Zak Saves Energy (and himself money, quite a lot of money)

[Zak33]

Lo dudes

A little while ago I got that little gaget for measuring electricity useage, and drove my entire family barmy by using it on loads of stuff, from microwave to kettle, pc to tv, dvd, lamp shades etc etc.

It got to the point where my lovely and patient missus, Sair, got two new lamp shades with dimmers built into their metal bases (nice lamps, I liked them too) where you touch the base, and the lamp dims or brightens. I checked them on my little meter and the two of them would be using 16w (8w each) while OFF. So I made her take them back.

We got a huge new fridge freezer (A rated bosch) to replace two smaller ones (on in house, one in garage) and ebayed the two old ones (for pretty good money)

All the PC's in my office go off at the wall now.

etc etc etc

I even found the microwave oven uses 8w when it's not being used.

So, what have I saved?

Well, comparing this last quarters bill (in units, not money, because clearly electricity is more expensive now) with same quarter last year, and working out daily useage....

Same quarter 07 we used just over 12kWh per day
This quarter we used just under 8 kWh per day!

I have reduced my electricity use, by 1/3

ONE THIRD!!!

The fridge freezer, with the money I got for the old two , is now already paid for and that's less than 4 months!

OK, it's now getting to winter, so the lights and stuff will be on more, and I'll use a small 500w oil radiator for my boy at night on a low setting, and my PC will prolly be folding at night in proper winter to keep the dogs warm (uses less power than another electric heater) in their room.

But if I can do it, so can you. But you need a patient wife/husband/partner cos you gotta be ruthless!

[M0nkeyb0Y]

you're an inspiration to us all -where did you get said gadget?

[Funkstar]

B&Q if I remember right, they were on offer.

I looked for ages in the one near me and couldn't find them though.

[0iD]

I got some of those lamps too , tho i admit I switch most things off at the wall when not in use, the cooker included, but not the microwave. Lesson learned

[joshwa]

I have a free gadget from E-on (got it free when I switched to them a couple of months back) - it monitors the total electricity usage, and lets you monitor daily, monthly usage and costs. It you switch something on, it'll show "Up 30watts" so you know how much electricity is being used.

So far I've found out that ikea 7w energy saving lightbulbs use more than 7watts! the cheeky blighters!

[moogle]

All the PC's in my office go off at the wall now.

Should always do that, or if you're a bit lazy but not that lazy you can switch it off at the extension. I always do that before I go to bed, I just push the switch off with my foot and off to bed I go

The only thing plugged in the mains is my IKEA lamp and the Router and the good thing is the lamp doesn't use any power

You'll find that all those appliances on standby use the 9W. It's a pity my brothers and sisters don't have the same mentality like you Zak as I can hear them swearing everytime they gotta crouch down and put the TV in or switch on the power surge extension. But I've no idea how much I've saved I'll just have to go check the electricity bill when it comes

Nice post

[CaseyV9]

I was looking at a device: Maplins

[moogle]

I was looking at a device: Maplins

Was £10 in the Maplins at Stratford a week ago. Maybe it'll come down again.

[Funkstar]

Was £10 in the Maplins at Stratford a week ago. Maybe it'll come down again.

They have these on offer every few months.

Life DFS sofas, you know there is going to be a sale in a couple of months, so why buy one now at full price?

[moogle]

so why buy one now at full price?

Because you* have no patience

*Not you literally, answer to the question that do.

[TiG]

Zak's actually doing better than that, he just doesn't realise i've got a 3kw heater on in his garage on 24/7 since i last visited

TiG

[Powderhound]

I have a nifty gadget that cuts power to all my peripherals when the PC tower is switched off, which we got free from Powergen a while ago.

[iranu]

Lovely Zakie meter man! (Sorry Paul and John) Blimey I'm amazed that the microwave was still consuming power when not being used as with other stuff. I noticed that a circuit breaker I had got warm even though the plug was not in use obviously consuming leccy. I suspect mobile phone chargers might do the same thing.

[moogle]

I have a nifty gadget that cuts power to all my peripherals when the PC tower is switched off, which we got free from Powergen a while ago.

Still will be pulling power :
But better than not turning them off I suppose

[JK Ferret]

Ahem...

Ring any bells?

http://forums.hexus.net/general-disc...ng-device.html

[Konan555]

Whilst I'm in the process of working out why my shower has no power supply, I'm forced into the inefficient world of baths.

I've been as frugal with them as possible, to the point of leaving the water sitting in the bath till it's stone cold. I've got thermostatic valves all around the house now and the bathroom radiator nicely shuts itself off whilst the bath is radiating it's heat.

Why chuck hot water down the plughole?

We got a huge new fridge freezer (A rated bosch) to replace two smaller ones (on in house, one in garage) and ebayed the two old ones (for pretty good money)

Can't beat a decent chest freezer located in a nice cool garage for efficiency.