What ideas have you had for reducing Electricity consumption

[Spectric]

I have seen those enviromental toilets where everything long drops onto straw and is left to decompose naturally, might have been a national trust or english heritage place.

 

[artie]

I have seen those enviromental toilets where everything long drops onto straw and is left to decompose naturally, might have been a national trust or english heritage place.

I was approached 7 or 8 years ago about manufacturing those.

Apparently, there is no one in Ireland making them, I didn't fancy it either.

 

[johna.clements]

I've not measured it but I would think about 45° - a bit too hot to bath in.

The hot water should be kept hotter than that. Legionella will not be killed under 60C.

 

[Dabop]

I was approached 7 or 8 years ago about manufacturing those.

Apparently, there is no one in Ireland making them, I didn't fancy it either.

Actually, thats what I am using here- mostly due to the costs involved in a modern septic- with my soil conditions, I would need a septic system that uses around 2kwh a day in electricity (I am offgrid solar) plus a 100m of trench (which would require clearing as much bush again a I did for the shed and house blocks combined- total cost over 75KAu...
:-O
Instead went with a mob here in Australia, a smaller install for the shed, and when the house is finished, a bigger one for the house
The toilet itself visually looks pretty much like any other externally (obviously no water tank) and the collection tubs are for my usage about 3 months for the smaller one in the shed, needs swapping over to a new tub and left for decomposing- by the time it is finished, it is a totally harmless and quite good fertiliser
Best of all is it has approval Australia wide, and it only needs a 5m long trench- which can easily fit inside the existing clearings...
(unpacked in the shed- now to finish building the 'toilet/shower' room lol)

Comes with three of those tubs, and has a solar/battery powered fan on the roof vent pipe that 'sucks' air into the toilet- so you don't even need a roof ventilator fan or the 'smell spray' in the toilet if you been on the chilli and beer diet lol- odors are drawn down into the composting chamber and then released through the roof vent

The big brother to that (the little one cost just over $1500, the big one thats going in the house about $3k- a LOT cheaper than a septic lol) has a much bigger thank that only needs emptying about every six months or so- the one I ordered has an electric motor on a timer, the one in the picture has a handle (rhs) that you turn once or twice a week

The same company that made mine has literally thousands installed in national parks and on rural highways at rest areas across Australia (hence why it easy to get approvals, they have a Australia wide one for their systems)

 

[GweithdyDU]

Wow! So impressed compared to our brewing bucket sitting in a plywood box with a loo seat on top of it all. That system of yours looks almost good enough to be considered against the hassle of fitting a domestic sewerage treatment plant (no new fitting of septic tanks allowed where I live). Only thing for me is as I'm getting older and anyway have mobility issues, I don't know if I want to be carrying buckets or containers of poo in my 70's and 80'S (pays to be optimistic!), even if it is only needed every few months.

 

[Dabop]

We aren't allowed 'septics' either anymore (at least for new installs- only grandfathered in old ones still allowed)- but the full treatment domestic sewage plant (which is what I was talking about) is still called a septic here
Saying the full name every time would be a mouthful in conversation lol...

The containers by the time they are full and cycled and ready to be emptied are quite light (about 20kg total) and have wheels on them- they weigh far less than my wheelie bin does and have the same sized wheels...
(from 'full' to end of cycle, they self compose down to about 1/4 full, and it ends up as a sandy like dry compost- very similar to what you get in a bag of composting material from the gardening center- minimal to no smell by that stage and not hazardous (although they do recommend rubber gloves when emptying- I suspect most people would wear gloves anyway just to avoid the 'ikky factor' when emptying lol)

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The hot water should be kept hotter than that. Legionella will not be killed under 60C.

I hadn't thought of that, but would it make any difference in a sealed mains pressure system?

 

[1steven]

I've not measured it but I would think about 45° - a bit too hot to bath in.

I hadn't thought of that, but would it make any difference in a sealed mains pressure system?

Yes especially if you use a shower

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Where would the bacteria come from in a closed system?

 

[johna.clements]

Where would the bacteria come from in a closed system?

Its not closed its a "pipe.

Stuff comes down the pipe including bacteria.
There are standards on the amount of contaminants and the chlorine keeps the bacteria in check.
A few bacteria won't hurt you (unless you are particularly susceptible) but many will.
You are providing a nice warm place for them to multiply.

When they do work on the pipes they use chlorine to help sterilise the pipe that is new or opened. And flush then pipes. But they will not get everything.

 

[johna.clements]

Yes especially if you use a shower

I worked in an office in Exeter and they took samples from the shower head. The shower was only used occasionally so water would stand in the shower head until the next person decided they wanted to go on a run at lunch time.

 

[Spectric]

I know a very old farmhouse where all the sewage flows into some large pits in a field covered by stone slabs, the liquid flows out and through some large beds of weeds and as far as I know the pit is not emptied so it must just decompose and seep out. I recal some programe where there was a community on some remote scottish island where they eventually poisoned themselves by not managing their sewage, caused contamination.

 

[johna.clements]

I know a very old farmhouse where all the sewage flows into some large pits in a field covered by stone slabs, the liquid flows out and through some large beds of weeds and as far as I know the pit is not emptied so it must just decompose and seep out. I recal some programe where there was a community on some remote scottish island where they eventually poisoned themselves by not managing their sewage, caused contamination.

That is basically what a sewage treatment works is.

Put it in a tank with little oxygen so the anaerobic bacteria can get to work. Then sprinkle the liquid on some stones so the aerobic bacteria can do their job.

They would only contaimenate them selves if they were using the water out of the reed bed to drink etc. If it discharged into a stream that ran into the sea it would be just the same as the result of a few cattle, sheep that lived in the field next to the stream.

 

[artie]

Some commercial businesses electricity has gone up by four or five hundred percent - it's not capped.

Funny coincidence, I was talking to a businessman this morning who says he pays £1 per kwh.

Why do they charge a business 3 times as much as domestic?

 

[johna.clements]

Funny coincidence, I was talking to a businessman this morning who says he pays £1 per kwh.

Why do they charge a business 3 times as much as domestic?

Because there is no cap on non domestic prices, they can charge what people will pay. Its the free market.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Funny coincidence, I was talking to a businessman this morning who says he pays £1 per kwh.

Why do they charge a business 3 times as much as domestic?

Why do dogs lick their nuts? because they can.

 

[Limey Lurker]

I've changed all my 13 amp sockets for 5 amp sockets. That's a 62% saving immediately!

 

[1steven]

I worked in an office in Exeter and they took samples from the shower head. The shower was only used occasionally so water would stand in the shower head until the next person decided they wanted to go on a run at lunch time.

This is a must read regarding Legionella
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l8.htm

 

[Oakay]

Lo tech (cheap to buy) tumble dryers are wasteful and expensive to run.
We've experimented with using a storage cupboard (about the size of our airing cupboard) for drying with a portable dehumidifier. It works well. Clothes are dry in a few hours. You see how many jugs of water you take out. And once they are dry the dh stops, unlike a tumbler which will happily carry on cooking clothes after they are dry.

View attachment 143106

Litre jug, I remembered to check just in time

Water saved from a dehumidifier is also useful for other things like topping up a steam iron, rinsing the car, topping up windscreen washer. No lime scale.

 

[Sideways]

Water saved from a dehumidifier is also useful for other things like topping up a steam iron, rinsing the car, topping up windscreen washer. No lime scale.

It all gets fed to my wife's houseplants