The kettle debate

Ergates

jvjack said:

@slinky said 
I pour the water in through the powder drawer
Got it thanks.

Todays daily mail on energy cutting tips 
From shorter showers to turning off lights, how much money do energy-cutting tips really save? | Daily Mail Online

3. Not filling the kettle to the top

One tip floating around the internet is to stop filling the kettle to the top to make one cup of tea, as it uses more energy. Putting in just enough water to fill a mug is said to be substantially cheaper. 

Maybe they read this thread lol.

They should have mentioned type of kettle though. They obviously have not read @section62 posts about the importance of that.

Bleeding edge reporting from the Mail as usual.

Next up they'll be telling us to switch of lights when we leave the room and to turn down the heating a bit.

Benny2020

I find pressing the middle pedal in my car helps me slow down for junctions.

Slinky

Ergates said:

jvjack said:

@slinky said 
I pour the water in through the powder drawer
Got it thanks.

Todays daily mail on energy cutting tips 
From shorter showers to turning off lights, how much money do energy-cutting tips really save? | Daily Mail Online

3. Not filling the kettle to the top

One tip floating around the internet is to stop filling the kettle to the top to make one cup of tea, as it uses more energy. Putting in just enough water to fill a mug is said to be substantially cheaper. 

Maybe they read this thread lol.

They should have mentioned type of kettle though. They obviously have not read @section62 posts about the importance of that.

Bleeding edge reporting from the Mail as usual.

Next up they'll be telling us to switch of lights when we leave the room and to turn down the heating a bit.

Reading the rest of the article, don't know what planet they're on where they can get a solar setup for £2500

QrizB

Slinky said:

Reading the rest of the article, don't know what planet they're on where they can get a solar setup for £2500

This is not a recommendation (it seems overpriced, and they're out-of-stock) but as an example:
https://www.pluginsolar.co.uk/?product=plug-in-solar-1-5kw-1500w-diy-solar-power-kit-with-renusol-console-tubs-for-ground-or-flat-roof

Gerry1

Daily Mail columnist Emilia Shovelin simply hasn't a clue.

"On average, electric ovens have a power rating of 2.0-2.2 kWh, whereas slow cookers use 0.64 kWh of electricity on low settings and 1.65 kWh on high settings."

She's confusing power with energy (those units should be kW, not kWh), and the low settings are typically 100W - 200W, not 640W.  It's true that some slow cookers do have high power settings of over 1kW, but she's failed to realise that they can't be used at this power for long periods.  1.65kW is almost the power level of an electric kettle, so after eight hours the contents would have been boiled dry and frazzled to cinders !

Her next howler is saying "For those worried about how much energy their slow cooker is using, experts suggest they get a smart meter and monitor their energy use to work our whether it is saving or costing them money."  The smart meter can only monitor the electricity usage of the whole house, so it will be virtually impossible to see whether the slow cooker costs more than the oven.  You'd have to use the slow cooker one day and the oven for the same meal another day, but all the other electricity usage would have to be exactly the same, which is unlikely.  The comparison could be completely skewed just by using another appliance such as the tumble dryer, hotplate, hair dryer etc.

It would be necessary to use a plug-in energy monitor, but most ovens don't plug in to a 13A socket.

Slinky

QrizB said:

Slinky said:

Reading the rest of the article, don't know what planet they're on where they can get a solar setup for £2500

This is not a recommendation (it seems overpriced, and they're out-of-stock) but as an example:
https://www.pluginsolar.co.uk/?product=plug-in-solar-1-5kw-1500w-diy-solar-power-kit-with-renusol-console-tubs-for-ground-or-flat-roof

@QrizB interesting. Never heard of plugin systems before.

markin

Most Solar companies would happily install a 1.5 - 2 KWP system, For low users it would still cover most of their yearly usage.

victor2

Gerry1 said:

Daily Mail columnist Emilia Shovelin simply hasn't a clue.....

She doesn't just write for the Mail either - appears to be quite a successful freelance writer. Then you get people on here believing and quoting such nonsense.

Mstty

Going by what freelance journalists are allowed to get to print.....maybe we can all have a go🤣🤣

wild666

Gerry1 said:

Daily Mail columnist Emilia Shovelin simply hasn't a clue.

"On average, electric ovens have a power rating of 2.0-2.2 kWh, whereas slow cookers use 0.64 kWh of electricity on low settings and 1.65 kWh on high settings."

She's confusing power with energy (those units should be kW, not kWh), and the low settings are typically 100W - 200W, not 640W.  It's true that some slow cookers do have high power settings of over 1kW, but she's failed to realise that they can't be used at this power for long periods.  1.65kW is almost the power level of an electric kettle, so after eight hours the contents would have been boiled dry and frazzled to cinders !

Her next howler is saying "For those worried about how much energy their slow cooker is using, experts suggest they get a smart meter and monitor their energy use to work our whether it is saving or costing them money."  The smart meter can only monitor the electricity usage of the whole house, so it will be virtually impossible to see whether the slow cooker costs more than the oven.  You'd have to use the slow cooker one day and the oven for the same meal another day, but all the other electricity usage would have to be exactly the same, which is unlikely.  The comparison could be completely skewed just by using another appliance such as the tumble dryer, hotplate, hair dryer etc.

It would be necessary to use a plug-in energy monitor, but most ovens don't plug in to a 13A socket.

There are only two ways to test how much energy a slow cooker, or any electrical appliance, is actually using one is turn everything off at the wall socket and read the usage at the start and finish and the other is buy a plug adaptor that reads how much energy is consumed by the device, These plugs are available on Amazon or eBay