My Energy use Diary

mrsm

thanks cw18. I think the B rating is only because there are 5 of us but the children (5,almost 4 and 2.5) don't really use things like "real " people :rotfl: iyswim.
Per person you're right we look pretty good, but as they don't really count our actual figures are then quite high on electric.
Is there a top 10 worst offenders for electri useage? Is it the tv,laptop cooker?

cw18

my laptop actually isn't bad - not compared to DS's desktop anyway !!!

my main culprit turned out to be an old chest freezer. it was only a small one (108 litres?) and it was using about 1000kWh a year :eek: I replaced it with a larger upright (209 litres), and am looking at less than a quarter of that........

I believe plasma TVs are energy hungry, but don't have anything like that here. My 'newest' TV is about 7 years old -- so probably time to be running checks on it, but would take a lot to convince me to replace a fully functioning appliance !!!

I did discover turning my f/view off at the box (leaving the clock running) didn't drop the electricity much compared to having it turned on -- so I now have it attached to a 'shut down' plug socket thing, and whenever I turn off the TV the f/view also powers off at the wall. Means it takes a few seconds longer to turn it on when wanted, but I can live with that

mrsm

thanks again
How do you know what uses what, do you have one of those monitor plug things? Can yo recommend one?

cw18

I got one of the plug in monitors when they were a 'weekly offer' -- I think mine came from A!di. Money well spent IMO, as I'd never have known how bad the chest freezer was otherwise, and I'm also saving dribs-and-drabs with my power down/standby saver sockets which I don't think I'd have bothered getting (even as freebies / for the cost of a paper) had I not seen how much the 'on board clock' on the appliances used !!!!

Ben84

Laptops use very little electric. 60w is about the maximum. Standard glass tube TV sets use normally less than 100w, and aren't turned on for that many hours a week anyway. You could probably use both as much as you want and notice little difference in the bills.

The big electric consumers are generally anything that heats up. Cookers, space heaters, water heaters.

A_fiend_for_life

Looks another refreshing, moneysaving day:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/ukweather/wind.shtml#no_url

setmefree2

Free drying again:T

Frugaldom

Free drying here today, too.

I am now in the midst of a mini-crisis about electricity consumption! Mine is totally ridiculous! Welcome MrsM - when you asked about top 10 offenders, I'm one of them! :rotfl: My cooker is on every day, sometimes twice per day and I [STRIKE]am[/STRIKE] was of the mentality that it's only 3 or 4 extra kWh/units, it's worth it for frugal homecooking and the extra electricity costs much less than buying processed, ready cooked foods or takeaways. Hmm... that was until I went to someone's place today that's OFF GRID! :j :T They have their own wind turbine and solar panels for generating power, their heating, hot water and cooking is all done by wood burning stove and their water is pumped from their own well. All the things that many of us dream of - self sufficiency at it's best. BUT! When they explained that they generated 400w of electricity, which was enough to meet their needs, I was stunned! 4 rings on my electric cooker plus the oven is a load 7000w !! :eek: Even my microwave is 750w, so I would certainly need more than just a small wind turbine to cover my needs here. My kitchen heater, hairdryer and vacuum cleaner are all 1200w apiece! There is no way this or any other Government is going to get people to give up all these types of things in the name of saving energy. As long as we can afford to pay the bills, the cost of convenience will be met. The fact that it is almost impossible to be penniless without dropping out of society and refusing Government money makes it all the harder. I'm over-awed by today's revelations. These property programmes never really go into great details about what you can run off your windmill/turbine/water mill/solar panels, only that they are a great alternative and eco-friendly. :rolleyes: I need to have a complete rethink if I'm ever to attain the self-sufficientish lifestyle I'm aiming for longterm. :rotfl:

Penny2myName

Well my gas has had a signicant fall this past week, surprised as been half term but very very happy.

Money Spent

How has my energy spend been calculated?
Last week you spent:

• £15.89 on gas
• £8.28 on electricity

Total you have spent on energy since starting imeasure (23 weeks ago):

• £481.20 on gas
• £220.08 on electricity

setmefree2

Penny2myName wrote: »

Well my gas has had a signicant fall this past week, surprised as been half term but very very happy.

well done on that:T

It's definitely getting warmer! Maybe we are through the worst:D