Question about energy cost (2023 Update)

[Roland Perry]

In message [e-mail]>, at 10:31:48 on Fri, 29 Apr 2022, alan_m [e-mail]> remarked:

The issue of "Vampire devices" - although I think that catchy name is fairly new - crops up regularly. And is often bad science. For example mobile phone chargers which might have consumed energy 20yrs ago when a transformer in a wall-wart, are unlikely to use any significant power when using switched mode technology.

Of course, if they did, then every one of those 13A outlets with a pair of USB charging sockets would be vampires. But they re completely cold to the touch.

[Tim+]

Mine IHD has never shown costs accurately but it does show real-time consumption so it?s still useful as a guide to what you?re using at any moment.

Tim

[Scott]

On Fri, 29 Apr 2022 22:18:04 +0100, Steve Walker [e-mail]> wrote: [snip]

There are some interesting ideas out there. Friend of mine is now using a battery powered radio to save cost of mains electricity.

[alan_m]

:) :)

If the idea came from facebook it must be true.

[charles]

Have they costed the battries? It used to be 10x mains, perhaps 5 times as much now.

[Peter Able]

Agreed, but the elephant in the room is the cost of coffee. I'm all for energy saving, but making an investment when your favourite coffee is on offer - or by buying larger sizes - or choosing a different but good enough coffee - or combinations of those strategies could, should, save way more than "a penny a day".

Ditto, tea.

PA

[mm0fmf]

It's useful to prod people into thinking about what really needs to be switched on 24/7 whether it is in standby or not. You may only make a grand total of 10W saved per house but multiplied up to 5000000 homes and that's 50MW a day.

[Bob Eager]

The 'greenie' estimates for cost of standby mostly seem to assume a gross cost of 24/7/365, rather than the marginal cost (i.e. when not in use) which is a bit less.

[Jock]

5M homes won't be saving 10W

[Dave Plowman (News]

A kettle is far more 'efficient' at heating water as virtually all the energy is used for that purpose.

Whether it is cheaper depends on the cost of the electricity against gas.

[Brian D]

I checked teh consumption of my old TV which was compliant according to the handbook. If switched off by the remote it still consumed about 30w. this dropped to <1w (but more than zero) when the off button on the set was pressed. There's standby and standby, not necessarily the same.

[Brian D]

I checked my gas kettle against my electric one some time ago. The cost of boiling enoigh to make the tea was remarkably similar due to the better efficiency of the electric kettle. The gas kettle was no doubt more efficient at heating the room but would need more ventilation.

[Roland Perry]

In message <t4j0h6$hvd$ [e-mail], at 10:46:13 on Sat, 30 Apr

2022, mm0fmf snipped-for-privacy@>> although I think that catchy name is fairly new - crops up regularly. >

Are we in danger of confusing MW and MWh?

Anyway, 50MW is a tenth of one coal-fired power station, or about 20 large wind turbines, or consumption-wise about ten Eurostar trains. It's all a bit in the noise level.

[Tim Lamb]

In message [e-mail]>, "Dave Plowman (News)" [e-mail]> writes

Our Quooker would appear to be the ultimate in Vampire loading and I confess to resisting the installation! However, apart from the expected annual de-scale, I now confess to being a convert. Not just my instant cups of Tea but how much use it gets by SWNFI during normal catering and washing up activities.

>

[Tim+]

But how long did you monitor it for? I have a vague recollection that some appliances have a two-stage ?shut down? and will drop to a lower standby consumption after a period (maybe after checking for OTA updates?).

Tim

[Dave Plowman (News]

I doubt the gas kettle was more efficinet. Feel above and around it for wasted heat from the flame, and compare to an electric kettle.

Efficiency and cost ain't the same thing.

[Dave Plowman (News]

Just how old is that TV? 30w is more than many take when working. And the majority of the power is used to 'light' the picture.

[alan_m]

My pvr takes about 30 seconds to go to deep standby. it saves the EPG etc. to the hard disk so that it can boot to the same state later.

[Brian D]

Read the whole sentence.

[Scott]

I tried to advance this argument but she said batteries are not very expensive and last a long time. She also suggests that a battery powered FM radio will be a lot more efficient than any DAB radio.