Is this a viable way of reducing the amount on electricity that you pay?

daelo · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:31

Had a little idea but its probably would be quite expensive to set up to see any real short term savings but here goes...

Leccy is cheaper at night between the hours of say 12am and 6am so why not charge up batteries at night when electricity is cheaper than in the daytime?

Would you need a silly amount of say car batteries to be able to power say a 1000w pc all day long (not going at full wack say 50%) whilst making some savings at the same time?

Would you not be able to charge enough batteries at night to actually be able to provide the draw something like a pc would use during normal working hours?

Any thoughts most welcome

Spektor · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:33

How much cheaper is it? significantly?

TheVoice · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:33

The cost of batteries would negate any savings anyway.

cymatty · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:33

A 1000w pc would cost around 15p an hour to run at 100%. Night rate would be around 5p per hour?

Batteries would cost a fortune, there is no saving to be made.

trent · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:33

The thing is the cost of the battery will probably outweigh the savings made.

Amp34 · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:34

Because batteries aren't 100% efficient and the cost of batteries would probably outweigh the electricity saving...

Glaucus · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:34

Not just cost but energy efficiency would deplete a lot of that.

Ice Rich · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:37

That's just it, the batteries would far outweigh the saving cost.

The only effective use of this i've seen is them storage heaters, they look like a radiator but have a 'brick' inside. They are heated up throughout the night and then they remain hot for the day. However, even they can be quite expensive.

Glaucus · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:38

Ice Rich said:
The only effective use of this i've seen is them storage heaters,

And things like washing machines with time delays. but the saving probably nothing.

J.B · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:39

And the batteries would need to be replaced every so often.

Just look at how much a UPS costs and how long they last for, a decent one would probably last you about 30 minutes, if that.

J.B · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:41

Ice Rich said:
The only effective use of this i've seen is them storage heaters, they look like a radiator but have a 'brick' inside. They are heated up throughout the night and then they remain hot for the day. However, even they can be quite expensive.

They arent great really, we used to have them. Moved house, have gas central heating now and wouldnt want to go back.

Storage heaters arent overly effecient, its a pain to get the input right and get the output to put steady heat out all day, they lose the heat towards the end of the day when you want it the most and we spent a fortune using our emersion heater when we wanted hot water!

arknor · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:43

rob a generator and syphon petrol from a carpark free leccy

MeEsH BaKkA · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:46

There is a much more effective and less legal way to get cheaper electricity

Glaucus · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:49

MeEsH BaKkA said:
There is a much more effective and less legal way to get cheaper electricity

and legal.
Invest in wind turbine, solar water heaters and/or heat exchange pump.
All new builds should have at least two.

trent · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:52

Connect a Bike machine to your pc and get peddling or a lot of hamsters on wheels.

MeEsH BaKkA · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:55

AcidHell2 said:
and legal.
Invest in wind turbine, solar water heaters and/or heat exchange pump.
All new builds should have at least two.

I was thinking of fiddling the meter, but yes I agree all new build should heat pumps/coils etc... I havent actualy seen many sites having these fitted though.

K.C. Leblanc · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:55

daelo said:
Any thoughts most welcome

Get one of these

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=423

SoundsGood · 5 Apr 2010 at 20:56

MeEsH BaKkA said:
There is a much more effective and less legal way to get cheaper electricity

How's that?

I'm currently paying ~5p at night and 21p in the day. Perhaps with some free batteries from a recycling centre this would be viable..

MeEsH BaKkA · 5 Apr 2010 at 21:01

SoundsGood said:
How's that?

I'm currently paying ~5p at night and 21p in the day. Perhaps with some free batteries from a recycling centre this would be viable..

It involves messing with/bypassing the meter, not legal.

markweatherill · 5 Apr 2010 at 21:02

It was better for me to go for a single rate as I wasn't saving anything by having cheap electric when I was asleep.