Electricity usage monitor
21 April 2009, 10:40 AM
#31
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I bought one and I am very hot on turning stuff off, pity no other ****** in the house does ! the missus is fond of boiling enough water for a bath when making a brew, the kids leave the Xbox, Tv, pc and everything else on just in case they might come back to it.
I changed all the bulbs for the energy savers and got moaned at as they arent quite as bright and dont give full output straight away, I just said get used to it as you wont be able to buy the old type soon.
Mainly though its p1ssing into the wind for me, turning lights off and whatever as its the shower, cooker, dishwasher, dryer etc that use it and its difficult to avoid using those, though I do think going back to a whasing line would be a good move during decent weather.
Its funny as the ones that dont pay the bill are the ones that dont care, no matter how much I explain it to them they just either in the case of the wife tell me to shut up and not be tight or nod sagely and ignore it (the kids), its the same with bloody ketchup, big kilo bottle and they cane it, waste it and then moan when there is none left, it would be good to do that with electricity, there you go, 2000 kwh's, when its gone thats it for the month.
I changed all the bulbs for the energy savers and got moaned at as they arent quite as bright and dont give full output straight away, I just said get used to it as you wont be able to buy the old type soon.
Mainly though its p1ssing into the wind for me, turning lights off and whatever as its the shower, cooker, dishwasher, dryer etc that use it and its difficult to avoid using those, though I do think going back to a whasing line would be a good move during decent weather.
Its funny as the ones that dont pay the bill are the ones that dont care, no matter how much I explain it to them they just either in the case of the wife tell me to shut up and not be tight or nod sagely and ignore it (the kids), its the same with bloody ketchup, big kilo bottle and they cane it, waste it and then moan when there is none left, it would be good to do that with electricity, there you go, 2000 kwh's, when its gone thats it for the month.
Les
21 April 2009, 10:48 AM
#32
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So is there a device that wraps around the mains, then another one that you put in the kitchen (or where ever)? Do these two unit talk via radio? What's the range? Our mains in near our garage which is on the other side of the drive way, so I'd be concerned about it being out of range.
21 April 2009, 11:47 AM
#34
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I wonder how many people who own these electric saving meters drive a scooby 
Great way of spending the savings
Chop
Great way of spending the savings
Chop
Last edited by Account deleted by request; 21 April 2009 at 11:48 AM.
21 April 2009, 10:53 PM
#35
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So is there a device that wraps around the mains, then another one that you put in the kitchen (or where ever)? Do these two unit talk via radio? What's the range? Our mains in near our garage which is on the other side of the drive way, so I'd be concerned about it being out of range.
Our meter is in the cellar but the screen would work up on the 2nd floor (a loft conversion before you think we live in a hotel .... ).I put the pennies per unit in and just used the pennies per hour reading to check things. Interesting. A full kettle, from cold, costs about 1.7 p (3mins 40 to boil at 28p/hour), whereas a cold kettle for 2 mugs was about 0.8p.
Found some stuff on standby that used more than I thought. The TV/Sky/audio stuff is plugged into the wall behind a unit so is normally left on. For the (nominal) 8 hours overnight that wastes 7.50 a quarter. The same roughly for the computers, even though they are 'shut down'. They still draw power. Extension leads with off switches coming up.
Also found that a mains powered smoke alarm (rented house so probably mandated for the owners to fit) was wasting about the same. Now off ( at least 2 more in the house).
As to other things to do. Use the line not the tumble dryer (we do anyway but more especially now). Standby/hibernate for the computers - I didn't before - just left them 'on' to make life easier. Use the lower heat settings with the washing machine. But other than that, just switch off asap or don't switch it on. Seems electrickery is damned expensive these days (13p+ a unit here). Oh, the other thing is to uSwitch - maybe.
I may well get one for myself - as someone pointed out, there is one coming that you can get historical graphs from rather than just instantaneous data.
Dave
26 April 2009, 01:27 PM
#36
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Ive gone and bought one of these now LOL
Interesting results
The botle steriliser uses just as much as the Microwave which is shocking
Kettle uses a lot, and the Dishwasher uses about 3Kwh too
Boiler with nothing running other than the pilot light uses about 21w as soon as you run the hot water tap it rockets up to about 250w
I checked my Bill and I pay something like 24p a unit for the first so many units, and then 12p a unit for all units after that
TV (Rear projection) uses half the amount on standby as it does when fully on, DVD player doesnt alter at all between a disc playing and being on standby
Interesting results
The botle steriliser uses just as much as the Microwave which is shocking
Kettle uses a lot, and the Dishwasher uses about 3Kwh too
Boiler with nothing running other than the pilot light uses about 21w as soon as you run the hot water tap it rockets up to about 250w
I checked my Bill and I pay something like 24p a unit for the first so many units, and then 12p a unit for all units after that
TV (Rear projection) uses half the amount on standby as it does when fully on, DVD player doesnt alter at all between a disc playing and being on standby
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