Freezers

[Fatcat]

@Innocent_Bystander

That sounds like a fridge not freezer… (I guess the I think fridges are a close enough relative to bracket with them in wifi discussions, though max temp is more critical - that is temp of perishable contents, not temp of the air in the box).

It’s definitely a freezer, I’ve double checked and everything in it is frozen.

Just turned the temperature up from 3.5 to 3. I love living life on the edge.

[Count.d]

@Fatcat

Freezers can cope with disconnected power for quite a long time. (48 hours ???) I can’t see a problem with turning the compressor on once a day (night) when there’s plenty of excess electricity in the system.

The reason I’ve bought a new freezer is my old Bosch has failed. The manual boost button makes it work, but once off it doesn’t automatically regulate the temp. I switch it on for a few hours, it goes down to -25c and lower then I leave it off overnight. By the next day the temp has risen to a point where some food isn’t quite as cold as it should be. So freezers don’t look like they can hold frozen temps for 48hrs. TBH, in theory that does sound like it’s stretching it.

[Fatcat]

@Innocent_Bystander

Or a freezer where the electric company is still waiting for the wind… Should be here tomorrow.

A study carried out by the University of Bonn with input from Miele and ICL.

Smart Domestic Appliances Provide Flexibility for Sustainable Energy Systems

[Alley_Cat]

Very clever in theory, we need these little nudges.

We currently use a heck of a lot of electricity due to gas appliances being down (major issue we need time to address).

No idea if there’s a measurable effect or not but normally our washing machine with 2 kids, work clothing etc runs 3-4 times a day for school/school sports/general washing - this has decreased significantly during homeschooling, but when the kids are back the expectation is clean uniform daily (which would be our norm anyway) to reduce possible transmission.

What frustrates me is that dual energy tariffs are so poorly advertised - if a household like ours runs WM/Dishwasher multiple times/day, as well as tumble drying in harsher months why is there no push to make delayed starts on appliances mandatory to utilise off peak energy, and why not nudge us to use the appliances when we are asleep which is far better for daytime background noise levels provided they are not too obtrusive and stop you sleeping!

[Alley_Cat]

You may yet persuade me that there might be some benefit to a Smart Meter - I can’t really see one as I currently can read the meter and work out what it costs myself.

Tariff changes might work better - on teh day of change you start paying the new rate whereas otherwise the energy company guesses readings and you or they might be worse off.

[Fatcat]

I’m not generally in favour of smart meters. I don’t think they will be any use in this situation.
It could be as simple as the energy provider pays the consumer x pence every time it is allowed to control when a washer or dryer is switched on, or x pound per annum for allowing control of a freezer.
Or for something more precise, the appliance control system will know approximately how much energy it has used. This could be transmitted to the energy provider and a rebate given.

If Co2 emissions can be reduced, that alone should be an incentive for a lot of people, without the financial reward. Most people use recycle bins, without being paid to do so.