What ideas have you had for reducing Electricity consumption

[MARK.B.]

The light in our oven stopped working a few years ago and I never got round to replacing it , oven works just the same as it always did and there is enough light in the kitchen to be able to see what is happening inside the oven without it. The one's in the fridge and the freezer are pointless unless you happen to be stumbling around in the dark for a midnight snack. Standby light on the telly why bother what is it standing by to do, turn it on a second or two faster , if you can see a picture then its on if not it's off. All our outside lights bar one are small solar powered units with timers and built in pir's , they give plenty of light where needed for free and work just as well in the darker winter months, The one at the front of the garage is a more powerful 10watt mains powered led so the love of my life knows just what she has backed into again

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I wonder if one of the resident electrical boffins could give us a clue what proportion of the power used on standby is actually used by the light? I doubt it's much.

 

[ajs]

I wonder if one of the resident electrical boffins could give us a clue what proportion of the power used on standby is actually used by the light? I doubt it's much.

A standard LED will be somewhere around a couple of volts at 10mA or so. Likely driven from a 3.3V logic supply via a limiting resistor so 33mW for the pair. That comes to 0.289 units a year. Of course the losses in the power supply and even minimal circuitry to respond to the remote will dwarf that, a couple of watts is typical standby power draw for a modern TV.

The light does have a valuable purpose if the TV doesn't appear to be working, it confirms there is power if there is no response to the remote. Blinking is often the first indication it has acknowledged the remote, especially since modern TVs take a second or two to display anything on screen or output sound.

 

[mikej460]

Don't be fooled by smart meters, don't use dishwashers and tumble dryers plus ensure all lighting is LED.

The most energy efficient dishwashers use far less energy than hand washing. We have a heat pump tumble drier which is very energy efficient albeit expensive to buy so I've now put up a new washing line at my wife's request, but towels are still tumble dried as a good exfoliation after a shower doesn't appeal.

It's taken me 30 years to convince my wife that she really doesn't need to fill the kettle for one or two cups of tea/coffee.

Be careful on which LEDs you buy as some use a lot of energy - if they're hot to touch they are costing you too much money.

I'm dry-lining every room we renovate, using Superquilt, counter-battened with 50mm PIR Plasterboard which works very well. My only regret is not having triple glazing windows instead of double glazing 14 years ago.

We are a two oven family but now about to buy an air frier as we will save electricity from the shorter warm up and cooking time. There are times when we put an oven on for 2 hours just to cook one or two baked potatoes or one small quiche etc.

 

[Marcusthehat]

About 1000 litres of kero has lasted us over a 12 month, for a relatively large dwelling, but we burn a significent amount of "free" firewood, and our electric is about £800.00 per year, mind you running 3 freezers prob dont help! Plus me occassionally "footering" in the shed with a welder and compressor.
Really must insulate the roofspace better, its got 6 or 7" of glass fiber between the joists and then floored with chipboard throughout, so I was thinking of insulating betwwn the rafters, but not sure how.

 

[Thingybob]

Or you could buy one of those one piece teddy bear suits that are worn by people in cold storage facilities .

That would look good on a video conference " Spectric i dont think your taking your job seriously"

 

[mikej460]

About 1000 litres of kero has lasted us over a 12 month, for a relatively large dwelling, but we burn a significent amount of "free" firewood, and our electric is about £800.00 per year, mind you running 3 freezers prob dont help! Plus me occassionally "footering" in the shed with a welder and compressor.
Really must insulate the roofspace better, its got 6 or 7" of glass fiber between the joists and then floored with chipboard throughout, so I was thinking of insulating betwwn the rafters, but not sure how.

As I understand it you can have a 'cold roof' where the joists are insulated or a 'warm roof' where the rafters are insulated. The problem with having both is condensation build up.

 

[Thingybob]

Replaced mine with GU10 bulbs and fittings LED

Sorry did not read corectly thought you said oven extractor silly me

 

[Just4Fun]

I wonder if one of the resident electrical boffins could give us a clue what proportion of the power used on standby is actually used by the light? I doubt it's much.

I am far from an electrical boffin so get your pinch of salt ready ...

A few years ago I went through an exercise of turning everything off then turning things back on 1-by-1 to see what effect each appliance had on our usage. It wasn't until some time later that I realised I had forgotten to include the outside lights in this exercise. On standby they obviously don't use enough energy to have registered on the whole house gizme I was using.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My only regret is not having triple glazing windows instead of double glazing 14 years ago.

I keep reading how little difference they make, but wonder why if that's the case it's used throughout Northern Countries. According to a long time experienced window fitter I spoke to, the main problem with triple glazing in this country is that the frames produced here aren't deep enough, so the panels made to fit them haven't sufficient gaps.

My mother had a house built 44 years ago - the architect advised her not to have double glazing as it wasn't worth the extra cost for what it saved. I was amazed at the time.

 

[Stuart1953]

I was asked by MIL to change the bulb in a Bosch oven that is about 14 months old. Was astonished to find that it was a halogen bulb.

I’ve still got a couple of halogens in a cooker hood, but can’t find any leds with small enough bulbs to be able to put the glass cover back on afterwards. Either they’ve got to get smaller or I’ve got to do some radical re-engineering.

I had the same problem with a fridge bulb, but after an exhaustive search on Amazon, after using callipers to measure the old bulb I finally found led equivalents.

 

[Suffolk Brian]

Oh, come on, you could get two for the price of a single Mafell jigsaw ...

My needs and finances are about the DeWalt - other brands are available - level. Seriously, I am happy to do my bit. But if you consider the environmental cost in the manufacture of some of these products, where do you draw the line? At my (very low) skill level, I get a better straight line cut with an “ordinary” saw, for which I think I paid about £7 in Screwfix. Plus the exercise keeps me warm, and I didn’t use any electricity.

 

[GuitardoctorW7]

The most energy efficient dishwashers use far less energy than hand washing. We have a heat pump tumble drier which is very energy efficient albeit expensive to buy so I've now put up a new washing line at my wife's request, but towels are still tumble dried as a good exfoliation after a shower doesn't appeal.

It's taken me 30 years to convince my wife that she really doesn't need to fill the kettle for one or two cups of tea/coffee.

Be careful on which LEDs you buy as some use a lot of energy - if they're hot to touch they are costing you too much money.

I'm dry-lining every room we renovate, using Superquilt, counter-battened with 50mm PIR Plasterboard which works very well. My only regret is not having triple glazing windows instead of double glazing 14 years ago.

We are a two oven family but now about to buy an air frier as we will save electricity from the shorter warm up and cooking time. There are times when we put an oven on for 2 hours just to cook one or two baked potatoes or one small quiche etc.

I pierce jacket potatoes all over with a serving fork then blitz them in the microwave for 10 mins before putting into a hot oven for 30 mins. I get pretty good results

 

[Just4Fun]

Can we perhaps re-learn something from how our Grand parents coped

I quite like the idea of a hay box for slow cooking. I have some rigid wall insulation that should make a well-insulated box. I am just a bit unsure what is the melting point of the insulation I have.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I had the same problem with a fridge bulb, but after an exhaustive search on Amazon, after using callipers to measure the old bulb I finally found led equivalents.

Yes, but the problem with the oven the high temperature.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I pierce jacket potatoes all over with a serving fork then blitz them in the microwave for 10 mins before putting into a hot oven for 30 mins. I get pretty good results

Likewise.
I used to stick 4" nails through them before putting them in the oven.

 

[Alex H]

Likewise.
I used to stick 4" nails through them before putting them in the oven.

Doesn't that make them taste funny?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

No, you do actually take them out after cooking.

 

[okeydokey]

Thats another way to get an iron supplement

 

[Phil Pascoe]

We had some years ago a little folding aluminium device with iirc eight spikes for baking potatoes. Its purpose of course, besides being easy to lift out of the oven was to transmit the heat to the centre - and yes, it cut the cooking time noticeably. When it broke I used nails, of course a kebab skewer or similar would do the same.