Energy bill increases

[Deleted member 26715]

shucks.....not always easy when we hide sockets away

Just bought these Amazon product ASIN B09QQCVGSXView: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09QQCVGSX?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_title
put one under the floor on the cable that runs the 4-way gang behind the TV, wonder how long it will take to get the £6.50 of the cost back by not having the TV, soundbar, network hub, power supply for Firestick all power up when not needed.

There are 2 caveats, 1. SWMBO doesn't mind asking Alexa for permission to watch the TV 2. It is reliable & I don't have to keep lifting the floorboards again to reset it.

 

[jowwy]

Todays energy saving device brought to you by the sun, currently charging phone and ipad…..can also run the outside tv for around 5hrs without the sun.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Just bought these Amazon product ASIN B09QQCVGSXView: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09QQCVGSX?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_title
put one under the floor on the cable that runs the 4-way gang behind the TV, wonder how long it will take to get the £6.50 of the cost back by not having the TV, soundbar, network hub, power supply for Firestick all power up when not needed.

There are 2 caveats, 1. SWMBO doesn't mind asking Alexa for permission to watch the TV 2. It is reliable & I don't have to keep lifting the floorboards again to reset it.

I bought similar , only thing is it’s just me that can control them !!! Not handy most of the time

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I bought similar , only thing is it’s just me that can control them !!! Not handy most of the time

Do you have an Alexa or the Google equivalent?

Do the others have smart phones?

 

[MrGrumpy]

Could probably get them to work , however that’s beyond my abilities

 

[mjr]

Do you have an Alexa or the Google equivalent?

Do the others have smart phones?

Big tech spy listening devices are bad and people don't want to mess with smartphones to turn the TV on. Some years ago, I added an IR sensor to switch things on when the TV remote is pressed and off when the power usage falls (TV in standby) but still people grumble about pressing the remote on button twice! I think suggesting smartphone use might get the plug moved to an uncontrolled socket.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Could probably get them to work , however that’s beyond my abilities

I think suggesting smartphone use might get the plug moved to an uncontrolled socket.

TBF to the developers, you install the app, you find the (in my case) 3 sockets, you access each one from the app, you add your WiFi password & then they just work with the smartphone.

To add them to Alexa, you get it to search for them, name each one & again they just worked, once installed you don't have to touch your phone again, you just say 'Alexa turn on/off socket X' although if you lose the internet you lose the function, but there is a physical switch on the side.

What was interesting is that yesterday the TV, sound bar, hub & gubbins behind there used 1.48KWh of electricity yesterday, over 50p worth, easy to see how it all adds up.

 

[MrGrumpy]

What was interesting is that yesterday the TV, sound bar, hub & gubbins behind there used 1.48KWh of electricity yesterday, over 50p worth, easy to see how it all adds up.

Thats a fair shout actually ! We may well be the same.

 

[PaulSB]

TBF to the developers, you install the app, you find the (in my case) 3 sockets, you access each one from the app, you add your WiFi password & then they just work with the smartphone.

To add them to Alexa, you get it to search for them, name each one & again they just worked, once installed you don't have to touch your phone again, you just say 'Alexa turn on/off socket X' although if you lose the internet you lose the function, but there is a physical switch on the side.

What was interesting is that yesterday the TV, sound bar, hub & gubbins behind there used 1.48KWh of electricity yesterday, over 50p worth, easy to see how it all adds up.

Could you explain how you know this. I'm monitoring our usage every 24 hours but don't know what is using the energy.

Yesterday:

Gas £0.07p
Electric £1.73

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Could you explain how you know this. I'm monitoring our usage every 24 hours but don't know what is using the energy.

Yesterday:

Gas £0.07p
Electric £1.73

On the App for the sockets it tells you, what it doesn't tell you is how much the actual socket is using

 

[presta]

Cut your fuel bills in half this winter with these.

Once I have the smart meter set up properly and the heating eventually goes back on, I will have to work out if it is cheaper to use a small electric convector heater next to me, or the central heating on its lowest setting with most of the radiators in the rest of the house turned right down.

I've tried switching the central heating off altogether and heating just one room by electric during several winters, and the cost seems about the same. Even though the room you're occupying is warm, you never feel warm because a large part of your comfort derives from radiant heat from the walls, and they're perpetually stone cold. The house also gets damp (my coffee table top de-laminated because the room was always so damp).

This is my total fuel bill over the last 30 odd years. The heat electric years are 2007-2010, and 2017, and they don't seem to noticeably buck the general trend overall.

 

[ColinJ]

Cut your fuel bills in half this winter with these.


I've tried switching the central heating off altogether and heating just one room by electric during several winters, and the cost seems about the same. Even though the room you're occupying is warm, you never feel warm because a large part of your comfort derives from radiant heat from the walls, and they're perpetually stone cold. The house also gets damp (my coffee table top de-laminated because the room was always so damp).

This is my total fuel bill over the last 30 odd years. The heat electric years are 2007-2010, and 2017, and they don't seem to noticeably buck the general trend overall.
View attachment 657706

You are probably right.

I think I will try to settle for lower temperatures in the house. Maybe 17-18 C in this room (rather than 19-20 C in recent years) and (say) 8-10 C elsewhere (vs 13-15 C).

 

[fossyant]

On the App for the sockets it tells you, what it doesn't tell you is how much the actual socket is using

View attachment 657373

View attachment 657374

Keep us informed how you think these are. I'd probably use for energy monitoring. Got Smart Sockets in my lads room but they are a faff to set up as you have to knock off the 5 ghz portion of the wifi, then add it back on - they don't do power monitoring. The hot tub is on a single socket, so would be useful to see what it uses with just the pump/filter running, no heat ! And then the gaming PC's..

 

[midlife]

I pay towards the rent / bills for daughters flat. I wonder how much extra the bills will be from October onwards?

 

[si_c]

You are probably right.

I think I will try to settle for lower temperatures in the house. Maybe 17-18 C in this room (rather than 19-20 C in recent years) and (say) 8-10 C elsewhere (vs 13-15 C).

When we were in the old house we played around and it was cheaper to run the central heating at 18° than to use a convection heater, it was also cheaper for us to keep the heating on all the time as the walls were big and thick and if you turned the heating off lost warmth really quickly and took a long time to warm up again.

Keep in mind that if set to a lower temperature the boiler will probably run in the 5-6kw range if heating a small to medium sized house, a 1kw electric heater is likely to cost more to run to just heat a small space.

For me the optimal was low temperature boiler ( I had mine set to 52°) thermostat set to 18 and rooms to 20 with a fleece on if feeling cold.