My Energy use Diary

thriftyscotslass

cw18 wrote: »

I have a Morphy Richards slow cooker - it's one of the larger ones, and does a 3kg chicken with no problem :T

This is the one I have been looking at - I have been dithering over getting the 3.5l or 6.5l - given my new energy-saving head, I'll probably go with the larger one as this will allow me to use our fan oven less

thriftyscotslass

What an interesting first day - Mr TSL has taken my latest venture very well The only area that he won't compromise on is that he wants hot water first thing in the morning and is not ready to do without the heating just yet - so back on went the CH :rolleyes:

Flask is bought ready to try to reduce use of the kettle - so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Interesting first days readings - good :jand bad :mad:

Gas use was 32 units - not as bad as I was expecting with the CH being on for 2 hours.

Electric - 14 units - up 2 units on my average :eek: - results of my 90 whites wash and cooking a very delicious stew (still I've cooked double, so can freeze and reheat using microwave :T). Looks like it is going to be the electric that is going to be the challenge.

See you all tomorrow, sleep well.

Decola

Last week you spent:
£1.54 on gas - 44kwh
£2.40 on electricity - 20kwh

Carbon rating - A
Carbon club - 2/51 - when compared with all users.

Total you have spent on energy since starting imeasure (14 weeks ago):
£34.51 on gas
£36.72 on electricity

I think that unless I get a pc that's a bit lighter on electricity, or find a way to do without a fridge, I can't see any way of reducing consumption further.

One thing that puzzles me is the kwh conversion applied to gas - which seems to be that a cubic metre of gas works out as being the equivalent of between 11 and 12 kwh.

Using one gas ring on a tiny flame for 40 minutes, and heating a tank of water with a gas boiler used a cubic metre of gas (11-12kwh) - if I'd done that using electricity, it would be under 2kwh.

cw18

Decola wrote: »

One thing that puzzles me is the kwh conversion applied to gas - which seems to be that a cubic metre of gas works out as being the equivalent of between 11 and 12 kwh.

Using one gas ring on a tiny flame for 40 minutes, and heating a tank of water with a gas boiler used a cubic metre of gas (11-12kwh) - if I'd done that using electricity, it would be under 2kwh.

But gas is cheaper than electricity.

Mine is 8.836p/kWh of electricity, and 2.91p/kWh of gas (including VAT)
So 2kWh of electricity is 17.672p, and 11.5kWh of gas is 33.465p -- still dearer (almost double), but not the 5.5x implied by the kWh useage

Decola

cw18 wrote: »

But gas is cheaper than electricity.

Mine is 8.836p/kWh of electricity, and 2.91p/kWh of gas (including VAT)
So 2kWh of electricity is 17.672p, and 11.5kWh of gas is 33.465p -- still dearer (almost double), but not the 5.5x implied by the kWh useage

Yes, in terms of cost, gas is cheaper per kwh than electricity - a factor that will likely change with gas becoming more scarce, and alternative methods of producing electricity.

All I was trying to say though is that the kwh equivalent of the two forms of fuel don't seem to do the same amount of work for the same usage regardless of cost. Has anyone else noticed this or am I being daft?

cw18

Just entered my readings for the week. Granted they were taken a few hours later in the day last week, but I was out all day (and DS was in bed) so there'd have been very little useage in the 6 hours

Gas is down by 15% on last week - down to where I was for Christmas week. Electricty is down by a mere 5%, but at least it's down :rolleyes2 In fact, it's down to where I was w/e 2nd Feb - and these two weeks are the lowest since I started reading my meters weekly (and the lowest daily average over any of the bills I can find from the last 5 years) :T

Still showing as a 'C' rating though And 33/52 in the Carbon Club

thriftyscotslass

Okay - day 2 - learning as I go along.

Joined Imeasure today and the moneysaving carbon club - so we'll see what next Monday brings - will I be too embarrassed to post? :rolleyes:

Tried using boiling a kettle and filling a flask - worked well :j Used the flask for 2 mugs of tea and a hot juice (the last was just not hot enough for tea iykwim). Have done well drying dishes by hand and using the airers.

Getting used to the energy saving light bulbs - abit like the dark ages when they first go on :eek: but they warm up quick enough. Working on the family to not leave things on stand-by - kids ok, Mr TSL a bit grudging but is complying :rolleyes:

No washload today but an hour's ironing - it's like Widow Twankee's laundry in this house. It'll take another 3 or 4 hours ironing to clear it all :eek:

Still dithering over the slow cooker - was considering the 6.5l Morphy Richards but at 320W, is this really that energy efficient when on for 8 hours? The 3.5l is 150W - is this a better option - still confused

Have altered the gas CH (which also heats the water) to come on for 45 mins in morning & 45 mins in evening. This will hopefully show on tomorrows readings.

The biggest overall change that I have noticed is that I am now accutely aware of every time an electrical appliance is used and am constantly thinking - is it really that cold - do we really need the ch?

Onto today's readings:

Gas 42 kWh - up 10 units on yesterday but not too worried yet as I thought I'd better include the decimal part of the meter reading. Hopefully, tomorrow will be lower.

Electric 8 kWh :T - but.... no washload today, mostly the cooker and the iron.

Have a good evening everyone,
Thrifty xx

Frugaldom

Hi guys, I'm 2 days into my latest 'experiment' to heat the house but reduce electricity consumption by turning down the storage heaters and lighting the fire in the morning, rather than the afternoon. This will drastically increase the number of logs I burn, but should reduce my carbon rating and the amount I spend feeding the electricity meter. Already, electricity has dropped by one third with log burning increasing accordingly. It will be interesting to see the cost difference by next Monday, when I'll probably need to order another load of seasoned logs It helps that there's only been a light frost these past 2 mornings but I still need the heater in kitchen in case of a sudden temperature drop that could allow pipes to freeze.

setmefree2

thriftyscotslass wrote: »

Hello everyone, I'm new to this thread :wave:

A Big and

setmefree2

cw18 wrote: »

I have a Morphy Richards slow cooker - it's one of the larger ones, and does a 3kg chicken with no problem :T

Ooooo I use my slow cooker for mostly red meat. Didn't know you could put a whole chicken in it. How do you do that?