Behaviour Change

[andrewducker]

So, I picked up an Efergy wireless electricity monitor. Which proudly says on the outside of the box "Save up to 20% on your electricity bill through greater awareness!"

And I can see why they say that. Because the first thing I did, after clipping the sensor around the wire between the meter and the fusebox, was wander around the flat turning lights off and trying to get our electricity usage down to zero.

It turns out that the biggest thing I can do is turn off the TV and Amp when I'm not watching TV. That'll save me 1.5p/hour, right there.

The biggest thing I _can't_ do is turn off the fridge-freezer, which seems to gulp down electricity by the bucket load.

It seems that having the internet router/wireless use negligible amounts (the meter goes down to 0.01kW, but it didn't even register the router being turned on and off), so I shall cease worrying about that. Turning off lights as I leave the room is worthwhile though.

And so does replacing the fridge/freezer when we redo the kitchen, which is slated for next year. We'd been semi-planning to anyway, because it's noisy and clunky, but this moves it up the priority list.

I have a score to minimise, so now I am obsessed!

Comments

[gominokouhai]

> Turning off lights as I leave the room is worthwhile though

Out of interest, is that with proper light bulbs or energy savers?

[jack]

"I have a score to minimise, so now I am obsessed!"

:)

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I noticed a big drop in electricity use after my new 'fridge arrived. Then came the big July heatwave, and my AC usage wiped out the savings pretty handily. I should see a nicely low bill again for September, though.

-- Steve is also pleased to know that his DVD player draws a staggering 5W when running. Remember when those things drew 5W of power just sitting idle?

[steer.livejournal.com]

How much did the Energy monitor cost?

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

Yup, traditionally (at least in the U.S.) refrigerators are the major energy-hogs. I really ought to get around to replacing my c. 1955 one, Real Soon Now. Unfortunately (me being me) that would probably involve completely re-doing the entire kitchen, at a cost of ... ummm... I'm guessing something like $10,000. I think the applicable phrase, here, is "Sticker Shock".

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

When I used to come through to crash on your sofa, the TV was pretty much always on overnight, the amp too. Assuming they were left on overnight every night for a year, that's £65 a year just on that one extravagance. And to think you said once that there was no point doing things like turning off the TV because it used so little :-D

Would dimmable lights be good, or does that not actually change electricity usage very much? That'd be pretty handy for autumn winter, so you could gradually increase the brightness as it got darker.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

How much does your tv use when its on standby?

My new tv, I was a bit disturbed, it doesn't have an off switch. It just has standby. So unless I clamber behind it to switch it off at the wall, it will always be on standby.

[ajr.livejournal.com]

You'll probably find that the big consumers of electricity are anything involving heat. So, depending on your home setup; hot water heater, kettle, tumble dryer, washing machine, that sort of thing.

We've got one here, but it hasn't really changed our usage of electricity that much, as we're not the sort to leave things on/on standby anyway. The biggest thing it revealed is how much electricity the fancy lights in the kitchen use, but seeing as the alternative to using them is to stumble around in the darkness, there's not much to do about that. Just remember to turn them off when out, really. :)

[rosamicula.livejournal.com]

How full is your freezer and how iced up is it? The most expensive thing to chill is air and the more icebound it is the less effectively it works. If the freezer is ice-free and nice and full it should be cheaper to run.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

> turn off the TV and Amp when I'm not watching TV

I'm genuinely curious. There have been public awareness campaigns for years now about turning off your electricals, including specific ones about one's telly. How do they fail to get through?

> It seems that having the internet router/wireless use negligible amounts

That's nice to know.

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

hunh
behavior indeed!
Everybody's talking about current draws, which aren't really news any more, but my thought was you have a wonderful maguffin for a psychology experiment there.
Everyone has heard about "saving electricity" (I wonder what % interest an electricity account gets?), but this gizmo got you running form outlet to outlet checking Real Numbers. How well does that generalize? What is the difference in scale between geeks and neurotypicals, for instance?
etc.