Saving Money: How to reduce electricity usage (From Bucks Free Press)
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Saving Money: How to reduce electricity usage
10:00pm Saturday 28th January 2012
Last Christmas a friend gave me one of those newfangled electricity usage monitors as a present.
It's a small device in two parts.
A sending unit clips to the cable coming from the electricity meter while a portable receiving unit can be carried around the house to show the amount of energy being consumed.
Initially I thought it would be a waste of time however it has turned out to be a very useful present.
I can now keep a close eye on how much electric is being used even when I am in bed. In these harsh economic times every penny that can be saved must be saved.
The device even gives a rough idea how much my next bill will be together with the number of tonnes of carbon burnt to generate the electric however I'm not really bothered about that.
As automatic thermostatic devices like the fridge, freezers and the cooker switch on the figure on the display rises accordingly.
If there is a sudden spike I run around to find out what has come one. Even while writing this blog the display is placed in front of me.
The powers that be have convinced most people to switch to low energy bulbs to save energy after all leaving the lights on uses so much electricity doesn't it? Wrong!
From looking at the electric usage monitor it's quite clear that lights use very little energy.
Its the high power devices like the cooker, hoover and kettle that consume the electricity.
Initially I was fooled into converting to low energy bulbs but a few weeks ago converted back to tungsten bulbs and my decision is vindicated thanks to the energy monitor.
Leaving lights on, even traditional filament bulbs, doesn't cost that much at all indeed now I deliberately leave selected lights on, such as on the stairs and in the drawing room, to save the hassle of switching them off.
When you think about it a 60w light bulb will takes months to use energy taken by the cooker in an hour.
To save money I now make sure the food goes in the oven as soon as its up to temperature rather than leaving it to keep warm until I am ready to cook.
What's more I can sit at my computer writing my next blog and as soon as the oven is up to temperature and cuts out I can see the reading on the electric monitor fall so yours truly knows the cooker is ready without even having to trek out to the kitchen to check.
A large amount of energy is used hoovering the house so now I only clean once every month thus cutting the electric used by the vacuum cleaner by seventy five percent and saving my time too.
Rather than giving away the newfangled low energy bulbs the powers that be would have been better giving every house in the country a free energy monitor as they're probably one of the best things ever invented.
What do you think?
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Comments(32)
ivor
says...
3:28pm Sun 29 Jan 12
~
Indeed your quotes are correct, however they were in the context of cooking a full blown Christmas meal.
~
The occasion sometimes arises when yours truly has to wrestle with the hot cupboard in which case my culinary skills are limited to taking some food from the cold cupboard and placing it in the hot cupboard until it is ready.
Loudwater69
says...
8:17pm Sun 29 Jan 12
ivor
says...
9:01pm Sun 29 Jan 12
~
Allergies? What allergies?
~
Years ago the carpets were cleaned with carpet sweepers or taken outside once a year to be given a quick going over with a carpet beater. The modern house is so clinically clean that people have become fearful of germs when they need not be.
~
I think the powers that be should be telling everyone to reduce the number of times they hoover their homes rather then telling them to switch off the newfangled eco light bulbs as it would save more energy.
A VOTER
says...
3:58pm Mon 30 Jan 12
We all suspect that you're just telling more and more lies...
tomcat
says...
4:57pm Mon 30 Jan 12
ivor
says...
10:38pm Mon 30 Jan 12
~
I can assure you that my ancestors did indeed exist, if they did not then how come I am here?
~
Until I have a chance to inspect the records I am unable to comment, I went past the library today but being a Monday it was closed. The old library in Queen Victoria Road never used to close on a Monday....
ivor
says...
10:38pm Mon 30 Jan 12
~
If you are constantly going in and out of a room do you not find it a hassle to have to keep switching the light on and off? I do. That's why its far easier to leave the light on and just breeze into the room and out again.
~
Leaving a light on does not use that much electricity but coking a meal or hoovering the house, well, you would not believe how much that uses....
tomcat
says...
10:52pm Mon 30 Jan 12
ivor
says...
10:55pm Mon 30 Jan 12
~
But I walk about my home during the natural course of an evening especially when trying to get the evening meal ready as all the thing required are in different rooms in the house.
~
Doesn't everyone tend to move around between rooms during the evening or am I different?
tomcat
says...
11:39pm Mon 30 Jan 12
tomcat
says...
11:41pm Mon 30 Jan 12
ivor
says...
12:22am Wed 1 Feb 12
~
Yes, that's a very good idea. Maybe I should centralise things more however as you say the exercise does keep me fit but at the end of a long day the extra walking can be a bit much.
ivor
says...
12:22am Wed 1 Feb 12
~
Blame the spell checker....
gotanybiscuits?
says...
8:24pm Wed 1 Feb 12
ivor wrote:erm,
Re the comments of tomcat at 10:52pm
~
But I walk about my home during the natural course of an evening especially when trying to get the evening meal ready as all the thing required are in different rooms in the house.
~
Doesn't everyone tend to move around between rooms during the evening or am I different?
food. lives in kitchen?
crockery. lives in kitchen?
cutlery. lives in kitchen?
paraphernalia for preparing foodstuffs. lives in kitchen?
~
Yes, you're different.
Very
ImpeturbableLawrence
says...
1:19am Thu 2 Feb 12
tomcat wrote:You have those problems too? Do you always have 16 pints of Guinness and bitter with vodka chasers and a nice packet of cheese and onion crisps before going to bed as well?
The hassle of turning off the lights? ... Oh yes I see, you first have to find the light switch (I always have a problem with that), then you have to actually lift your arm to operate the switch with your finger. Then you have to wait while the electricity travels down the wires to the lightbulb.
ImpeturbableLawrence
says...
1:21am Thu 2 Feb 12
ivor wrote:Isn't 'hassle' a rather MODERN word (c. 1972) for you igor?
Re the comments of tomcat at 4:57pm
~
If you are constantly going in and out of a room do you not find it a hassle to have to keep switching the light on and off? I do. That's why its far easier to leave the light on and just breeze into the room and out again.
~
Leaving a light on does not use that much electricity but coking a meal or hoovering the house, well, you would not believe how much that uses....
philbo
says...
3:05pm Thu 2 Feb 12
ImpeturbableLawrence
says...
3:10pm Thu 2 Feb 12
gotanybiscuits? wrote:He's IMAGINARY!
ivor wrote:erm,
Re the comments of tomcat at 10:52pm
~
But I walk about my home during the natural course of an evening especially when trying to get the evening meal ready as all the thing required are in different rooms in the house.
~
Doesn't everyone tend to move around between rooms during the evening or am I different?
food. lives in kitchen?
crockery. lives in kitchen?
cutlery. lives in kitchen?
paraphernalia for preparing foodstuffs. lives in kitchen?
~
Yes, you're different.
Very
usvelt
says...
5:25pm Thu 2 Feb 12
ivor
says...
2:00am Fri 3 Feb 12
~
But the frozen food lives in the freezer which is in the freezer room which requires me to walk there from the kitchen....
ivor
says...
2:00am Fri 3 Feb 12
~
That wasn't a very nice thing to say was it?
ivor
says...
2:00am Fri 3 Feb 12
~
1972 was a very good year, I wish I could travel back in time and revisit it....
ivor
says...
2:00am Fri 3 Feb 12
~
But I do not have “recessed ceiling down-lights”, I have traditional light shades....
ivor
says...
2:01am Fri 3 Feb 12
~
No, I am not imaginary....
ivor
says...
2:01am Fri 3 Feb 12
~
No, I am not imaginary....
ivor
says...
2:01am Fri 3 Feb 12
~
Which “building blog” are you referring to? I have written several....
usvelt
says...
2:27pm Fri 3 Feb 12
It was
The buildings of Wycombe: 13 Queens Square
usvelt
says...
2:27pm Fri 3 Feb 12
usvelt wrote:I will reply a couple of times just to make sure
Now that is odd my reply after beeing seen on the site has been removed again - I wonder why!
It was
The buildings of Wycombe: 13 Queens Square
Now that is odd my reply after beeing seen on the site has been removed again - I wonder why!
It was
The buildings of Wycombe: 13 Queens Square
philbo
says...
4:46pm Sat 4 Feb 12
Lawrence Linehan
says...
9:41pm Sun 12 Feb 12
Lawrence Linehan
says...
9:41pm Sun 12 Feb 12
Morag says...
10:16am Sun 29 Jan 12
8:55pm Tue 6 Dec 11
~
Gosh, I am impressed you can cook a turkey, Ivor. I thought you didn't know how to use the "hot cupboard".
Will you be eating yours in the morning before you go to your neighbours for Christmas dinner, or when you get back in the evening?”
.
ivor says...
9:48pm Tue 6 Dec 11
Re the comments of Morag at 8:55pm
~
Oh no, its my neighbour who does all the cooking. The hot cupboard with the vast array of knobs and dials is a complete mystery to me. All I know is that under the control of a skilled operator a cold meal can be put into the hot cupboard and after a pre-determined time it is read to eat.
~
I prefer to specialise in the eating part rather then the cooking part...."