Combating energy prices

[chrcoluk]

I have a solid plate hob cooker, and these use about 1-2kwh, I dont know what mine uses specifically not measured it yet.

But this thing must be the most inefficient form of heating I have, it takes at least 20 minutes to start heating up water inside the pan, and doesnt bubble until about 30 mins, it wastes heat in the surrounding area, so if I touch anywhere near the hob its hot, I wonder if simply using the kettle and pouring the hot water into a pan is more efficient than solid plate hob cooking as once the water is hot the cooking time is very low. Solid plate hobs make ovens seem godly for efficiency lol.

 

[krooton]

Running 8-9KwH on average per day, that is with 2 people WFH and having solar panels.

Lights are all LED
Dishwasher every other day
Oven most days
Insinkerator garbage disposal used every day to some degree (380w)
Treadmill 1-2 hours every day (2800w, eek!, but usually only run it 40-50% of max speed)
Washing machine twice a week
Plex server box on 24/7
2 laptops on for work times
Gaming PC on for most of the day, however usually idling or non-game usage
65" LCD tv on for most of the day (wife + WFH = lots of Youtube)
32" LCD tv evenings

 

[dirtychinchilla]

All ours lights, indoors and out are LED.

I’ll also aim for shorter showers.

I only boil the water I need for cooking in the kettle, rather than boiling it on the gas hob, no idea if this is better or not.

Ive also now turned down the hot water setting by one notch on the boiler, again, no idea what difference this makes.

I’ll probably shorten the timers of the central heating too, warming it up less when we’re not home.

The kettle is a lot more efficient that a gas hob

 

[krooton]

I have a solid plate hob cooker, and these use about 1-2kwh, I dont know what mine uses specifically not measured it yet.

But this thing must be the most inefficient form of heating I have, it takes at least 20 minutes to start heating up water inside the pan, and doesnt bubble until about 30 mins, it wastes heat in the surrounding area, so if I touch anywhere near the hob its hot, I wonder if simply using the kettle and pouring the hot water into a pan is more efficient than solid plate hob cooking as once the water is hot the cooking time is very low. Solid plate hobs make ovens seem godly for efficiency lol.

Yes, pre-boiling will be more efficient than going from cold on the hob.
Alternatively, get induction so no heat is wasted from the hob at all

 

[chrcoluk]

Yes, pre-boiling will be more efficient than going from cold on the hob.
Alternatively, get induction so no heat is wasted from the hob at all

If was my own home, I would get induction no question, they look light years ahead and the gov should probably be regulating that these are the only ones sold moving forward. Dont want to replace this though with having no security as a renter.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Yes, pre-boiling will be more efficient than going from cold on the hob.
Alternatively, get induction so no heat is wasted from the hob at all

We used to have induction in our last house and it was great. However, when we last had a long power cut at dinner time I definitely appreciated the gas hob!

 

[LuckyBenski]

We used to have induction in our last house and it was great. However, when we last had a long power cut at dinner time I definitely appreciated the gas hob!

The opposite of this, is keeping an electric shower in case your boiler breaks down! My father in law constantly recommends it, so now I'm slightly paranoid. It's making rewiring my house a real pain trying to plan an extra shower

 

[CaptainRAVE]

The opposite of this, is keeping an electric shower in case your boiler breaks down! My father in law constantly recommends it, so now I'm slightly paranoid. It's making rewiring my house a real pain trying to plan an extra shower

Fortunately when it happened the hot water tank had just finished heating up. It was a rather quick shower in case my chargeable lamp ran out

Hopefully we don’t get too many outages this winter, but I am prepared just in case.

 

[jak731]

The kettle is a lot more efficient that a gas hob

This is true but doesn't tell the whole picture; electric is about 3.8x the cost of gas per kWh. In summer there is probably a marginal difference in cost, in winter using gas will very slightly offset heating needs.

 

[krooton]

This is true but doesn't tell the whole picture; electric is about 3.8x the cost of gas per kWh. In summer there is probably a marginal difference in cost, in winter using gas will very slightly offset heating needs.

I think the guy has some maths in here

 

[dirtychinchilla]

I think the guy has some maths in here

What did he conclude?

 

[krooton]

What did he conclude?

Electric kettle > kettle on induction > kettle on electric hob >>> kettle on gas hob

Plus using a gas burner indoors isn't all that great for air quality.

 

[Mickie]

Might help some if you want to find drafts. Close all doors and windows, turn on all the extractor fans in the house and that’ll help you find a lot of drafts. Using a smoke pen or something similar.

 

[robj20]

I’ve unplugged a load of things including XSX, gaming TV, PS5, PC, both Sky boxes into Eco. Down to 120-200W draw, the lowest I’ve seen us use I think. That’s more like it.

The wife seems in agreement about putting a few layers on before opting for heating too. Result. I also don’t heat the main rooms that I use in the house and keep the doors closed, although no idea how much of a difference that makes.

It's not worth unplugging the PS5 just turn it off, even rest mode only uses 0.5W.
Right now my house is using 88w that's with my PS5 in rest mode, Switch plugged in, all my network stuff running. You'd do more good making sure your fridge and freezer aren't set overly cold. Keep them just in the green.

 

[danlightbulb]

I'm doing a little experiment as I'm away from home for approx 2-3 days. I've turned everything off except fridge and alarm system and took a meter reading. Let's see how much my house uses while I'm gone.

 

[ChrisD.]

BG offering me fixed tariff which is about 3 times what I currently pay.

 

[Mickie]

BG offering me fixed tariff which is about 3 times what I currently pay.

inline with the price cap then.

 

[danlightbulb]

I'm doing a little experiment as I'm away from home for approx 2-3 days. I've turned everything off except fridge and alarm system and took a meter reading. Let's see how much my house uses while I'm gone.

Ok so Im back home after just over 3 days away. I took readings and worked out consumption to the minute.

In 3.23 days I have used 5.7 kWh of electricity and zero gas. So that is 1.76 kWh per day of base electricity use.

The only things switched on were fridge freezer, boiler electronics, and alarm system.

Does this seem high? It has been warm so maybe fridge is having to work harder?

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Ok so Im back home after just over 3 days away. I took readings and worked out consumption to the minute.

In 3.23 days I have used 5.7 kWh of electricity and zero gas. So that is 1.76 kWh per day of base electricity use.

The only things switched on were fridge freezer, boiler electronics, and alarm system.

Does this seem high? It has been warm so maybe fridge is having to work harder?

3.23*24=77.52 hours
5.7/77.52=0.073kw
=73w average draw continual.

 

[danlightbulb]

The fridge freezer is over 12 years old, it was here when I moved in and it was probably at least a few years old at that point. It could be using 500 kWh per year I guess, easy. It is a fairly big 50/50 split one.


A modern fridge freezer on the new scale that is rated C or above is really expensive, but the best that can be achieved currently seems to be around 150 kWh per year so 0.4 kWh per day.