Energy Saving ~ is this too extreme?

[johnty greentoes]

I have started to fill a Thermos with boiled water in the morning ... and it really does stay red hot all day long... I only boil the kettle once now, instead of 5 or 6 times. That's gotta save me about 10p, right?

There is a gadget that your supplier may provide that shows exactly what you are using and predicts your bill. We've got one and it really makes you aware of those appliances that eat up the juice - and the kettle is the worst. You will be saving much more than 10p I reckon.

[Snadger]

I used to use one of those portable gas stoves at the allotment for making tea. It worked out very expensive so I bought a small paraffin stove off eBay.
I now make tea, coffee, soup or even 'lottie broth' all year for the cost of a gallon of paraffin (about £3.50). I even use it for making porridge for the chooks!

PS the hot kettle is ideal for melting the ice on their water also!

[Glutton4...]

In our old Bungalow I started out paying our Leccy by monthly DDR. At the end of the first year they had over £100 of our money, but still wanted to double our monthly payment - cheeky s*ds.

I argued the point, and they said prices were on the increase, and insisted that I upped our payments. I don't like being pushed around , so cancelled the DDR. I added up the bills at the end of the year and it never came anywhere near what they had asked for originally! Theiving b****rds. X

[HeyWayne]

A likeminded friend of mine bought me a book for Christmas last year - Saving the Planet Without Costing the Earth. There are tonnes of tips that show you how to be "greener" - which in many cases results in reducing costs in many cases.

You can get a little carried away (as my friend has), but I've found it quite useful.

Saving the Planet Without Costing the Earth: 500 Simple Steps to a Greener Lifestyle: Donnachadh McCarthy: Amazon.co.uk: Books

[Alice]

Yes, how much does it cost to boil a kettle Wiccanlou ? I try not to be wasteful, but the thermos idea is too extreme for me.

[Two_Sheds]

Yes, how much does it cost to boil a kettle Wiccanlou ?

Here's the formula. I just need to toddle off and find the price per kWh now. And buy a little £10 gadget to measure my usage http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...=SEO&U=strat15

Energy consumption (kWh) = Power (kW) x Time (hours)

To find the cost of boiling the kettle once, multiply the energy consumption by the price per unit of the electricity.

Cost = Consumption (kWh) x price (pounds)

To work out the yearly cost, calculate how many times a day you use the kettle and multiply by 365. Then multiply by the Cost of one boil.

[snuffer]

In our old Bungalow I started out paying our Leccy by monthly DDR. At the end of the first year they had over £100 of our money, but still wanted to double our monthly payment - cheeky s*ds.

I argued the point, and they said prices were on the increase, and insisted that I upped our payments. I don't like being pushed around , so cancelled the DDR. I added up the bills at the end of the year and it never came anywhere near what they had asked for originally! Theiving b****rds. X

Yes and all those extras from people 'in credit' with their direct debit payed bills are earning interest for the energy companies. Theiving b****rds is very apt.

Being a bit of a leftie it always saddens me to remember that all of the utility companies were once owned by the tax payer. If this were still the case, bills might not be any lower but profit would have at least gone to the exchequer where in could now perhaps be helping with the mess the banking industry has caused. Instead the majority of profits go to greedy fat cat share holders.

[smallblueplanet]

Interesting in a way 2sheds, but do you have to take into account the amount of water being boiled? If the amount of water boiled is varied does that necessarily mean the energy consumation varies proportionally?

For ease of use folks only boil the amount of water in the kettle that you need - do not overfill it!

[Two_Sheds]

Being a bit of a leftie it always saddens me to remember that all of the utility companies were once owned by the tax payer. ... Instead the majority of profits go to greedy fat cat share holders.

Yes, because they are businesses now, and it's their job to make money for shareholders, not to provide affordable energy.

[Hilary B]

Not sure how much you save as you're boiling up a full kettle rather than a mug at a time so it's not an easy calc to make. Spent the first few years of living together to get OH not to boil a full kettle every time he wanted a single cup but now he's well training in that respect.

I wish I could train mine!!

Boiling a full kettle and USING all the hot water is probably a little more efficient than heating the same total amount a bit at a time. Most newere kettles will have a wattage rating somewhere. If (for the sake of arithmetic) it is 3kW, and takes 2 mins to boil, then it will use one tenth of a unit each time. Electric hotplates are often 3.6kW each (that is at full power, obviously a lot less when on 'simmer') and a gas one may not be very different in actual energy use (even if it is measured differently).

[Hilary B]

I once read that boiling an electric kettle takes as much electricity as keeping a room lit for a whole evening. Does anyone know if this is true?

Not sure what it takes to boil one on a gas stove ring.

Regarding 'estimated' bills, I got an estimated electricity bill a couple of months ago - it was higher than any of the last six bills. When I rang and told them this, they said it's hard to explain, it's done by computer! I pointed out that with pencil and paper I'd worked out the average. They then said it's calculated on my usage. I said, exactly - so why wasn't that done?

Ah, they said, it's worked out by the computer. Fire the computer and hire me I said. They didn't take my advice.

Traditional lightbulb 100W, uses 1 unit in 10 hours. 'Low energy' lightbulb, 20W, same light but takes 50 hours to use 1 unit. Kettle, guesstimated energy, 1 unit would probably boil a kettleful 10 times (must check ours sometime), so about the same energy as using low energy bulb for a whole evening.

I thought they had stopped blaming 'the computer', since these days most folk know the computer rule GIGO! Tell them they need a better program!

[Hilary B]

Yes, because they are businesses now, and it's their job to make money for shareholders, not to provide affordable energy.

Yeah, BUT, did they ever make a profit when government owned? Wasn't the point of selling them off that they were COSTING taxpayer's money to subsidise? The energy wasn't that cheap back then either, compared to typical income.

[Paulottie]

Without getting too scientific- Alison is right on two points I think.

It takes the same amount of energy to boil 6 cups of water whenever you do so. The only wastage is boiling more than needed in your kettle each time (or being left with spare in the thermos ie if you only have 4 cups on some day)

Tea should always be made with BOILING water. It just is not as good any other way.

[Hilary B]

Apparently you're not supposed to boil water on it's own in the microwave, there was a warning thread about this a bit back and if it's not absolutely boiling then proper tea just doesn't taste right. We've got some water heater things at work which aren't quite hot enough and they make rubbish tea so I bring in herbal stuff which is fine at a slightly cooler temperature.

I don't know of any problem. Done it often enough. You need to be careful that you haven't got 'heat layering', but letting it stand for 10 seconds should solve that.

[Hilary B]

Interesting in a way 2sheds, but do you have to take into account the amount of water being boiled? If the amount of water boiled is varied does that necessarily mean the energy consumation varies proportionally?

For ease of use folks only boil the amount of water in the kettle that you need - do not overfill it!

There will always be a little 'wastage', and the smaller the quantity the more (proportionally) will be wasted. If a full kettle takes 2 mins to boil, a half-full one may take 70 seconds......