the total of all the above was probably less than 10w total draw in standby, if less than five years old then the draw will of all of them will potentially be less than 5w. That means an annual saving of around 44 kWh, or £12.70. Is it worth the cost, as well as the potential shortening the lifespan of the products by constantly turning them off at the wall?

amcg100 said:

6.       My Computer was left on 24/7. Now I shut it down when not in use.

Ok, it’s a hassle waiting for it to boot up, but there lies the choice.

This one actually makes sense, but it should not take long to boot up, if it does take longer than 30 seconds (on HDD) or 10 seconds (on SSD) then you need to clean up your OS installation.

It's about a minute, but I am finding the more the computer is rebooted the faster it gets.

Swipe

Don't use the shower for hot washing up water, boil a third to half a kettle and add cold water to make up the volume.

Mstty

As we head into The warmer months Apr-Oct I would expect your usage to dip. How much is only really possible with you knowing your usage in kWh for March/April/etc last year and comparing what your energy saving exercise has really saved.

Hey it's all good though, any energy we can save relatively easily is good for us and the planet.

If you start to get cold this winter I have heard the personal electric blankets are a good investment 65-100w per hour but remember to heat the house anyway to stop frozen pipes and mold.

FreedomBringsPeace

Everythings switched off. Boiler only on when I bathe, or washing dishes, when heats on all doors are shut, recliner switched off, water on boiler switched to eco in case I forget to turn it off some days, 

amcg100

Mstty said:

As we head into The warmer months Apr-Oct I would expect your usage to dip. How much is only really possible with you knowing your usage in kWh for March/April/etc last year and comparing what your energy saving exercise has really saved.

Hey it's all good though, any energy we can save relatively easily is good for us and the planet.

If you start to get cold this winter I have heard the personal electric blankets are a good investment 65-100w per hour but remember to heat the house anyway to stop frozen pipes and mold.

I will be able to do that since I take regular readings and record them in a spreadsheet.  This is the third day after switching off immersion heater and the water is still warm this morning.5 days into frugality and I have used £13.64 which works out at £19.06 per week. I used 6 units of daytime electricity yesterday which includes having the oven on for a while and a little ad - hoc heating from a fan heater. I have an electric blanket but rarely use it as I prefer a cool bedroom, but I agree it is an excellent back up during very cold spells. My night time reading has moved only one unit in two nights. This is quite pleasing because it is telling me that the few appliances left on overnight - fridge/freezer/ radio clock/phones/router are not consuming much energy.

I think an important part of this project for me is going to be learning what each appliance actually costs to use. If I know that then I can make budgeting decisions as I go, for example, If I know that switching my hot water on for a day will cost £1, then I can decide to spend £1 for the luxury of a hot bath or to facilitate cleaning. My fan heater has a rating of 2KW, so I know that if I switch it on for an hour this will cost me a maximum of 64p. I need to annalyse the cost of fully charging each of my three storeage heaters as they are different sizes.