Top Tip .. Kettle and Shower

diddymonster

I’ve got a couple of quickie “top tips” to help save a few extra pennies / pounds …

TIP 1 (the kettle)  .. I’m sure we’re all only putting in just enough water to boil for whatever drink(s) you are making BUT … todays tip is to manually switch it off just as it starts boiling - “the rumble” if you like - and not to let it turn itself off. In my case to boil enough water for one cup from cold, the kettle takes 30 or so seconds to start to boil but then carries on for another 10-15 seconds after that. By switching off manually at first boil, I’m saving 25-33% 

TIP 2 (the shower)  .. we’ve all cut down to shorter or slightly less hot showers, which is good as they use so much power. BUT for anyone who spends a little time at the end of the shower spraying the suds away down the plug hole it can take anything from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. What I do in this period of time is the switch the shower to cold for the swilling / rinsing / spraying thus saving at least 30% of my showerpower cost

Hope these are useful to some at least … 

wiggers

TIP 1: Get a new kettle. Ours switches off instantly.

TIP 2: Change your soap to a less foamy one. I never need to spray suds away.

dunstonh

TIP 2 (the shower)  .. we’ve all cut down to shorter or slightly less hot showers, which is good as they use so much power.

Context is needed on that as many showers do not add much cost.   For example, if you have a hot water tank and are drawing from that, then the cost of heating the water in a well-lagged tank is tiny.  A power shower uses very little electric.   In contrast, an electric shower that heats the water itself can be very expensive.

Alnat1

Try using bar soap/shampoo, less lather so less suds to rinse away. Less plastic waste too, better for the planet.

Astria

diddymonster said:

What I do in this period of time is the switch the shower to cold for the swilling / rinsing / spraying thus saving at least 30% of my showerpower cost

I always swap the shower from hot to cold before I've even finished showering as I found it takes about 15 seconds to go cold if you have an electric shower, you can use this time to rinse yourself. Once I'm dry I can then clean the shower, glass and tiles which will also get rid of any left over suds as I'll also remove and clean the plug hole to remove any trapped hairs.

DullGreyGuy

diddymonster said:

todays tip is to manually switch it off just as it starts boiling - “the rumble” if you like

Kettles are heated from the bottom, it will start to "rumble" well before the average temp of the water has risen  to 100C

Having done some experiments having gotten an induction hob a pan of water starts rumbling from about 75C. If you are happy with this sort of water temp to make your tea in then alternatively you could get a variable temp kettle which auto switches off at your preferred lower temp and not have to stand about waiting for the kettle to make noise to cut it off.

Spoonie_Turtle

Astria said:

diddymonster said:

What I do in this period of time is the switch the shower to cold for the swilling / rinsing / spraying thus saving at least 30% of my showerpower cost

I always swap the shower from hot to cold before I've even finished showering as I found it takes about 15 seconds to go cold if you have an electric shower, you can use this time to rinse yourself. Once I'm dry I can then clean the shower, glass and tiles which will also get rid of any left over suds as I'll also remove and clean the plug hole to remove any trapped hairs.

Depends on the shower.  Ours switches off straight away, if we wanted it to run cold we would have to turn it to cold.

But for rinsing suds away, fill a jug with cold water from the tap, unless you're in a bathtub and can just use the bath taps to rinse the suds away.

matelodave

 We've got a water softener so both the shower gel and shampoo generate a fair amount of froth, but I can shower in around two minutes or less and there are no suds left when I've finished rinsing myself.

We use a K'Archer window vac to suck up all the water from the shower screen, walls and shower tray so they don't even need to be wiped down very often either.

Alnat1

That reminds me, I need to Tapo the Karcher to see how much it costs to charge.

badmemory

Don't forget to put the water for the next brew in the kettle straight away so that you benefit from the residual heat.

thriftytracey

We have an electric shower which is never used.  We had some guests stay who used the shower several weeks ago.  I noticed the other day, that the light was red (it has a pull cord switch).  Does this mean that it has been using loads of electricity for several weeks?  I have now turned it off!