Oct price cap increase likely to push energy bill to over £10k... for a family of 4...

xeny

Happy_Sloth said:
sadly my husbands beast is using a 500w graphic's card   we've used the TP links and i've found that almost 50% of the electric use in the house is down to that 1 PC! 

but can i get him the switch it off? .... *sob* 

A graphics card should only draw that much when he is actually playing. To draw that much in normal operation means it is being used for something like 3D modelling, or power management isn't configured correctly. Presuming it is an Nvidia card, the first reply here may be useful https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/txgo52/3090_in_idle_power_usage/

Happy_Sloth

Sea_Shell said:

QrizB said:

Happy_Sloth said:

RobM99 said:

Krakkkers said:

Graphics cards are like room heaters.

A quick Google says 250w or so - is that about right (I really have no idea!)?

sadly my husbands beast is using a 500w graphic's card   we've used the TP links and i've found that almost 50% of the electric use in the house is down to that 1 PC! 

but can i get him the switch it off? .... *sob* 

Seriously Happy_Sloth, that's verging on spousal abuse. If his graphics card is responsible for half of your huge electricity bill, he needs to take some responsibility.

On this point, I can see the increased stress on family finances and arguments about "hobby" usage and or "personal" spends are going to lead to relationship breakdowns if couples aren't on the same page. ☹️

oh it does put stress on things, we've argued about it today in fact. 

Bless him he doesn't spend money any anything else to be fair he's not a drinker, smoker he doesn't have loads of expensive hobbies. 

He's always been a gamer... 20 years of marriage and this is the first time that the price of the hobby has been an issue. honestly in 30 years of paying my own bills this is the first time i can ever remember electric being problematic. 

MariaAH

70sbudgie said:

MariaAH said:

Ahhhh...did not realise that...yes we threw away the display unit. Here are pictures...is it the black thing clamped around the red cable?

The smart meter is the Secure Liberty 100 unit. The good news is that I believe that Octopus recognise this as a smart meter that they can work with. I understand that they are not taking new customers until they've worked out their post price cap increase prices. (Within a week?) So if I were you, I would keep an eye on the Octopus website and see if you can get an Octopus Go rate. If not that, an Economy 7 rate will give you at least some reduction overnight and allow the costs of charging your cars to come down.

There are plenty of people on these forums (me included!) that could give you an Octopus referral code (previously this would give the recipient and the donor £50 each. Next week, I'm not sure). So whoever's you use, make sure you use one.

I think the black thing is a current clamp. Do you have another monitoring device? If you're not sure you could take it off and see what stops working. It shouldn't affect the smart meter above it. It could be the display unit you threw out. The only other thing I'd check is whether your electrician recently fitted it. (Unless you know what it is for). 

Thank you! Very helpful. I have a feeling the black clamp could be to do with the Hypervolt EV charger…it prioritises energy to the house and will reduce charging to car if house needs it. 

Will keep an eye out for Octopus and will be in touch re referral code if we can swap 

Spies

@MariaAH is he mining crypto and not telling you? 

MariaAH

QrizB said:

MariaAH said:

Ahhhh...did not realise that...yes we threw away the display unit. Here are pictures...is it the black thing clamped around the red cable?

That's definitely a smart meter, a Secure Liberty 100 which is one of the earlier SMETS1 models.

Is your energy supplier able to read it, or do you have to submit manual readings? (Do you know how to read it?)

The black clamp is a current transformer (CT). It's not part of the smart meter. Where do the thin wires from the CT go? Do they connect to your EV charger?

Yes I know how to read it. BG said we were not compatible for a Smart meter?! Kept saying that the whole time we have been with them ?! 

And yes I do believe clamp is for EV charger, so that house has priority over current. 

MariaAH

Spies said:

@MariaAH is he mining crypto and not telling you? 

No, definitely not. Mining rig was dismantled many months ago and is on floor of garage. He is a little naive and young for his age, but he is also very sweet and he has been open and honest about what he is using and has helped me connect the TP monitors

70sbudgie

MariaAH said:

Thank you! Very helpful. I have a feeling the black clamp could be to do with the Hypervolt EV charger…it prioritises energy to the house and will reduce charging to car if house needs it. 

Will keep an eye out for Octopus and will be in touch re referral code if we can swap 

Yes, don't disconnect your Hypervolt charger! I have heard about them being able to vary charge rate, so yes it makes sense that it would need a current clamp to do that.

TheGardener

Happy_Sloth said:

RobM99 said:

Krakkkers said:

Graphics cards are like room heaters.

A quick Google says 250w or so - is that about right (I really have no idea!)?

sadly my husbands beast is using a 500w graphic's card   we've used the TP links and i've found that almost 50% of the electric use in the house is down to that 1 PC! 

but can i get him the switch it off? .... *sob* 

Firstly I think the bill payers for gaming PC's need their own dedicated thread on this forum. I think this is an almost hidden issue - all the papers and online news stories say: the cooker uses this or the shower will cost that and turn off your vampire piddling wattage devices but gaming PC's are the massive energy elephant in the room that no one mentions  - hidden away in bedrooms, rarely seen and many of their owners are not responsible for the bills. 

But we have one of the big, noisy, neon-tubed beasts in our house, and yes, it's been using nearly a third of the household electricity and we were all oblivious. There is a very good reason Finland is the country of choice to house massive data centres (Google, Microsoft) as keeping them cool can be so expensive - in fact they create so much heat they are hooking the centres up to district heating networks! 

However, as mentioned earlier in this thread, after long and difficult conversations (and there were a few tears) the graphics card was dialed down and it made a significant difference. The problem, regardless of the PC spec is 'overclocking' and after dialing down the system, the impact on gaming speed has been small (so he says) DS can't afford to pay the full cost of what he's using  - so he has to use less. Now, unless he's actively in a game he disconnects the graphics card and the PC becomes way more affordable. 

Vincero

TheGardener said:

Happy_Sloth said:

RobM99 said:

Krakkkers said:

Graphics cards are like room heaters.

A quick Google says 250w or so - is that about right (I really have no idea!)?

sadly my husbands beast is using a 500w graphic's card   we've used the TP links and i've found that almost 50% of the electric use in the house is down to that 1 PC! 

but can i get him the switch it off? .... *sob* 

Firstly I think the bill payers for gaming PC's need their own dedicated thread on this forum. I think this is an almost hidden issue - all the papers and online news stories say: the cooker uses this or the shower will cost that and turn off your vampire piddling wattage devices but gaming PC's are the massive energy elephant in the room that no one mentions  - hidden away in bedrooms, rarely seen and many of their owners are not responsible for the bills. 

But we have one of the big, noisy, neon-tubed beasts in our house, and yes, it's been using nearly a third of the household electricity and we were all oblivious. There is a very good reason Finland is the country of choice to house massive data centres (Google, Microsoft) as keeping them cool can be so expensive - in fact they create so much heat they are hooking the centres up to district heating networks! 

However, as mentioned earlier in this thread, after long and difficult conversations (and there were a few tears) the graphics card was dialed down and it made a significant difference. The problem, regardless of the PC spec is 'overclocking' and after dialing down the system, the impact on gaming speed has been small (so he says) DS can't afford to pay the full cost of what he's using  - so he has to use less. Now, unless he's actively in a game he disconnects the graphics card and the PC becomes way more affordable. 

It's not just gaming PCs - gaming consoles are derivatives of the same hardware and the power usage, while lower than top-spec PC, will still be significant over a long period.

Also, the hardware vendors make no attempts to hide the peak power usage. It may be a shock to some, but only if they never make an effort to understand the technology.
For example, frost free freezers usually have a heating element within them to ensure the cooling loop and fan area stay ice free - this sometimes uses more energy than the freezer compressor motor. But it's a fact that most people aren't aware of or would normally care about - until something goes wrong or they are trying to figure out why the motor isn't running but it's somehow using ever more energy.

PennyForThem_2

I am a gamer - at 70 - love it.  Got a moderate gaming laptop.  Kept me sane over lockdown.

Gaming has its upsides - a Minecrafter is possibly learning programming skills.  A gamer involved in warcraft is learning strategy and tactics.  Even a gamer involved in selling things to get virtual gold/game currency to buy items to enhance character is learning economics/selling techniques.

So beware of knocking gaming - limiting,yes.  Contributing to cost, yes.  But it is a creative and worthwhile hobby.  (Caveat: addictio is not good.)