Eco gadget alert

Yesterday I set up my Electrisave - a gadget that measures how much electricity you are using at any one time in your home - which has been recently rebranded Owl. If I wasn’t already a demon for switching off and powering down, I am now. Better than that, I am an informed one with figures to back me up in case of confrontation. Don’t be put off, imagining it’s like plumbing in a dishwasher or rewiring a plug. It isn’t. It’s really easy. You fasten a click to the wire coming out of your electricity meter, pop in the batteries, press a button and it’s up and running. Such a relief after the rumpus with the water butt. Then, you run around the house turning everything off, so the reading turns as close to zero as possible (we left our freezer and fridge running so it stayed at about one unit – sorry not sure what the units mean yet, something to do with parts of kilowatts but that’s in lesson two). One by one, you turn things on, running over to the little screen to see how many points it has risen. Even Gervase (otherwise known as the Eco Sceptic Boyfriend) was excited, or at least pretended to be. But before I waffle on about what I’ve learnt, to demonstrate just how practical I am, I shall compile a functional (slightly masculine) list of Things I Have Learnt:

1/ That our incandescent light bulbs (that’s conventional, non energy-saving ones) shift up the reading by over one point, compared to our energy saving ones that don’t have any impact on it at all. Not even 0.1 of a percent. Amazing!

2/ That when we boil the kettle, the reading shoots up by about 30 points, making it, so far, the single most energy using device in our home. Knowing this, will surely stamp out one of Gervase’s habits of putting the kettle on while he showers, then five minutes later, reboiling the water to make tea.

3/ That our kitchen lights, of which there are an absurd amount, are costing us and using up considerable energy. They shift up the reading by three points. We have now set up small lamp with an energy saving light bulb on a worktop to use when we don’t need the main lights on.

4/ That it is always worth turning the light out in the bathroom, since the halogen lamps in there use up lots of energy.

5/ That sometimes it is important to drag your eyes away from the Electrisave and bestow some attention on your loved one, lest they begin to wonder whether your relationship with electricity consumption is getting out of hand.

Comments

[Kitchen Witch]

I wants one, I does. Particularly as we've got a woodburner for our heating. I'm hoping for a nice low reading. :)

[Ian]

Our electricity company just gave us one of these for free. Apparently some customers refused it though believing that they were being checked up on.

Not sure what they think their electricity meter is for then!

[IL]

Hi Ian, which supplier do you use that gives you one of these free? I want one too!

[Andrew Baines]

So you had to spend £50 to learn what:
1) Energy saving bulbs use less power than regular bulbs
2) Heating water using electricity
3) Halogen bulbs use lots of electricity

Not too bright are you?

[Eco Worrier]

Know I shouldn't rise to the bait, but, Andrew, aren't you missing the point? many of us know that using less electricity is better for our pockets and the environment, but sometimes we need a prompt to bring home exactly what we could change. Yes, it is often stuff we knew already but that doesn't mean we were acting on it.

[Ron West]

See my article in Technology Guardian last April.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/apr/12/energy.environment

The difference was that my meter was in-line for each individual device, being plugged into the individual socket and having the device plugged into it.

The Guardian sub-editors pulled the article about a bit - but the conclusions of the original article are pretty plain:-

1. Doing away with standby on AV and phone chargers is TOTAL NONSENSE - the total standby consumption of all the phone chargers and AV equipment in my house is less than a single low-energy bulb. Anyone who proclaims that "standby takes lots of power" is peddling old wives tales based on the thermionic valves used in electronic equipment before the domestic introduction of the transistor in the 1960's.

2. Baths and tumble dryers are the real power killers - having a QUICK shower instead of a bath and giving your clothes a second full spin on the highest speed is worth a month or two's daily AV consumption.

3. Fridges and freezers are pretty hungry too - but turning their power down is counterproductive if you have to throw away half your food.

4. Simple and effective insulation fix is to stuff an old cushion up any open chimneys you have.

5. Low-energy bulbs don't work with dimmer switches and have lots of nasty metals and chemicals in them. It's just as effective to remove your lampshades. And no, the heat from filament bulbs ISN'T wasted, because 75 watts of heat from the bulb is just 75 watts less that your home heating system has to emit before the thermostat trips.

[roger]

I bought one some time ago, they are a educational and enegy saving gadget - how many really are useful ?.

But having recently spent 2 months in Beijing, for every person turning down their electric usage in the UK, in China there are many fold people turning up/on as the middle classes rush to fill their new apartments with all manner of electrical goods we take for granted in the UK. This is not to criticise China, but to say the UK middle classes should not feel too smug about "saving" the planet.

[Munin]

"the heat from filament bulbs ISN'T wasted, because 75 watts of heat from the bulb is just 75 watts less that your home heating system has to emit before the thermostat trips"

Ron, do you keep your heating on in the summer? Also, most of your filament bulbs probably emit heat close to the ceiling. Which is good if you like to have a nice hot ceiling, but not the most effective way to heat a room.

I broadly agree with you about the standby stuff, though some devices are much more wasteful than others, and the combined effect can be signficant.

My home network includes 2 PCs, a laptop, a printer, speakers, modems and hubs. With all devices on standby, the network draws about 30 W of power. This comes to about 0.7 kWh a day, or about 6p at current prices. If left on standby 90% of the year (assuming it needs to be on 10% of the time), this would cost me about £20 - an 8% increase in my annual electricity bill.

OK so it's not going to break the bank, but that's £20 I'd rather not spend for the benefit of having a slightly warmer study.

[dr venables preller]

The next step might be to install a DIY low voltage emergency lighting circuit using a solar panel, recycled car battery and LED lights.

Planning and putting it together should provided endless hours of fun for the long winter evenings. LED lights use a fraction of the electricity that even energy-saving bulbs need for the same light output. Such a circuit could also power a laptop and small LCD TV.

[Marc]

Thanks for the info. It was most interesting. Of course, we all realise that using electricty consumes power but most of us realise that it is important to, continuously, draw the matter to the attention of the general public.

Now, if only for the sake of Andrew Baines, would you write an article on how good manners are important in a modern society?

[Marc]

Thanks for the info. It was most interesting. Of course, we all realise that using electricty consumes power but most of us realise that it is important to, continuously, draw the matter to the attention of the general public.

Now, if only for the sake of Andrew Baines, would you write an article on how good manners are important in a modern society?

[Scraggy]

So, now that our eco-friendly government is going to phase out incandescent bulbs am I going to have to get rid of all my dimmer switches?

[andy robinson]

Well, I for one thought Andrew Bianes's comment was very funny
:-D.

I can see that such a device would be useful in calculating which appliances to shut down, but I wouldn't spend £50 for the pleasure. If I was given one for free on the other hand......

[Robin Bather]

I agree with most of what Ron West has to say but I am not in full agreement with his #5 where he says that the heat from a normal bulb is not wasted.
In summertime the heat is wasted because you aren't reducing your heating load. You may even be causing an electric cooling fan to be used.
Also, to use oil, gas or coal to turn expensive electrical generators, transmit the electricity to your house (with voltage losses and transformers) and then use a very inefficient machine (an electric light bulb) to turn that energy back into heat is very wasteful.
Even in winter it would be cheaper to generate those 75kw using your heating system, which is a machine specifically designed to produce heat.

[mike]

wot a load of hot air and how much energy has been spent expanding it.

[Lee]

Mr West seems to have missed the point that standby lights serve no purpose whatsoever, and if 60 million people are leaving them on that is a BIG waste of power, natural rescources etc. etc. in total.

And please, please, don't stick a cushion up your chimney, it can cause all sorts of problems with damp, ventilation etc.

[David Thomas]

I bought a low-energy "100W equivalent" light bulb - and put the old incandescent one back after one evening's trial; the light given out was so dim and "grey" - OK for a municipal car park staicase I suppose but not at all friendly in a domestic setting!
Before "banning" gets into its stride I think I'll invest in a hundred incandescent bulbs.....

[John Jowitt]

I swear that last time I re-wired a fuse (an act which I believe to be breaking one of the laws) there was an electricty meter in our elctrics cupboard. On this there is a little disc that spins faster as you use more energy, surely this is just the same thing?

[Ron West]

Munin, Robin Mather:-

Daylight lasts 18 hours in the summertime, so you don't use your light bulbs then, anyway! I do admit that gas heating costs less money than electric heating - and that I do have to be careful that my children don't leave lights on.

Lee:- If you get condensation by blocking up a chimney, you've got far more serious problems than your heating bill.

[Frank Upton]

They need to invent energy-saving bulbs with a fuller light specturm, so that they don't wash out most colours and make you look like a zombie. Also, they need to stop lying about the equivalent wattage between incandescent and fluorescent lighting. A 25W energy saving bulb is much dimmer than a 100W incandescent bulb, whatever they say.

[david]

Does anyone rally care?.I get up..sometimes as early as 0830..I shower[sometimes] for 20mins or so and then I ensure the timed heating is on.
I do however turn of the lights 2x5x100W bulbs cos I dont want to pay too much..the pension doesnt stretch fhat far?Stanby is still on..I believe we should recycle to save energy and help clear the mess we are making..but get real guys..save the planet?What for??

[david]

Does anyone rally care?.I get up..sometimes as early as 0830..I shower[sometimes] for 20mins or so and then I ensure the timed heating is on.
I do however turn of the lights 2x5x100W bulbs cos I dont want to pay too much..the pension doesnt stretch fhat far?Stanby is still on..I believe we should recycle to save energy and help clear the mess we are making..but get real guys..save the planet?What for??

[david]

Does anyone rally care?.I get up..sometimes as early as 0830..I shower[sometimes] for 20mins or so and then I ensure the timed heating is on.
I do however turn of the lights 2x5x100W bulbs cos I dont want to pay too much..the pension doesnt stretch fhat far?Stanby is still on..I believe we should recycle to save energy and help clear the mess we are making..but get real guys..save the planet?What for??

[hedgewizard]

David, there speaks the voice of a man without children. Probably.

Although you do illustrate my long-held belief that at the end of the day humans, being animals, simply follow their own natural behaviour. This means maintaining territory and shelter, food supply and sex, and it's really that simple - conscious interventions are secondary, difficult, and unlikley to be adopted by the masses.

[Brian]

Sadly your new meter doesn't measure power (which is what you pay for) but current. The meter assumes that power is current multiplied by voltage. This isn't true on a mains supply.

Something with a small current will always have a low power consumption, but you could have quite a large current with no power consumption. The obvious candidate is the phone charger. When not charging up the phone it doesn't use the power that your meter shows and leaving it plugged in will NOT save you any money.

Of course, anything that is warm is using power - unplug it when you don't need it.

On Wednesday I hope to buy a unit that will plug into a mains socket and allow me to plug any appliance into it. It then tells me the power, current and power factor (that's the bit that's missing from the Owl). It's on offer for 10euros at my local supermarket. (I live in France.)

It doesn't tell me what the lights use, but if you don't know that you should use economy bulbs where have you been for the last few years.

[Matthew]

Can we please explode the myth of non-dimmable energy saving bulbs? These ARE available and those that I have work just fine.

[Matthew]

Sorry; could be clearer. Dimmable energy savers are available and work just fine.

[JP Davidson]

I just posted this great money-and-environment saving device to my site - http://GreenDealsDaily.com - where you can post and vote for other economical ways of reducing everyday environmental impacts.

[J. Hatcher]

There is a useful topic to raise that nobody is mentioning - that of the difference between homes heated with electricity and homes heated by fossil fuels. In electrically heated homes, during winter, the energy use is determined almost exclusively by the temperature setting people use on their thermostats. The 'extra' energy used by an incandescent bulb, rather than a fluorescent bulb, is not wasted energy. The heat it gives off delays the activation of the home heating system. The thermostat doesn't know whether or not the lights and refridgerators are providing the heat or the heating sytem is doing so. So long as the combined heat of all appliances doesn't generate more warmth than the thermostat is set for there is no waste.

The same is not true for a fuel-heated apartment in a large building, where one person's behavior has no effect on how the building operates its furnace. In that case, an individual can do a lot of good by using low-energy appliances. These appliances do not reduce the energy used by the heating system.

So before you buy an expensive appliance that uses less energy but might be more costly to produce, make note of how your home is heated and at what temperature you keep your thermostat set.

[Andrew Harmsworth]

The EFERGY (www.efergy.com) is superior as it logs daily use and allows you to see trends. Highly recommended - my school has 8!