Egluntyne Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 (edited) my microwave clock is costing me £22 per year. *gulp* That makes you sit up and think doesn't it! Any idea how much electricity a computer uses? I must look into getting one of those meters. I don't think we have Maplin Oop North. Edited December 29, 2007 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Online www.maplin.co.uk really fast delivery too, well it was when I bought something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted December 29, 2007 Author Share Posted December 29, 2007 so my microwave clock is costing me £22 per year. I am just wondering about the cooker display, washing machine ... and my new delightful Breville kettle which has 'mood lighting' which changes colour ... not to mention the computer! I reckon if this identifies just one appliance that costs that sort of money, it's got to be worth it. As you suggested WitchHazel, I will probably buy one and then lend it out to my friends once I've used it for a month or so and worked out my worst habits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 my microwave clock is costing me £22 per year. *gulp* That makes you sit up and think doesn't it! Any idea how much electricity a computer uses? I must look into getting one of those meters. I don't think we have Maplin Oop North. ***Update*** Have just "googled" Maplin and am astonished to find there is a massive one in Barnsley! Have just ordered one of **these**. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Have just ordered one of **these**. That's the plugin one which I mentioned. Plug your appliance into it, then leave it. It will track the amount of electric used, and how long it has been plugged in for, and you can then manually calculate the kWh used. And from that, you can calculate the cost. For working out the cost of leaving so,ething on standby, I found it best to plug it in before I went to bed, and then do the calcs in the morning, as the applicance would definitely only have been on standby IYSWIM. (When I was doing some items, I'd forget and use the appliance as well, which of course uses more electricity). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Righty ho. Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 I bought one of those plug in devices off ebay on Saturday, and it arrived today so it is currently (sorry, no pun intended!) monitoring a large table lamp that is always switched on at the socket, but off at the lamp. I will go through the house room by room I think and check every appliance.(how sad ) If I can save pennies by turning everything off at the plug it will all add up though. Just to remind everyone that large fuel rises are forecast this year so even more reason to check your usage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Mine arrived this am. Still on the hall shelf I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Mine arrived Saturday too. I've already saved a small fortune with my new turning off policy, my hairdryer stays plugged in and uses nothing but the shredder was LEAKING electricity!!! I'm after ordering some remote control sockets now to allow me to turn of those hard to reach appliances. Anyone else who is thinking of buying one of these hang fire - I'll pass mine on when I've done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Anyone else who is thinking of buying one of these hang fire - I'll pass mine on when I've done. Oooo, can I bagsy it? Pretty please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Consider it bagged! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Marvellous! ta muchly... I can't wait to play with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted January 12, 2008 Author Share Posted January 12, 2008 Just to update a bit - my Owl Electricity Monitor arrived yesterday, thanks WitchHazel as your recommendation persuaded me to buy this. I am now going round the house switching things on and off, meter in hand, to see what uses most! I'm actually fairly pleased that my 'basic rate' is quite low, as I am already quite conscientious about chargers and not leaving things on standby. I'll be keeping check as I use various appliances (including my new steam cleaner, see 'Nesting Box' thread!) I will update again when I have worked out what my worst habits are. I'm really hoping this will both reduce my bills, and make me appreciate how much energy I'm using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Olly Remember that the reading will fluctuate anyway, so if switching an item off or on seems to save/use a large amount of electricity, test it a few times because the change may actually be caused by, for example, your fridge cycling on/off. Also, many standby appliances use less than 10watts of electricity and so switching them off/on may not change the useage shown on the meter (as the meter only goes down to 0.01kw). Where we had appliances (like phone chargers) that we knew used electricity on stanndby but weren't registering, we turned several of them on/off in one go. We had quite a few of these. individually they used very little, but cumulatively it was surprising - and the fact that they were all on 24 hours a day made a substantial saving, Something that runs at 10kW an hour works out at over 87Kw per year.(10kwx24hoursx365days, /1000 to convert watts to kW). Assuming you pay, say 6p per kWh, that 10 watt standby appliance is costing you over £6 per year. We've got our basic useage down to 0.45kWh (we could get it down further if we switched off the PCs in DH's study). This means that when we have switched off everything we are going to switch off, that's what we're using (for example, when we go to bed, or are out, or are just in the house but not doing anything that uses electricity). Looking forward to hearing what you discover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted January 12, 2008 Author Share Posted January 12, 2008 Thanks, WitchHazel, I hadn't quite appreciated the tolerance level on this, nor had I thought about the fridge/freezer cycle coming on or off. I'll bear that in mind as I prowl the house looking for sockets/switches in use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted August 6, 2008 Author Share Posted August 6, 2008 Take a look here - an OWL Monitor down to just £29.99! Only available till 18th August, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Blimey, what a bargain! I wonder if they are clearing the current model ready for a new one? Never mind, ours has saved us well over its cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Thanks for that Olly as I haven't bought one yet. Off to scout around and see if it is being superceded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Just ordered it and there are some discount codes around if you search (not sure if I can post it here) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Just ordered it and there are some discount codes around if you search (not sure if I can post it here) Yes you can! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Just ordered it and there are some discount codes around if you search (not sure if I can post it here) Yes you can! Oakliy dokily X5WFF for £5 off to new customers when spending £20 or XTENE for £10 off to new customers when spending £50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Thanks Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Thanks Anne BTW the £5 worked for me so hopefully it will again if someone else wants to get one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 You can get an elecrticity monitor for free if your supply comes from Scottish Hydro electric Ours has been in use for 2 weeks now and I am constantly watching it, switching things off and un plugging things before I go to bed. It is satisfiying to see the readings say that the watts used has gone down by x amount of watts and the saving is x amount of pounds this month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 We've had ours for a few days - and we're all loving it! Especially the menfolk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
