The new normal: £2 to tumble-dry and £45 a year for a smart doorbell

jimexbox

FreeBear said:

jimexbox said:

FreeBear said:

mr_stripey said:

how does a ring doorbell "cost" that in electricity? Am I missing something?

https://support.ring.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4407618977300-Safety-and-compliance-information-for-Ring-Video-Doorbell-Wired - Claims 1.2W when in standby mode. So that would work out at around £5.50 per year assuming 52p per KWh.

A 5W LED bulb, 0.26p per hour.

Couple of decimal places missed on the 5w bulb.

Lemme check the maths....

1KW = 1,000W

5W = 0.005Kw. So for one hour it is 0.005Kwh

1KWh of electricity will cost 52p in round numbers come October.

0.005 x 52p = 0.26p

Your original post was... 

A 5W LED bulb, 0.26p per hour.

To my admittedly 0'level maths, that is 26p an hour. You might read it as something else of course. 

Ultrasonic

TheBanker said:

I have a dishwasher, which I use. I live on my own so I use it every few days, when it's full, usually on a low temperature setting. I was told that this was more cost effective than running several bowls of hot water to wash up by hand. Whether this is still the case given price changes, I don't know. 

I suspect the dishwasher question isn't straightforward. One argument for dishwashers is that they use less water but I'm never sure this properly factors in all the water people use to rinse off items before putting them in the dishwasher. Less water used during the cycle does mean less water to heat though.

On the pure cost front I suspect it will be important how you'd heat the water for a washing up bowl. I have a gas combi boiler and going by smart meter figures it takes about 0.5 kWh of energy per bowl (cost ~7.5 p for gas at October price cap rate). For those with hot water already sitting in a tank it may cost little extra to use the water rather than to just leave it in the tank.

Looking at data for a few dishwashers on the Currys website they're quoting energy use per cycle in the 0.75 - 1 kWh range. At October price cap costs that's 39 - 52 p per wash in energy cost, or equivalent to 5 - 7 of my washing up bowl costs.

For those who don't already own a dishwasher (like me) the purchase price would also be an important factor in an overall cost comparison too. 

There is no denying the convenience of a dishwasher though, particularly for larger families.

Ultrasonic

jimexbox said:

Your original post was... 

A 5W LED bulb, 0.26p per hour.

To my admittedly 0'level maths, that is 26p an hour. You might read it as something else of course. 

Your reading is incorrect though. 0.26 elephants wouldn't mean 26 elephants, any more than 0.26 p means 26 pence.

Sea_Shell

Another maths question...

If a Yankee candle* tea light costs 66p and burns for 5 hours giving off 80 watts of heat energy, what is the unit cost per kWh?

Show your workings. 


*Cheaper candles are available 😉

k_man

gefnew said:

You would need to use 500 watts of electricity to consume 0.26p.
The 5w lamp will use 0.0026p of electricity.

That depends on your interpretation of 0.26p
If you read it (technically incorrectly) as the same as 26p or £0.26 then that is approx half a unit of electricity.

However if it is read (correctly) as 0.26p or £0.0026, then that is 5W of constant usage (1/200 of a unit)

£ and p seems to often cause this.
To go full confusion/ambiguity:
£0.26p 😁

jimjames

TimSynths said:

The other important thing to consider is getting the most energy-efficient appliances. The most energy-efficient fridge-freezer, the LG GBB92MCBAP, costs £40.63 a year to run at the current price cap, according to the consumer group Which? The least efficient fridge it tested, the Hotpoint FFU3D W 1, costs £178.66.

If those numbers are correct then it could make replacing an old fridge freezer a worthwhile option cost wise. Mine is going to likely cost around £350 a year to run after using an energy monitor to check usage. I don't know how much lower the consumption is over winter months when the room will be slightly lower temperature but it's working out as just under 600kWh of energy per year just on the one item.

gefnew

Worked it out and this is it .

looks quite good.

Ultrasonic

Sea_Shell said:

Another maths question...

If a Yankee candle* tea light costs 66p and burns for 5 hours giving off 80 watts of heat energy, what is the unit cost per kWh?

Show your workings. 


*Cheaper candles are available 😉

How much does it cost to light the candle?

( 5 hours x 80 Watts = 400 Wh = 0.4 kWh. Cost per kWh = 66/0.4 p = 165 p.)

Section62

Ultrasonic said:

I suspect the dishwasher question isn't straightforward. One argument for dishwashers is that they use less water but I'm never sure this properly factors in all the water people use to rinse off items before putting them in the dishwasher.

People do this, but the manufacturers usually say it is unnecessary.  If there is enough residual food left on crockery to need rinsing off, then the person/family ought to think about food waste as well, as that may be having a far greater impact on their budget.

If we want to include all the variables, then dishwashing by hand commonly requires drying up using a tea towel, whereas items coming out of the dishwasher are usually dry enough to put away immediately. If so, the calculation should probably include the tea towel washing costs as well...

Sea_Shell

Ultrasonic said:

Sea_Shell said:

Another maths question...

If a Yankee candle* tea light costs 66p and burns for 5 hours giving off 80 watts of heat energy, what is the unit cost per kWh?

Show your workings. 


*Cheaper candles are available 😉

How much does it cost to light the candle?

( 5 hours x 80 Watts = 400 Wh = 0.4 kWh. Cost per kWh = 66/0.4 p = 165 p.)

Thanks.   

The cost of one match and the calories it takes to get up out the chair to do it!!? 😉