EDF have upped our monthly DD to £860, equivalent to £10,300 per year for our 3 bedroom semi

k_man

Slinky said:

I'm amazed you have managed to get smart meters installed by EDF so quickly. I moved to them at the beginning of September and was told the only way I can get off my Economy 7 tarriff was to have smart meters installed (long story-ongoing complaint). I'm not against smart meters and keep saying yes everytime they're offered, but as yet, no sign of an appointment to fit them. I must have agreed at least 3 times in the last 3 weeks. My understanding was that there's a shortage of meters.

Regarding energy use on washing machines, I've checked with a Tapo and my 30 degree Easy Care programme which is 97 minutes long, uses 0.5kwh. However, if I fill it with 15 litres of gas heated hot water from the hot tap via a watering can, it uses .3kwh. OK so the 15 litres will have cost money to heat, but I'm pretty sure it won't be 0.2kwh.  I've checked several times with several different types of washing including heavy towels, and they all come out at 0.3kwh.

Heating 15l of water from 10C to 30C uses about 0.35kWh, even from 15C to 30C is about 0.25kWh.
If you hot tap runs at 45C, this could be as much as 0.6kWh

So it will have had to be heated using at least 0.25kWh by gas, which may be cheaper (but will use more energy, as gas is less efficient) than letting the washer heat it,  but probably not by much (unless the already heated water would be wasted).

basketcase

poppellerant said:

I agree about using liquid on quick cycles.  But I am against liquid and pods, as the liquid builds up a slime in the drum, causing mould and bacteria to grow and result in a whiffy machine, especially when washing at low temperatures.

Monthly maintenance cycles, consisting of a boil wash using either a very small amount of biological power or soda crystals, can help stop the growth of bacteria and mould.  However there may come a time when the constant use of liquid or pods requires several boil washes to eliminate any problems.

Any thoughts on Eco Eggs?

Ms_Chocaholic

BooJewels said:

@mroshaw - do you need to go full cold turkey with the no tumble dryer?  Could you not prioritise on time-sensitive laundry to get dry and let less urgent items to dry naturally?  Or use it for less time to finish off largely air dried items.

I did an experiment recently (outlined in another thread) in respect of additional spin cycles and how much extra liquid it got out of laundry - I quantified it by weighing a single garment after each additional spin and when dry - and it was my own conclusion that the <2p extra in electricity by the washing machine was worth it - for me - it got around 19% of the water the garment held out by spinning a couple of times more, after the initial one at the conclusion of the cycle.  I didn't do a drying time comparison as I didn't have more than one garment the same.

If you really do want to consider alternative drying methods and have room at ceiling height for one - I have a pulley operated airer and absolutely swear by it.  You can buy them as complete kits for around 70 quid - but buy the individual components in a hardware store for a fraction of that.

Do you iron your clothes though? The gains made by the extra spin cycle are lost in the electricity used by the iron.  I spin less and iron nothing.

BooJewels

Ms_Chocaholic said:

BooJewels said:

@mroshaw - do you need to go full cold turkey with the no tumble dryer?  Could you not prioritise on time-sensitive laundry to get dry and let less urgent items to dry naturally?  Or use it for less time to finish off largely air dried items.

I did an experiment recently (outlined in another thread) in respect of additional spin cycles and how much extra liquid it got out of laundry - I quantified it by weighing a single garment after each additional spin and when dry - and it was my own conclusion that the <2p extra in electricity by the washing machine was worth it - for me - it got around 19% of the water the garment held out by spinning a couple of times more, after the initial one at the conclusion of the cycle.  I didn't do a drying time comparison as I didn't have more than one garment the same.

If you really do want to consider alternative drying methods and have room at ceiling height for one - I have a pulley operated airer and absolutely swear by it.  You can buy them as complete kits for around 70 quid - but buy the individual components in a hardware store for a fraction of that.

Do you iron your clothes though? The gains made by the extra spin cycle are lost in the electricity used by the iron.  I spin less and iron nothing.

I can't say that I've ever even thought about the effect of additional spinning on creasing - I've simply not noticed it making any difference.  I do very little ironing these days - knickers and towels etc. certainly don't need it.  I do notice that hand washing, then spinning makes items a bit more creased - I'm certainly more heavy handed than the machine.  But I'm pretty good at flicking out creases on damp laundry and drying very carefully and then folding and putting stuff away with care.  I put clean stuff at the bottom and use from the top. 

I'm not telling anyone to spin more if they don't approve of the idea, but it started out initially when people were discussing the cost of tumble dryers and I offered it as a consideration when trying to cut those costs and again in this thread as the OP was finding it difficult coping without his dryer.  I did at least back it up with some hard data.

I shan't mention it again, I had no idea it was such a controversial idea.

Ms_Chocaholic

BooJewels said:

Ms_Chocaholic said:

BooJewels said:

@mroshaw - do you need to go full cold turkey with the no tumble dryer?  Could you not prioritise on time-sensitive laundry to get dry and let less urgent items to dry naturally?  Or use it for less time to finish off largely air dried items.

I did an experiment recently (outlined in another thread) in respect of additional spin cycles and how much extra liquid it got out of laundry - I quantified it by weighing a single garment after each additional spin and when dry - and it was my own conclusion that the <2p extra in electricity by the washing machine was worth it - for me - it got around 19% of the water the garment held out by spinning a couple of times more, after the initial one at the conclusion of the cycle.  I didn't do a drying time comparison as I didn't have more than one garment the same.

If you really do want to consider alternative drying methods and have room at ceiling height for one - I have a pulley operated airer and absolutely swear by it.  You can buy them as complete kits for around 70 quid - but buy the individual components in a hardware store for a fraction of that.

Do you iron your clothes though? The gains made by the extra spin cycle are lost in the electricity used by the iron.  I spin less and iron nothing.

I can't say that I've ever even thought about the effect of additional spinning on creasing - I've simply not noticed it making any difference.  I do very little ironing these days - knickers and towels etc. certainly don't need it.  I do notice that hand washing, then spinning makes items a bit more creased - I'm certainly more heavy handed than the machine.  But I'm pretty good at flicking out creases on damp laundry and drying very carefully and then folding and putting stuff away with care.  I put clean stuff at the bottom and use from the top. 

I'm not telling anyone to spin more if they don't approve of the idea, but it started out initially when people were discussing the cost of tumble dryers and I offered it as a consideration when trying to cut those costs and again in this thread as the OP was finding it difficult coping without his dryer.  I did at least back it up with some hard data.

I shan't mention it again, I had no idea it was such a controversial idea.

Not controversial merely a question and a differing viewpoint.

Alnat1

basketcase said:

Any thoughts on Eco Eggs?

Been using Ecoegg since early this year. It's fine for laundry that's not really dirty but can leave the odd stain. 1 drop of washing up liquid rubbed into a ketchup splotch pre-wash sorts it though. 

You don't get the slimy build up like you would with liquid/tabs, so no nasty smells either. I've done about 130 washes with the 70 wash Egg and it's not run out yet. I do a lot of 35 minute quick washes though.

Downside is whites can be a bit grey as no bleaching agents, although I have noticed they now do a refill especially for whites that I haven't tried. I just chuck a bit (egg cup full) of washing powder in with my work tops (cook's whites)

Also use tumble dryer balls from their range. Ran a test using our King size bedding load with and without the balls. With balls took 36 minutes, without 48 minutes, 25% reduction in time.

jennifernil

It has been interesting reading the various threads by people who have realised they are using much more than the average, I think we could include ourselves in that category, but we do have quite a large detached house, floor area is 280 sq m, so not that surprising! 

I could not stand having wet washing hanging around the house drying all the time, so have made the decision to continue to use the tumble drier.    And I do not like those almost cold washes.  Mostly I use 60 degrees and 40 degrees.

However, we do have solar panels on the roof, which is almost south facing, so I try to wash when the sun is shining, and if I have 2 loads to do I use the "speed perfect" setting, which halves the time but uses more power, so I can get both loads washed and  dried in one day. 

 We do have space to dry outside, but it involves carrying the wet clothes up 2 flights of steps....fine when I was 40......not good now I am 70+........so for me the drier is essential.

Nothing is dried to a crisp though.  Towels, bedding and underwear are finished off in the airing  cupboard, kingsize duvet covers on a radiator in the hall, and t shirts and trousers are done to "iron dry" then hung up on a rack in the utility room and are bone dry by the next day.  A load in my drier takes 30-45 minutes max.

I have started to use a slightly cooler wash in the dishwasher, only allow the rinse between loads to continue for a few minutes, rather than the 21 minutes the machine proposes,  always have a full load, and try to wash while the sun shines, which is not always possible if the DW is full in the evening.

We have just had a new CH gas boiler installed, so hoping that will give us some savings.  

All our halogen spotlights and downlights are now using LED lamps, as are table lamps.

Our downfall is fridges and freezers, as we have several, though they are not big,  but  we have now switched off the one big old one that we used for drinks.  Now we just need to get rid of it  to get space for a useful cupboard instead!

Miser1964

With people like the OP finding where they were using energy and switching off, I wonder if enough consumers are now being economical that it's showing up in the demand load figures of the network operators? 

I guess accounting for factors such as weather and population growth will make comparison tricky, but you'd assume a national reduction in demand of > 5% would be identifiable. 

Then again peeps on the forum maybe be unusual and most households are blithly  carrying on as normal 😪

Alnat1

Everyone I talk to is cutting down, even if they could afford not to.

The scaremongering headlines have at least made a huge majority of the population think a little bit more about what they are using.

MattMattMattUK

Alnat1 said:

Everyone I talk to is cutting down, even if they could afford not to.

The scaremongering headlines have at least made a huge majority of the population think a little bit more about what they are using.

For me there seems to be four groups. Those who have always kept usage down because they are sensible and so do not have much capacity to cut further without significant lifestyle impacts. Those who have been forced to cut back because otherwise they cannot afford the bills. Those who do not need to make any cuts due to being high earners and the final, those who are just generally financially irresponsible and will carry on regardless even though they cannot afford it.