Only the high-consumption white goods (Washer, Washer/Dryer, Tumble Dryer and Dishwasher) consume above-normal levels of energy. So do electric showers, kettles, electric heaters, air-con units and EV chargers. Even modern air-con (inc. heat exchangers) aren’t that bad with consumption. Underfloor heating can make the meter spin/count fast though.
But breaking it down - a shower is only on while you shower. A kettle is only on for a brew. An Iron is on as little as possible. It’s the other stuff you have to be careful with which doesn’t have to be on during peak periods. There’s the educational bit - get an electric tariff which has cheaper, off-peak periods and engineer the high-consumption items to trigger when it is cheaper.
A typical electric shower (sourced by a cold water supply only) is both a kettle and a pump working together. Huge spikes!
My suggestion of the family squeezing into the shower together, once a day, didn’t go down well.
More fool them - no Friday night chippy anymore, coz, you know - showering costs…
My biggest annoyance with the other half is filling the kettle to the top when making a brew. Theres two people, not 10.
He doesn’t grasp it.
Not sure how we can save on electric here to be fair, we’ve spent about £80 so far this month, but the hike in cost makes it seem more than it has been.
Gas is at £40ish but part month was at higher temp.
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Anarchist
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27
That’s an educational issue. The energy used to boil a full kettle (call it 100%) isn’t linear when compared to the energy used to boil a quarter-full kettle (call it 25%). It’s much less than 25%
Then you’ll no doubt re-boil what’s left (50%?) again, which costs even more that emptying* down to 25%.
*TIP: DON’T empty a pre-boiled kettle that is too full and re-fill with cold water. Instead, empty to the required level. It takes less energy to boil liquid that is already at room temp (or more) and the boiling gets rid of any nasties anyway.
You can also get a hot water dispenser one, that’ll force him to just heat the water which is needed only. I’ve used one for years but recently binned it off. Only because I rarely drink hot drinks anymore.
No it can only do a cup size, goes from a small to a large cup, not possible to use it all. If you’ve got an extra large cup, you’ve no chance, would need to press the button again after the 1st boil
Especially when you need to cook and need a decent amount of hot water.
I wonder how boiling water taps stack up in all of this?
Anarchist
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42
We used to have something similar to that made by Phillips.
It broke after a year or so. It was great for one or two cups at a time, but it was a pain if you wanted hot water for cooking, or if you were making more than two cups at a time.
Also, we live in a hard water area and it was difficult to descale.
I was glad when it broke and we could go back to using a kettle to be honest.
and it’s the main spike in our usage daily.
erm yep