Understand energy use of appliances 9 May 2022 at 3:55PM in Green & ethical MoneySaving 10 replies 181 views

ChrisMSE

I have recently installed solar panels and want to optimize usage.
One issue I have is that my washing machine for example will tell me how much energy is used for the different cycles, but doesn't indicate if this is principally in the first few minutes as cold water is heated up, or if it is spread throughout the cycle. Dishwasher is even more unclear with a 3.5 hour cycle. The issue being if the sun is shining but by the time the energy hungry element starts things may have clouded over.
Is there info available somewhere on this, or do I need to hassle the customer service desk of the appliance manufacturer?
Any other tips on being smart also appreciated.

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

I don't think you'll find that information published anywhere.

The cheapest way is to keep an eye on your smart meter IHD during a wash cycle. No new equipment required and you'll get a good feel not only for the total amount of energy required but how "peaky" it is.

If you don't yet have a smart meter (you'll need one for SEG payments) then you'll need to buy an energy monitor. This could be as simple as a basic plug-in monitor (Amazon link) or slightly smarter like the Tapo P110 energy-monitoring plug (Amazon link) that frequently gets recommended (I have a similar Zigbee device).

Or you could go for a whole-house device like a Geo Minim but those start to get expensive and are a lot less common now. There are various used and NOS options on eBay (example).

Exiled_Tyke

QrizB said:

Welcome to the forum.

I don't think you'll find that information published anywhere.

The cheapest way is to keep an eye on your smart meter IHD during a wash cycle. No new equipment required and you'll get a good feel not only for the total amount of energy required but how "peaky" it is.

If you don't yet have a smart meter (you'll need one for SEG payments) then you'll need to buy an energy monitor. This could be as simple as a basic plug-in monitor (Amazon link) or slightly smarter like the Tapo P110 energy-monitoring plug (Amazon link) that frequently gets recommended (I have a similar Zigbee device).

Or you could go for a whole-house device like a Geo Minim but those start to get expensive and are a lot less common now. There are various used and NOS options on eBay (example).

Or even simpler, I used to just have a look at the flashing light on the meter whilst these appliances are on. 

Washing machines only use a great deal of energy during the main heat up phase at the beginning of the cycle. (Although this may be more than once or just later on if you use a pre-wash) 

Dishwashers heat up at the beginning and then roughly two thirds of the way through. My Bosch indicates 'rinsing' whilst it's drawing this second lot of energy. When it moves onto drying it's done with the heating.   I've also noticed that if I used the shorter setting for a wash it draws about 3kW but on the slower one (3.15 I think for the eco setting) it only draws 2kW which of course is preferable.  So my challenge is to decide whether there will be enough sun in 2 1/2 house time or whether there will be a good chunk of sun for the next hour and a bit! 

Reed_Richards

My solar panel inverter comes with a monitoring app. that shows me electricity usage; that's not unusual is it? 

Exiled_Tyke

Reed_Richards said:

My solar panel inverter comes with a monitoring app. that shows me electricity usage; that's not unusual is it? 

Mine only shows production.  My battery app shows usage. 

gefnew

Quite easy really get owl monitor similar clamp the ct around solar tail and stick where any one can see it.
Energy Monitors | OWL Micro+ | The OWL

paul991

i  just  bought a shelly monitor very  basic but useful you can  put a clamp on any cable to measure power in use and can be viewed on smartphone or pc

Alnat1

I've been using an Ecoegg for washing for the last few months. Our laundry is not generally really dirty, just needs a freshen up. There's no soap to rinse out so I go for the 30 minute quick wash at 30C and the Ecoegg will be doing whatever it does for both the wash and rinse parts of the cycle. Works well with using solar as the heat part is within the first 5 minutes. If my husband has managed to drip ketchup down his t-shirt I chuck in an eggcupful of washing powder to boost stain removal.

Dishwasher is trickier to manage with solar, watching IHD for timings works well, My biggest peak is about 15 minutes into the eco cycle and fingers crossed the sun is still out when it heats again later.

troffasky

On the eco cycle [the only one we ever use, tbh] my dishwasher pulls 1.6kW for 10 minutes, then about 80 minutes later it does it again for 13 minutes. Some noise in here as it's for the whole house, not just the dishwasher:

troffasky

Alnat1 said:

Dishwasher is trickier to manage with solar, watching IHD for timings works well,

One day, appliances could be "told" what the power availability is like, so it could delay the second heating cycle until the sun comes out [for a really simplified example].

Petriix

What you really need is an EV and a Zappi EVSE (EV charging point). That will let you monitor it all using the app and you'll quickly learn what your different appliances do on their different settings. The best part is you'll also divert much of your excess generation into the car.