For items that have a constant power use (e.g. a modem, tube heater), then you will get a power usage value straight away. For items that go on and off (e.g. fridge, freezer) then you will want to use it over 24 hours to get an average. I brought a pack of two of these, then when I’d done most of the house items, I sold one on eBay, and kept the other - cost next to nothing compared to the saving.
For things like TV and computer (inc the screen), get an “on” value and an “off/sleep” value
If you can use a spreadsheet, then all the better, if not just a document so you can see them all together. If you are not sure on the mathematics needed in understanding the values, by all means get back to us and we can help you, and help spot anything thats unusual. The results will also help decide if Smart Plugs will be of benefit (of course they use 1Watt themselves, so no use on very low power items)
Unless it has a serious fault and is too hit to touch there absolutely no way the Naim amp is using an average of 327W continuously. Not likely even when playing at maximum volume!
As Gadgetman points out a power meter that you into the wall socket with a socket to plug in any device costs only £12-15 from the likes of Screwfix or B&Q. I suggest you get one and use on everything in the house in turn. You can read instantaneous use, of run for a period and see average consumption.
I,have a Nait 50, it goes into deep sleep mode if there is no signal .Sound quality is very good and you may be able to buy one at a discount ( end of production run)
1- I’d suggest that given your comments about what you don’t have in the house, your monthly consumption (exc the 180w heater) should be below 300kwh per month (hopefully materially less) – or 75kwh per week – and we know the Naim/Rega kit isn’t responsible, unless you’re using it as cooking plates to fry eggs!
What kind of electricity meter do you have – is it an aged spinning disk one or a newer digital one? Some of the older ones can malfunction, but that’s rare IME.
2- I’d start with switching everything off in the house and then checking the meter to see if it’s still spinning/indicating consumption?
3- I’d then only turn on what you need for a few days and see what meter readings you’re seeing.
Obviously, you can seek out the consumption testers/indicators (esp, for the computer kit), but there’s just as simple a solution IMV, as you need to rule out a problem with the meter as a start.
A couple years ago, I went round the home we lived in that the time (a small flat) with a wattmeter and identified the big culprits. No surprises, heating and cooling were the big rocks on the bill followed by the computers, or more specifically the rows of monitors.
The bill was slashed with more stringent control of the power and sleep on the computers (we both work from home so there are a lot) and some fine tuned experimentation with the aircon to determine which usage patterns yielded the same comfort for less money (there is no one pattern fits all despite what various articles say - it really depends on room size and existing insulation).
As for the hifi, I have lots of them. Only the Naim is powered up 24/7 and not the power amp. I turn on the power amp when I listen.
The point isn’t how much you whip yourself in penance for energy usage and how much you waste for not purpose. Energy efficiency is the reduction of input for the same output. Energy conservation is the reduction of input with less output. I tend to opt for the former as the later taken to the nth extreme has you disconnecting from the mains supply and watching TV on a solar powered iPhone and spending evenings by moonlight.
BTW, getting on someone’s case about their moral duty failings like their usage of power or lax recycling habits is called moral harassment and is illegal in France and Sweden and classified as domestic abuse in Japan . It might seem like it comes from a good place but you could argue no one should have any luxury item because of the environmental footprint and that the only acceptable milk to drink is entomilk. The line of acceptability is up to each person to decide at a private level.
I think we’re a bunch of nerds here and each of if wants to know what the culprit is. I’ve done the exercise myself at the beginning of the energy crisis and dropped consumption by about 40%. Replaced old bulbs, replaced computers or put them in deep sleep / standby all that stuff and i did measure the other things like fridges, ovens, doorbell (5w continuously) etcetera.
It’s actually fun to do and very rewarding.
Consumption has creeped up again and I should do a new round.
Spreadsheets are a very sensible idea to ork out daily/weekly/annual costs.
I used one for all manner of devices just to get some feel for costs, and it just made me appreciate how all those small gadgets (eg Alexa devices) may only be superficially using a few watts per hour, but the cumulative effect of multiple devices can be quite significant over a year.
The high usage devices are what they are in many cases - heating, ovens, dishwashers, kettles, hobs etc but they are not used continually and (dishwasher excluded) I suppose fairly essential devices where it’d be difficult to reduce consumption from what you actually need provided you’re using them efficiently (eg not boiling a full kettle when only needing a cup).
I’d probably still use a tumble dryer (ours has a fault I thought I’d fixed fixed but returned) as it’s far quicker to load and run than taking time pegging stuff out/bringing it in or using airers when you have a busy work/family life and the convenience probably justifies cost for us.
With plenty of time and good weather it’s quite relaxing drying things naturally and getting out into the garden but I could probably be more productive with the time invested to more than offset the cost if I did some work instead!
Considered a new heat pump dryer, but given price differentials over a condenser I’m not sure it would save that much especially when dryer costs are front loaded.
That’s interesting and I entirely agree with the last sentence.
The council has just shifted from a green plastic bag for all recycling to multiple separate bags/bins for different items. Residents ‘do the sorting for free’, but the bags provided will likely blow around and spread rubbish on the street. Makes sense to have a glass caddy due to risks to the refuse team from unexpected broken glass in bags.
While it’s sensible on paper, there’s no concern for the frail/elderly who will find it difficult/confusing or for those in flats/smaller houses where storage of all these extra containers/bags will be far from straightforward.
Proof of pudding in the eating, and I suppose we’ll get used to it fairly quickly, but having seen some rats recently I suspect they’ll love exploring the open bags for tins/paper etc.
I only mention it as I’m a massive hypocrite on this. For example, we have a large laundry drying area but I bought a dryer just for those rare crunch times in winter where something needs to be dry lest there be a shortage. I’ve used it once in one year. Exactly as expected. For a couple shirts that it dried in 20 mins.
Mrs. FZ though is constantly putting the towels in there which are heavy and take 2+hrs on high to dry. Our interaction goes like this.
“Why are you putting the towels in there? It’s such a bloody waste of energy!”
“I like them soft.”
“We’ve got just about the world’s biggest drying rack for heaven’s sake.”
“They turn to cardboard dried on that.”
“I swear if Mother Nature was a person, you’d beat the living crap out of her with a studded bat and say ‘take that you inconvenient b$tch!’”
“What a thing to say. Is it too much to ask that we have soft towels?”
“It is if costs $40 a week just to dry them.”
“That’s moral harassment that is. I’ve married into domestic abuse.”
“Give me a break!”
The conversation could easily be the other way about the Naim hifi. It’s all about balance I suppose. I’ve probably slashed 40x what the Naim burns off the bills over the years through iterative efficiency. So yes I probably rationalise it in my head as I’ve save all this wasted energy so give me this one thing.
We replaced a conventional tumble dryer with a heat pump version and never looked back. With the old dryer I could tell it was on by looking at the energy monitor, now I have to go and look at the dryer. Ours is a hybrid version so you can get faster drying with the heating element switched on, I’ve only had to do this twice in three years though.
It drys less aggressively too and clothes don’t get creases.
They may well have moved on since I looked many years ago, but I think the heat pump ones were 2-3x more expensive at the time.
Which did you get? The hybrid design sounds interesting as I was put off by long drying cycles on the specs I looked at in the past - washing machine used at least once/twice a day if not more for light soiling of school/work clothes so long drying cycles put me off.
I’d be with Mrs FZ on soft towels - I take them in from the line when a bit damp as I dislike cardboard stiff towels.
Maybe dry on the drying rack until only a little damp and finish off in the dryer to soften them - I’ve often considered doing that.
Interestingly our very expensive Miele dryer gave lovely soft towels years ago supposdly due to the drum design - I need to try to resurrect it but the cheap Beko dryer is almost as good for softness just bloody noisy by comparison.
Maybe it’s partly because we stopped using fabric conditioner some years ago as I consider it another expense we don’t need.
I understand the towels! However, although we dry towels on an outside clothes drier or a rack in the utility room depending on weather they are never like cardboard unlike my sister-in-law’s house where we stayed recently for a couple of weeks, her towels always like cardboard though they used not to be. As her water hardness is similar to ours, I suppose it must be the washing detergent or softener or, though if seems less likely, the washing machine cycle used. I only wonder the latter as hers is a new machine since last time we stayed, when towels weren’t like that, she now has a Miele, whereas before she had a Bisch like ours…
It has been suggested that the worst thing for towels and woollens generally is the after detergent additives- softener that makes the laundry smell like a flower etc. Apparently the softener leaves small ‘cells’ in the laundry that can clog the fibres. To soften towels so afflicted wash in a weak white vinegar solution to remove the softener.
I hate the scented ones. Ours leaves little or no smell. I don’t know if that makes it better, but it makes a difference! But we don’t use in all washes, but definitely towels. Maybe I should check if my sister-in-law has stopped using, as that would explain the sandpaper towels
We only get hard towels when we dry them on the line on a hot day. They are never hard if they dry slowly outside, or dry in the tumble dryer, which we only do when absolutely necessary. We don’t use softeners, as we try to ovoid as many chemicals going down the drain as possible. We use Ecover washing liquid. One of the best household appliances we bought was a Harvey water softener. Water where we live is viciously hard, as it comes from the South Downs, which as everyone knows are chalk. The softener means we use hardly any shampoo, the bathroom doesn’t get scale, and we can do a full wash with only 15ml of Ecover. We have the kitchen cold tap and the outside tap unsoftened, as softened water is not good to drink, and neither is it good for plants.
As for a tumble dryer, we have a Samsung heat pump model, which lives in the garage, and is excellent.
It’s true. Softener is a waste of money. It’s atually is what makes clothes go hard eventually unless combined with tumble drying. It coats fabric in a film that also makes it less absorbant.
Washing with baking soda added will slowly remove the buildup. They’ll never be like new but never like cardboard. White vinegar also works but baking soda works better. Since I started that, soft and wrinkle free. But Mrs. FZ wants to put 10KGs of wet towels in the dryer still.
I’ve been warned to drop it. As she’d never question the hifi we have truce.
and you may be able to buy one at a discount ( end of production run)
. It might seem like it comes from a good place but you could argue no one should have any luxury item because of the environmental footprint and that the only acceptable milk to drink is entomilk. The line of acceptability is up to each person to decide at a private level.