This is getting ridiculous (energy prices - Strictly NO referrals!)

cheesefest · 23 May 2022 at 18:06

One thing with my electric hob which was installed by the builders in 2009 that the pilot light to indicate a plate is on - stopped working, about 6-8 months ago. I forgot to switch it off when cooking pasta. Felt the warmth from it 4 hours later. It was on the lowest setting

Think the job of replacing the bulb is more troublesome than it’s worth.

cheesefest · 23 May 2022 at 18:07

413x said:
Agreed. It won't be using that.

I need to search the wattage

jpaul · 23 May 2022 at 18:21

mattyfez said:
I've often wondered if an air fryer or combi microwave might be more efficient than a traditional electric oven/gas hob.

problem is you end up with articles like this - gen Z journalist ?

I compared the price of energy usage of an air fryer versus an oven

I cooked the same meal in an air fryer and an oven and discovered I could save upward of £79.20 a year

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

The air fryer was the clear winner in the categories of both cost and time.
Using an air fryer saved 26 minutes in time and cost 22p less than using the oven. If I used the oven for this length of time every day over the span of a month, I would end up spending approximately £6.60 more than if I used an air fryer. Over a year, I would save £79.20 on switching appliances when cook just one meal a day.

like comparing a microwave with oven ...
who puts an oven on and cooks just one one thing - we'd usually do main course / desert(some for following day too) / baked-potatoes

dirtychinchilla · 23 May 2022 at 18:26

Heat pumps: How do they work and how do I get one?

The financial support to help households replace their gas boilers with heat pumps is increasing.

www.bbc.com

I don’t know if this was posted here but this is a dumb article imo.

It says that heat pumps could be 3 times more efficient that boilers. Fair enough. But then it suggests that your heat pump could be cheaper than a gas boiler due to the price of gas. Gas is 5x cheaper than electricity, not 3x. Not sure how the logic here stacks up.

Maybe running at lower temps helps?

Richie · 23 May 2022 at 18:39

I don't bother preheating the oven.

If it says 180oC for 30 mins, the food goes in and oven switched on at same time. 30 mins later and the food is ready the same as if I preheated for 5-10 mins and cooked for the 30 mins.

Waste of time and energy preheating.

HungryHippos · 23 May 2022 at 18:58

dirtychinchilla said:
Heat pumps: How do they work and how do I get one?

The financial support to help households replace their gas boilers with heat pumps is increasing.

www.bbc.com

I don’t know if this was posted here but this is a dumb article imo.

It says that heat pumps could be 3 times more efficient that boilers. Fair enough. But then it suggests that your heat pump could be cheaper than a gas boiler due to the price of gas. Gas is 5x cheaper than electricity, not 3x. Not sure how the logic here stacks up.

Maybe running at lower temps helps?

Yeah it's efficient but then as you say gas is cheaper per kwh, but the big win would be being able to remove gas supply from your property, so one less standing charge to pay, and one less chance of carbon monoxide poisoning in your home as well.

LabR@t · 23 May 2022 at 19:02

HungryHippos said:
Yeah it's efficient but then as you say gas is cheaper per kwh, but the big win would be being able to remove gas supply from your property, so one less standing charge to pay, and one less chance of carbon monoxide poisoning in your home as well.

How many people suffer from a faultygas boiler a year? Hardly any

Simon · 23 May 2022 at 19:08

Richie said:
I don't bother preheating the oven.

If it says 180oC for 30 mins, the food goes in and oven switched on at same time. 30 mins later and the food is ready the same as if I preheated for 5-10 mins and cooked for the 30 mins.

Waste of time and energy preheating.

That makes no sense from a physics point of view. You are undercooking the food

Robert · 23 May 2022 at 19:24

Simon said:
That makes no sense from a physics point of view. You are undercooking the food

Yeah, you can definitely tell with quite a few things.

mattyfez · 23 May 2022 at 19:24

So for single person, or maybe a 2 person household you are saying that the oven is the least efficient option?

mattyfez · 23 May 2022 at 19:29

Simon said:
That makes no sense from a physics point of view. You are undercooking the food

Not with a fan oven, If I put a pizza in it (from fridge, not frozen), pre-heating to say the reccomended 180c, it will over cook it.

I always disregard pre-heating time, as it just ends up burning stuff, or making it too tough and chewy.

HungryHippos · 23 May 2022 at 19:36

LabR@t said:
How many people suffer from a faultygas boiler a year? Hardly any

OK but it's not zero is it?

Also removal of gas supply full stop carries some cost benefits like I said, standing charge isn't cheap at the moment.

gpuerrilla · 23 May 2022 at 19:49

mattyfez said:
Not with a fan oven, If I put a pizza in it (from fridge, not frozen), pre-heating to say the reccomended 180c, it will over cook it.

I always disregard pre-heating time, as it just ends up burning stuff, or making it too tough and chewy.

I also find some microwave times must go by relics from 90s, if put in full power for that length nuke certain food types.

Richie · 23 May 2022 at 19:57

Simon said:
That makes no sense from a physics point of view. You are undercooking the food

No I'm not.

Robert said:
Yeah, you can definitely tell with quite a few things.

Perhaps but I have yet to notice any difference based on my own experiences.

b0rn2sk8 · 23 May 2022 at 20:05

mattyfez said:
So for single person, or maybe a 2 person household you are saying that the oven is the least efficient option?

If you can heat something via microwave, that will be far cheaper than any other method. That's not to say it will taste as good once its been microwaved though because you cant get anything crispy in a microwave.

If the choice was heating frozen peas/can of beans on the hob or the microwave, its always the microwave for me. Cheaper and faster.

If on the 3 times a year I eat a ready meal and it has something that typically has crispy top (for example a lasagne or mac and cheese), that's in the oven. If its just some curry and rice, that's microwaved. That said, if I was on the breadline and that was dinner, it would be the microwave every time.

theone8181 · 23 May 2022 at 20:32

Richie said:
No I'm not.

Perhaps but I have yet to notice any difference based on my own experiences.

I think it depends on the oven (maybe that guy with the "dodgy" seal :cry:

). If we did anything for the recommended time it would just burn, I assume you can get different rated oven powers like you do with microwaves.

jpaul · 23 May 2022 at 20:57

Pretty sure the texture of pre-processed food would be messed up by not pre-heating oven - but I suppose food is more hygienic(until we submit to yank food quality) and less chance of something like salmonella if it was inadequately cooked.
definitely making sausage toad, baking a cake, pastry ..... would be completely scr****

Microwaves ruin the texture of a lot of from scratch foods - you spend good money on ingredients and then Nuke them, even peas ! they need gentle heat of steaming (with other veg to save energy)

Smart meters & IHD's ... if only they could tell you how much energy the oven, or hob used .

Simon · 23 May 2022 at 21:10

Not sure microwaving is cheaper than gas either.

Turn · 23 May 2022 at 21:42

*UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak Orders Plan for Windfall Tax on Electricity Generators — FT
https://www.ft.com/content/ddbde592-a4e0-465a-9dd2-d6566790403f

Richie · 23 May 2022 at 22:28

Be good to know how he plans to support households if windfall tax goes ahead i.e a better plan than using council tax bands to determine a household's financial circumstances.