Energy monitoring plug has just arrived - now what?

dunstonh

jvjack said:

Someware in here i mentioned that the Tapo moniter showed my dishwasher was 1.2kw a wash.
Thinking  i could save by squeesing more pots and plates over the week before wash.
But the sause pans have mouldy spores on them after 4 days. Just thinking. Dont know.
Sure its ok.

Does yours have an eco setting?   Our old one did, and it knocked a load off the energy use.  Our new one has an even better one.  The only negative to the eco wash is that it takes 5 hours but the positive is that it uses 500w instead of 1.x kW

Qyburn

Ally_E. said:

Someone on here discovered their fridge was using 2.5 times more energy than it should have, which meant it was broken and not efficient to run. They were able to calculate that buying a new fridge freezer would be more cost effective than keeping the old one. This is where energy monitors like tapo come into their own.

Pretty much where we were with the freezer.  We'd noticed it seemed to spend a lot of time making a sort of simmering noise, and clearly defrost wasn't working properly as we were getting ice buildup. Sticking the monitor on showed it was drawing 70W during that "simmering", and over six days it drew 13.8kWh or 2.3kWh per day.  Manufacturer's figures for a new replacement suggested 0.83 per day giving a payback of less than two years.  In actual fact measuring the new one it takes only 0.74 per day.

Qyburn

By the way which device(s) are we speaking about, with the Smartphone app etc?  I think the first reference to a TP Link "Tapo" must be this one which goes for £9.99 on Ebay or Amazon ..

https://www.tapo.com/uk/product/smart-plug/tapo-p110/

But there are also references to devices called "Tado", is that a typo or a different product?

I dipped my toe into the water with a couple of the Sonoff devices as smart switches, but I have kind of given up on them because over the medium term they either drop dead or lose their settings and getting them paired back up is a real fiddle. They have the advantage of making devices that can be hard-wired, but for the straight smart plug function these TP Link look much better, and the energy monitor is a bonus.

MattMattMattUK

I have two of the Tapo plugs, somewhat useful for me and they work as smart plugs most of the time. I used them to diagnose my Mum's high energy usage, it turned out her fridge freezer was using 4.8 kWh per day, she now has a new one which uses 0.76 kWh per day. The new fridge freezer will pay for itself in about 20 months. 

Longer term I plan to use one to monitor charging for a PHEV and also to turn the power off outside of the cheap hours if Octopus is still an option when I get one as the Tapo is rated for the current, though I will be keeping a careful eye on it.

jvjack

dunstonh  I use the eco setting too. It takes about 40mins. Its maybe 20 years old though so uses twice as much electricity as yours. 
I might give the intensive setting a go with Tapo on. Then if there is a difference i can at least feel like i'm making a saving using eco.

Ally_E.

I have been using dehumidifier to dry out the house with the colder weather plus warn it a bit. Tapo plug helped monitor usage and use dehumidifier more efficiently. I also now use it as timer to have it on for 2h to dehumidify the bedroom in the mornings, I leave the door to the ensuite open and that helps dry the towels too. With recent damp weather the house was at 75% humidity which is dangerous for damp and mould growth, now at a nice 50%. Healthier for us, the house structure and is cheaper to heat with drier air. 

BUFF

Qyburn said:

By the way which device(s) are we speaking about, with the Smartphone app etc?  I think the first reference to a TP Link "Tapo" must be this one which goes for £9.99 on Ebay or Amazon ..

https://www.tapo.com/uk/product/smart-plug/tapo-p110/

But there are also references to devices called "Tado", is that a typo or a different product?

Tapo is a "smart" appliance brand from TP-Link https://www.tapo.com/uk/
Tado is a "smart" heating/cooling controls solution. https://www.tado.com/gb-en

There is no relationship between the 2, just a 1 letter difference.

QrizB

Ally_E. said:

I have been using dehumidifier to dry out the house with the colder weather plus warn it a bit. Tapo plug helped monitor usage and use dehumidifier more efficiently. I also now use it as timer to have it on for 2h to dehumidify the bedroom in the mornings, I leave the door to the ensuite open and that helps dry the towels too.

My dehumidifier instructions are quite specific that you should switch it on and off using the knob on the device, not via the mains supply. I'm not entirely sure why but I think this is to reduce the risk of compressor damage.

Yours might be different, of course!

dunstonh

jvjack said:

dunstonh  I use the eco setting too. It takes about 40mins. Its maybe 20 years old though so uses twice as much electricity as yours. 
I might give the intensive setting a go with Tapo on. Then if there is a difference i can at least feel like i'm making a saving using eco.

That eco setting isn't really an eco setting then, by today's standards.  All the modern energy-efficient dishwashers with an eco mode take 5-6 hours in the cycle.

tux900

dunstonh said:

jvjack said:

dunstonh  I use the eco setting too. It takes about 40mins. Its maybe 20 years old though so uses twice as much electricity as yours. 
I might give the intensive setting a go with Tapo on. Then if there is a difference i can at least feel like i'm making a saving using eco.

That eco setting isn't really an eco setting then, by today's standards.  All the modern energy-efficient dishwashers with an eco mode take 5-6 hours in the cycle.

The difference being due to the change in dishwasher detergent over the years, and the removal of phosphates in particular.

Modern phosphate-free dishwasher detergent relies much more on contact time and so Eco programmes, with their lower temperatures, have to extend their running times significantly to be effective. Eco programmes on older machines, designed for older detergents, reduce their running time to help achieve cost savings but performance these days is likely to suffer as a result.