A way to save up to 25% on your Electricity Bills?

Cardew

ElectricE wrote: »

I think by switching off all standby items I can save a conservative 50 watts ~ £3.60 per month ~ £40 per year. Not exactly earth shattering but not bad.

I would be interested to see a breakdown of such a high standby load; I suggest it is atypical.

Even then your £40 a year is taking 50 watts on for 24/7. You presumably use some of those appliances?

Leaving out my Sky+ box(14w) which I leave on because I use it to record etc. I doubt if my standby consumption exceeds 10 watts. 3 TVs(total 2.5w) DVD/VCR(2 watts) I am not going to disconnect the clocks on microwave and oven to reset them each day and they use tiny amounts of power.

I make no criticism of those who wish to switch of their appliances as often as they wish. The danger(as you will read in this forum) is that this huge emphasis on standby consumption leads people to think that switching off their TV at the wall is all the need to do to to halve their bills.

In practice I doubt, for most people, the difference between those who leave all their equipment on standby and those who switch off at every opportunity is more than £10 a year and for most less than that.

I will say again I am not suggesting anyone should leave appliances on standby, just get savings into perspective.

SimonWarn

ElectricE wrote: »

My father’s electricity supplier is Scottish and Southern Electricity. About a week ago, totally out of the blue he was sent a “Current Cost Monitor”, which is the daddy of all monitors, free of charge.

Hi, I just found this site when I did a search for 'Current Cost Monitor' to get some more information (specifically the computer socket underneath)

I agree with you, it's a brilliant bit of kit and I'm really surprised that my Electricity company sent me one, for free!

I've found quite a few energy culprits already.

alan99_2

Hi

This thread may be 2 years old , well spotted but to save 25% of electricity
is easy.

I do it every winter.I put electric convector heaters on a timer switch say 45 mins on , 15min. off. or 30 on 15 mins off if I can. When it starts to get cold the heater switches on again. This is in addition to setting the heater thermostat not too high, so an extra saving.
I find 0.75 khw heater is fine , although occasional boost to 1.25kw.I wear a jumper indoors. Heating costs about 6p per hour.(per heater but I only usually heat one room at a time) Cheaper during E7 rate.


Alan

ElectricE

SimonWarn wrote: »

Hi, I just found this site when I did a search for 'Current Cost Monitor' to get some more information (specifically the computer socket underneath)

I did ask SSE about the socket but got no reply on that. To be fair they probably don't know. I did plug it into my computer but if failed to be recognised. I suspect that it's a development/configuration port for factory use. I guess that you need the correct software to use it. If you find out any more about the socket please let me know.

I'm not sure that electrisave actually make the monitor that SSE sent out - If you find out who do make it, let me know.

SimonWarn wrote: »

I agree with you, it's a brilliant bit of kit and I'm really surprised that my Electricity company sent me one, for free!

I've found quite a few energy culprits already.

Yes, I like the way you can simply turn off one or more items and get an instant idea of what load it's drawing when in standby. For example, my wireless video receiving unit and small portable TV draw 15W when not switched off - they now are when not in use!

espresso

ElectricE

Still waiting to see a breakdown of such a high standby usage!

ElectricE

espresso,

Me too - lol. Been a bit busy the last few nights but will get round to it soon.

SimonWarn

ElectricE wrote: »

If you find out any more about the socket please let me know.

I'm not sure that electrisave actually make the monitor that SSE sent out - If you find out who do make it, let me know.

Apparently the monitor is made by a company called 'Current Cost' website is currentcost.com. I emailed them about the computer socket, apparently software is in the pipeline and you will be able to retrieve a few years worth of information.

mountainlioness

Right - so if I have v high electricity bill (as per my thread before I saw this!) in a new house and want to diagnose the culprit are ppl saying I'm best to get a £6 meter from Lidl and just go round the house checking each appliance individually?

I did have a look at the currentcost website but no indication of its cost (or how to order...) £100+?!

espresso

mountainlioness wrote: »

Right - so if I have v high electricity bill (as per my thread before I saw this!) in a new house and want to diagnose the culprit are ppl saying I'm best to get a £6 meter from Lidl and just go round the house checking each appliance individually?

Yes read Cardew's post #8

ElectricE

mountainlioness wrote: »

Right - so if I have v high electricity bill (as per my thread before I saw this!) in a new house and want to diagnose the culprit are ppl saying I'm best to get a £6 meter from Lidl and just go round the house checking each appliance individually?

Depends!

e.g. If you're looking for a misbehaving freezer then the £6 device is best as it will monitor an individual item over a period of time, giving a good idea if it's being greedy.

If you're looking for phantom loads (things left in standby, etc) then the electrisave type device is better - IMHO - as you can switch something off and see instantly how much power it is drawing.

The big question: Is the electrisave type device 10 times better? ~ £60

Personally I think not, but I'm borrowing one that was sent free to a SSE customer, so I'm happy.