Electricity use
BGN
thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
The last three month electrickery bill was £240 and the new bill, for
two months, is £140-ish, so I'm getting through around £70/mo of
electricity and I didn't know why.
www.bgn.me.uk/energy.jpg is an updated summary of my findings.
Highlights:
Power Shower costs 51p a day to use for 30 mins (two people @ 15 mins
each) but I sometimes have a shower in the evening.
Kettle costs so little for 600ml of water it's around a penny a boil.
A 500 hour average of my 42" LCD HD TV + SkyHD + PS3, etc. downstairs
averages out at 20p a day, including in use/standby sessions.
A 242 hour average of my 32" CRT HD TV + Sky + TiVo + DVD Player up
here averages out at 15p a day.
"A-Rated" Dyson Contrarotator washing machine (60deg, 1400 spin, heavy
stains, cotton) costs 14p a run maxing out at 2,700watts when heating
the (hot fill) water.
I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity
bill, with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess
over that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
a long way.
--
-- Nick ICQ: 9235201 EMAIL & MSN: nickm...@spamcop.net
-- Triumph Tiger 955i -- http://www.bgn.me.uk - Touché -
-- LOTR#4 SKOGA#8 DS#7 BOTAFOT#159 BOTM#2 FBOTY#06 PM#11
Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot
> In article <988he4d9qdbiiimp8...@4ax.com>,
> BGN <nickm...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>
>> Power Shower costs 51p a day to use for 30 mins (two people @ 15 mins
>> each) but I sometimes have a shower in the evening.
>
>
> How the hell can it take you fifteen minutes to wash?? I'm under for
> six, seven minutes max.
>
> D.
Nick obviously has more to wash than you, IYSWIM.
--
Si - XV535
BGN
>> Power Shower costs 51p a day to use for 30 mins (two people @ 15 mins
>> each) but I sometimes have a shower in the evening.
>
>Fifteen fucking minutes under the shower???
>
>How the hell can it take you fifteen minutes to wash?? I'm under for
>six, seven minutes max.
We don't just call the French unwashed for entertainment purposes.
I must admit to brushing my teeth in the shower, and having a shave,
which is quite inefficient.
cat
>> each) but I sometimes have a shower in the evening.
>
>
> How the hell can it take you fifteen minutes to wash?? I'm under for
> six, seven minutes max.
>
If there are two people in the shower for the 30 mins, they're probably
getting sweaty before getting clean.
Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot
Nick lives with his mother, doesn't he?
Um...
--
Si - XV535
BGN
<eastREM...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Power Shower costs 51p a day to use for 30 mins (two people @ 15
>>>> mins each) but I sometimes have a shower in the evening.
>>>
>>> Fifteen fucking minutes under the shower???
>>>
>>> How the hell can it take you fifteen minutes to wash?? I'm under for
>>> six, seven minutes max.
>>>
>>> D.
>>
>> If there are two people in the shower for the 30 mins, they're
>> probably getting sweaty before getting clean.
>
>Nick lives with his mother, doesn't he?
No, my mother lives with me considering I pay for the effing house.
But cat's point still stands, I do have visitors which aren't mother.
BGN
>> >> Power Shower costs 51p a day to use for 30 mins (two people @ 15 mins
>> >> each) but I sometimes have a shower in the evening.
>> >
>> >Fifteen fucking minutes under the shower???
>> >
>> >How the hell can it take you fifteen minutes to wash?? I'm under for
>> >six, seven minutes max.
>>
>> We don't just call the French unwashed for entertainment purposes.
>
>'I'm not French'. :-P
>
>Anyway, when Brits come to stay, they take showers here and stay under
>for around the same time.
>
>wash hair: 90 seconds
>wash body: 180 seconds
>wash feet: 60 seconds
>stand and rinse: 90 seconds (180 seconds if I'm feeling naughty)
>
>Total: 420 seconds, or seven minutes.
Have you been videoing your British friends when they stay to time
them?
The Older Gentleman
> Have you been videoing your British friends
DNC
--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Yamaha XT600E Honda CB400F
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
"What you're proposing to do will involve a lot of time
and hassle for no tangible benefit."
Gyp
> www.bgn.me.uk/energy.jpg is an updated summary of my findings.
I'm so glad that wasn't a picture of you in the shower ripping up Ł10
notes...
I've been measuring mine (electricity) over the last few weeks and have
yet to track down where the last remaining 200ish Watts background usage
are being consumed.
Biggest surprises so far were checking at my father's house and finding
that his 1950's Prestcold fridge that I've been accusing of being an
eco-terrorist for years is actually about "A" rated by current
standards, however his freezer hidden away in the garage was chomping
through about 2000+KWh/year and has been immediately replaced by an
A-rated Hotpoint estimated to use about 280 KWh/year.
My PC is no longer humming away 24/7 and I think I'm slowly persuading
the family that leaving nearly a kilowatt of kitchen and bathroom
lighting blazing while they're happily sat watching the telly in the
living room isn't a great idea either.
c...@nospam.netunix.com
>
> I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity
> bill, with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess
> over that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
> a long way.
In general, the biggest culprits are the silly small consumers which
use small amounts for long times.
Here the 24/7 items include 58 watts for the koi pond filtering system,
27 watts for the indoor fish tank and 85 watts for my server.
Not individually large, but 58+27+85 = 170, 170*24=4080 which is
4.08 kwh/day, adding up to 90*4.08 = 367 units/quarter.
Add in lighting etc and it all adds up rather alarmingly.
--
03 GS500
68 Bantam D14S
BGN
>> www.bgn.me.uk/energy.jpg is an updated summary of my findings.
>
>I've been measuring mine (electricity) over the last few weeks and have
>yet to track down where the last remaining 200ish Watts background usage
>are being consumed.
Not sure where mine were being used. I flicked everything off at the
socket then went into the cupboard and still saw the disc moving
slightly, so flicked all of the trip switches off apart from the
shower and then it stopped. Having *just* the shower on made the disc
spin round seven times in 10 seconds!
>Biggest surprises so far were checking at my father's house and finding
>that his 1950's Prestcold fridge that I've been accusing of being an
>eco-terrorist for years is actually about "A" rated by current
>standards, however his freezer hidden away in the garage was chomping
>through about 2000+KWh/year and has been immediately replaced by an
>A-rated Hotpoint estimated to use about 280 KWh/year.
>
>My PC is no longer humming away 24/7 and I think I'm slowly persuading
>the family that leaving nearly a kilowatt of kitchen and bathroom
>lighting blazing while they're happily sat watching the telly in the
>living room isn't a great idea either.
Mum's quite well trained, but I haven't managed to get her to put the
SkyHD box into stand-by when she's turned the telly off. The hard
drive spins down when it's in stand-by and not recording, otherwise
it's always on.
Gyp
> Not sure where mine were being used. I flicked everything off at the
> socket then went into the cupboard and still saw the disc moving
> slightly, so flicked all of the trip switches off apart from the
> shower and then it stopped. Having *just* the shower on made the disc
> spin round seven times in 10 seconds!
As soon as I've come off the phone from porting the missus mobile from
Orange to Asda we're going to have a play at turning of circuits and
checking it with the Wattson
> Mum's quite well trained, but I haven't managed to get her to put the
> SkyHD box into stand-by when she's turned the telly off. The hard
> drive spins down when it's in stand-by and not recording, otherwise
> it's always on.
Sky+ to standby makes virtually no difference
Tosspot
> Those bored enough to read & contribute to the old Power Monitor
> thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
> for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
<snip>
> I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity
> bill, with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess
> over that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
> a long way.
Fridge?
Oh, and share the shower, much more efficient.
gazz
"BGN" <nickm...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:09che4dh18jk94g4c...@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:18:18 +0100, Gyp <G...@gyponline.co.uk> wrote:
> Mum's quite well trained, but I haven't managed to get her to put the
> SkyHD box into stand-by when she's turned the telly off. The hard
> drive spins down when it's in stand-by and not recording, otherwise
> it's always on.
dont think it makes much differance, as even in standby, every few hours the
hard drive spins up and it records the proggies for that on demand watsit,
where it keeps a selection of shite it thinks you want to watch but missed
for 7 days,
i believe that can be turned off, but my GF occasionaly likes to watch some
of the shite it records.
Gyp
> dont think it makes much differance, as even in standby, every few hours
> the hard drive spins up and it records the proggies for that on demand
> watsit, where it keeps a selection of shite it thinks you want to watch
> but missed for 7 days,
Just measured 7W difference between on and standby.
Lozzo
But Nick 'doesn't do steaming fannies'
--
Lozzo
SV650S K5, CBR600F-W, SR250 SpazzTrakka
and a shit load more 2-wheeled junk in the garage
I believe in free speech, but I still have to pay my phone bill
BGN
>> Mum's quite well trained, but I haven't managed to get her to put the
>> SkyHD box into stand-by when she's turned the telly off. The hard
>> drive spins down when it's in stand-by and not recording, otherwise
>> it's always on.
>
>Sky+ to standby makes virtually no difference
Then there's something wrong with your monitor, or your Sky+ box. Fair
enough, a normal Sky box from on to standby makes no difference, but a
Sky+ & SkyHD box spin down their hard drives when in stand-by mode and
nothing is on the cards to be recorded.
BGN
wrote:
>> Those bored enough to read & contribute to the old Power Monitor
>> thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
>> for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
>
><snip>
>
>> I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity
>> bill, with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess
>> over that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
>> a long way.
>
>Fridge?
Fridge is included in the chart at www.bgn.me.uk/energy.jpg
Pip
wrote:
>On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:50:36 +0100, Tosspot <Frank...@esa.int>
>wrote:
>>> I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity
>>> bill, with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess
>>> over that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
>>> a long way.
>>
>>Fridge?
>
>Fridge is included in the chart at www.bgn.me.uk/energy.jpg
Cooker. Ovens use a lot of juice.
--
Pip: B12
Gyp
> On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:46:33 +0100, Gyp <G...@gyponline.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>> Mum's quite well trained, but I haven't managed to get her to put the
>>> SkyHD box into stand-by when she's turned the telly off. The hard
>>> drive spins down when it's in stand-by and not recording, otherwise
>>> it's always on.
>> Sky+ to standby makes virtually no difference
>
> Then there's something wrong with your monitor, or your Sky+ box. Fair
> enough, a normal Sky box from on to standby makes no difference, but a
> Sky+ & SkyHD box spin down their hard drives when in stand-by mode and
> nothing is on the cards to be recorded.
7W as mentioned below. I suspect that covers the spinning of the disks.
Bugger all compared to your shower habits though
Mick Whittingham
>Those bored enough to read & contribute to the old Power Monitor
>thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
>for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
I've had an ongoing thing with NPower this year. The people I've spoken
to at initial telephone query level were polite but unable to help with
out supervisors making a decision. All of whom are terminally thick and
without the slightest ability in mathematics.
I boils down to this, for the first quarter this year my day time
consumption when up 22% and night time up 40%. There were no changes in
electrical equipment in the house or it's type of usage.
We were away for 4 weeks during that period on two holidays and I
expected a 25 to 30% reduction in consumption.
Freezer and fridge, timers with light etc being the only consumption.
The figure for consumption I am quoting to them are their readings and
they say that it's normal.
I had the meter checked and during the second of three tests they did a
Tornado GR4 went over from Marham which is not far away. The timer and
meter when ape-shit for a few seconds. So the test guy recommended an
integrated meter which was fitted. We now have no problems.
At supervisor level I've be told:
There is no difference in the reading one year to next. (It's their
figures I'm quoting. They couldn't comprehend percentage increases.)
The price has gone up. (I'm quoting consumption not cost.)
How do I know if someone wasn't living in my house while I was away on
holiday.
Aircraft can't effect meters. (The meter testers saw it)
The meter testers said everything was normal (So why did they recommend
replacing the thing?)
I'm now passing it on to a higher level. As I don't trust them and their
bailiff strong arm boys as I'm frequently away I've paid up with a
cheque with "Under duress" written across it, which they obviously don't
understand the implications of.
Might make sure the squeal a little and with adverse publicity loose a
few hundred thousands etc
They were rated the worse power supplier of the bunch in this months
Which! Time to change.
--
Mick Whittingham
'and I will make it a felony to drink small beer.'
William Shakespeare, Henry VI part 2.
Andy Hewitt
[..]
> I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity
> bill, with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess
> over that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
> a long way.
I did a similar thing recently, and found it was my Mac G5, and my old
fridge freezer using the most.
My Mac was accounting for about £200 a year, and the fridge-freezer
another £130 a year.
I've now got a MacBook, and a A+ rated fridge freezer. My last quarter
was 1600 units, and this one is 342 units.
--
Andy Hewitt
<http://web.me.com/andrewhewitt1/>
Domčnec
news:des-38454F.1...@news.free.fr...
> BGN <nickm...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>> Power Shower costs 51p a day to use for 30 mins (two people @ 15 mins
>> each) but I sometimes have a shower in the evening.
> Fifteen fucking minutes under the shower???
> How the hell can it take you fifteen minutes to wash?? I'm under for
> six, seven minutes max.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/quotes
Memorable quotes for
American Beauty
Lester Burnham: Look at me, jerking off in the shower... This will be the
high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
HTH
Vass
> Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
> a long way.
Oh great, 4 girls in my house and lucky to see them out in under 20 mins
each (thats without shaving!)
I was thinking of getting one of those push buttons that turns on the leccie
for 5 mins
then switches off, but I had visions of wet hands running out the bathroom
to hit the button
--
Vass
Adrian
they were saying:
>> Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by a long way.
> Oh great, 4 girls in my house and lucky to see them out in under 20
> mins each (thats without shaving!)
...you assume...
Gyp
Get an economy 7 meter and get the shower wired into the nighttime bit.
Beav
"des" <d...@yahoo.fr> wrote in message
news:des-B2BC7F.1...@news.free.fr...
> In article <ftahe4p34ts45ucut...@4ax.com>,
> BGN <nickm...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:20:41 +0200, des <d...@yahoo.fr> wrote:
>>
>> >> Power Shower costs 51p a day to use for 30 mins (two people @ 15 mins
>> >> each) but I sometimes have a shower in the evening.
>> >
>> >Fifteen fucking minutes under the shower???
>> >
>> >How the hell can it take you fifteen minutes to wash?? I'm under for
>> >six, seven minutes max.
>>
>
> 'I'm not French'. :-P
>
> Anyway, when Brits come to stay, they take showers here and stay under
> for around the same time.
>
> wash hair: 90 seconds
> wash body: 180 seconds
> wash feet: 60 seconds
> stand and rinse: 90 seconds (180 seconds if I'm feeling naughty)
>
> Total: 420 seconds, or seven minutes.
It's good to know your watch is waterproof.
I don't think I've spent less than 15 minutes in the shower.
--
Beav
VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19
Beav
> In article <gcakr3$fus$1...@aioe.org>,
> hard work.
Train your woman properly then.
mentalguy2008
> thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
> for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
What did you use to find this out? I'm interested in checking my place.
doetnietcomputeren
>> Have you been videoing your British friends
>
> DNC
<Furls brow and squints>
--
Dnc
Dr Zoidberg
news:gcaba0$7ad$1...@registered.motzarella.org...
> BGN wrote:
>
>> www.bgn.me.uk/energy.jpg is an updated summary of my findings.
>
> I'm so glad that wasn't a picture of you in the shower ripping up Ł10
> notes...
>
> I've been measuring mine (electricity) over the last few weeks and have
> yet to track down where the last remaining 200ish Watts background usage
> are being consumed.
>
My house sits at about 140w of background electricity.
That's a fridge/freezer , separate freezer , cordless phone , cable modem ,
router , alarm clock , wii , plus the TV , AMP and PVR on standby.
On the whole , not too bad at all.
--
Alex
"I laugh in the face of danger , then I hide until it goes away"
Catman
Id like to know as well. Been toying with getting an energy meter, but
don't really want to spend a ton on a Wattson.
--
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www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk
Gyp
> Id like to know as well. Been toying with getting an energy meter, but
> don't really want to spend a ton on a Wattson.
The daily mail had a voucher collect offer that got you an Owl one for 8
vouchers, £3 postage and a premium rate phone call (about £2), so about
£11 in all. Not quite a Wattson, but as you'll rightly point out, not
quite £100 either.
I noticed that my local B&Q had lowered the price of the Owl to £29.95
which isn't too bad (it started out at about £70)
For individual items, the mains socket one for £10 from Maplins is
pretty good, but as I've spotted, not great for washing machines and
dishwashers that are wired into the wall
The Older Gentleman
Heh. I was waiting for you to show up.
--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Yamaha XT600E Honda CB400F
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
"What you're proposing to do will involve a lot of time
and hassle for no tangible benefit."
BGN
>> >> Power Shower costs 51p a day to use for 30 mins (two people @ 15 mins
>> >> each) but I sometimes have a shower in the evening.
>> > Fifteen fucking minutes under the shower???
>> > How the hell can it take you fifteen minutes to wash?? I'm under for
>> > six, seven minutes max.
>>
>> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/quotes
>> Memorable quotes for
>> American Beauty
>> Lester Burnham: Look at me, jerking off in the shower... This will be the
>> high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
>
>I never managed to have one off the wrist under the shower. Too much
>hard work.
Use the shower head differently.
BGN
<gingerbl...@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>>>> I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity
>>>> bill, with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess
>>>> over that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
>>>> a long way.
>>>
>>>Fridge?
>>
>>Fridge is included in the chart at www.bgn.me.uk/energy.jpg
>
>Cooker. Ovens use a lot of juice.
Gas cooker, gas central heating & gas to heat water.
I'm thinking that perhaps back in the day it was cheaper to take a
shower than to have a bath, but even if one pays for the water (which
is metered) to fill a bath and the gas to heat the water it's probably
cheaper to have a bath now instead of a shower.
Derek Turner
>
> I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity bill,
> with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess over
> that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by a long
> way.
Do you really mean power shower (hot and cold feeds, pumped) or is it an
instantaneous shower heating the water as it goes along? We use a mixer
shower fed by the immersion heater which means the water is heated at 2p/
unit (see below).
30 seconds to get wet. turn off. shampoo hair and soap/shampoo body.
rinse for 30 seconds or one minute if feeling extravagant. Try it for a
week and see how much you save!
Does the washing machine have a delayed start function? Do you use a
tumble dryer or dishwasher? do you have an immersion heater? Fridge
freezer? Have you seriously considered Economy 7? All hell breaks loose
in our kitchen at about 1 in the morning: washer-dryer and dishwasher
kick in. Immersion heater on a timer too: about 10kw all told at 2p per
unit.
BGN
<mental...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>> Those bored enough to read & contribute to the old Power Monitor
>> thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
>> for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
>
>What did you use to find this out? I'm interested in checking my place.
I got a Power Meter or Power Monitor from Maplin, cost me about £10.
One plugs it into a socket and then plugs an item like kettle, telly
or an extension lead into the power meter. It records the amount of
time it's been plugged in, lowest wattage, highest wattage, amps used,
electricity Hz, etc. and even has a bit to enter the cost of
electricity in (which I don't use but stuck it at 11p per kWh.
For things like the washing machine I plugged it into the wall, then
plugged washing machine into it and let it run a cycle. (You might
find that your washing machine is wired into the wall which makes this
process more difficult). Ditto freezer & fridge (but I left that in
for 24 hours).
Telly was more difficult, sure, I know it costs me 1.96p an hour to
use, and how much it uses on standby but I wanted a real world example
so I plugged it into the extension lead and forgot about it for a
couple of weeks until it got 500 hours of readings, then did the same
upstairs to the TV/Digibox/DVD player/etc. up there.
The shower was the most difficult thing for me to test as it's not
plugged in. To measure that I needed clean reading so I switched
everything off in what I suppose would be called the fuse box so my
reading wasn't polluted by the freezer or fridge or anything going on
then took a reading from the electricity meter in the cupboard. Zoomed
upstairs, set my iPhone timer for 5 minutes, turned shower on, started
timer, waited for five mins to pass, then ran downstairs, took another
reading, turned all the switches back on then calculated how much the
meter had increased in five minutes then I had a nice round base to
work out how much ten minutes would take, 20, 30, etc.
I then updated my spreadsheet which calculates the cost of the device
over a session/hour/day/month/year to make it easier to understand in
real world (see: money) terms. It sounds a bit anal, but at least I
know that 1) The fridge & freezer aren't broken and using far too much
power and 2) the shower costs me more than half of my entire
electricity bill on it's own.
BGN
Dunno how I'd go about converting it, it's all clocks and dials on the
current one. I assume I'd have to pay for it!
Catman
I'm happy to pay Owl type money, but they seem to have mixed reviews.
Catman
> On Sun, 5 Oct 2008 16:47:50 +0100, "mentalguy2008"
> <mental...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>>> Those bored enough to read & contribute to the old Power Monitor
>>> thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
>>> for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
>> What did you use to find this out? I'm interested in checking my place.
>
> I got a Power Meter or Power Monitor from Maplin,
<snip>
*Way* too much hassle :)
Eiron
> BGN wrote:
>> On Sun, 5 Oct 2008 16:47:50 +0100, "mentalguy2008"
>> <mental...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>> Those bored enough to read & contribute to the old Power Monitor
>>>> thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
>>>> for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
>>> What did you use to find this out? I'm interested in checking my place.
>>
>> I got a Power Meter or Power Monitor from Maplin,
>
> <snip>
>
> *Way* too much hassle :)
Use a stopwatch and look at the electricity meter for a few seconds.
Or is that too much hassle?
--
Eiron.
wessie
news:575ie4d137rrsm6vd...@4ax.com:
> On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:19:47 +0100, Gyp <G...@gyponline.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>Vass wrote:
>>>
>>> "BGN" <nickm...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
>>> news:988he4d9qdbiiimp8...@4ax.com...
>>>> Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
>>>> a long way.
>>>
>>> Oh great, 4 girls in my house and lucky to see them out in under 20
>>> mins each (thats without shaving!)
>>> I was thinking of getting one of those push buttons that turns on the
>>> leccie for 5 mins
>>> then switches off, but I had visions of wet hands running out the
>>> bathroom to hit the button
>>
>>Get an economy 7 meter and get the shower wired into the nighttime bit.
>
> Dunno how I'd go about converting it, it's all clocks and dials on the
> current one. I assume I'd have to pay for it!
There's no installation cost, well there wasn't 30 years ago when we had a
house done in Herefordshire.
You need to offset the discounted rate against the higher rate you will be
charged for peak time stuff.
Are you going to be disciplined enough to do your laundry at 1am? Do you
already have a lagged hot water tank or is your gas boiler a combi job[1]?
Will you get up at eek AM to shower before the meter clicks over to peak
rate?
[1] if this is the case then you will probably save money by replacing the
power shower with one run off the gas boiler, as long as you have a decent
mains pressure.
--
wessie at tesco dot net
BMW R1150GS
malc
>
> I'm thinking that perhaps back in the day it was cheaper to take a
> shower than to have a bath, but even if one pays for the water (which
> is metered) to fill a bath and the gas to heat the water it's probably
> cheaper to have a bath now instead of a shower.
Power showers are reckoned to be as bad as baths for energy and water usage.
An ordinary shower however is dirt cheap and just as effective at cleaning
you.
--
Malc
R1100RS old and tatty
You laugh at me because I am different
I laugh at you because you are all the same
BGN
>> I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity bill,
>> with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess over
>> that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by a long
>> way.
>
>Do you really mean power shower (hot and cold feeds, pumped) or is it an
>instantaneous shower heating the water as it goes along? We use a mixer
>shower fed by the immersion heater which means the water is heated at 2p/
>unit (see below).
Cold water in, hot water out.
>30 seconds to get wet. turn off. shampoo hair and soap/shampoo body.
>rinse for 30 seconds or one minute if feeling extravagant. Try it for a
>week and see how much you save!
>
>Does the washing machine have a delayed start function?
Probably, but seeing as I'm not on Economy 7 it isn't much use.
>Do you use a tumble dryer or dishwasher?
No.
>do you have an immersion heater?
Yes, but it's never used as we use the gas boiler to heat house/water.
>Fridge freezer?
Fridge and freezer.
>Have you seriously considered Economy 7?
No idea of potential benefits/pitfalls of it.
Champ
wrote:
>On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:46:33 +0100, Gyp <G...@gyponline.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>> Mum's quite well trained, but I haven't managed to get her to put the
>>> SkyHD box into stand-by when she's turned the telly off. The hard
>>> drive spins down when it's in stand-by and not recording, otherwise
>>> it's always on.
>>
>>Sky+ to standby makes virtually no difference
>
>Then there's something wrong with your monitor, or your Sky+ box. Fair
>enough, a normal Sky box from on to standby makes no difference, but a
>Sky+ & SkyHD box spin down their hard drives when in stand-by mode and
>nothing is on the cards to be recorded.
He means it makes negligible difference wrt to leccy usage. Keeping a
disk spinning uses minimal current.
--
Champ
Two standard issue crutches
To email me, neal at my domain should work.
Champ
<mark@_TRAP_naldernet.plus.com> wrote:
>> Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
>> a long way.
>
>Oh great, 4 girls in my house and lucky to see them out in under 20 mins
>each
Seems a small price to pay.
BGN
<putmyn...@tesco.net> wrote:
>Are you going to be disciplined enough to do your laundry at 1am? Do you
>already have a lagged hot water tank or is your gas boiler a combi job[1]?
>Will you get up at eek AM to shower before the meter clicks over to peak
>rate?
Laundry costs 13p... it's just the shower. might look into other
options.
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember BGN <nickm...@spamcop.net> saying
something like:
>I'm thinking that perhaps back in the day it was cheaper to take a
>shower than to have a bath, but even if one pays for the water (which
>is metered) to fill a bath and the gas to heat the water it's probably
>cheaper to have a bath now instead of a shower.
If you use the shower properly - in, out - dry off, it's dirt cheap.
A typical 8.5kW electric shower used for five minutes will use 0.7kWh,
cheap, no?
Cba to do the comparison figures, but I'm pretty sure they still hold as
true as they did a while back - a bath will cost more as you have to
fill it to a minimum depth to make it useable, whereas an electric
shower will spurt directly heated water over you as you need it.
Bear in mind that electric showers are 100% efficient, unlike gas, oil
or solid fuel heating of water.
Actually, the same comparison of bath /shower holds true anyway if you
have a tank-fed shower - you will use far less of your expensively
heated water if you dance around in the shower for a couple of minutes
instead of bathing.
Really, there's absolutely no need to take longer than five minutes
simply to get clean in a chower - any longer is wasting money.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a
"It's a moron working with power tools.
How much more suspenseful can you get?"
- House
malc
> Really, there's absolutely no need to take longer than five minutes
> simply to get clean in a chower - any longer is wasting money.
It's something that always amuses me (FSVO amuse) when we go camping and the
showers need money. Some people take loads of change to the showers because
they don't seem to be able to shower in less than 20 minutes. I can get
clean in the duration of the average advert break on TV.
Derek Turner
>
> Cold water in, hot water out.
Do yourself a favour: replace it with a mixer-shower or, if you don't
have sufficient head of water, a real power-shower (the only electric
that uses is the pump).
>>
>>Does the washing machine have a delayed start function?
>
> Probably, but seeing as I'm not on Economy 7 it isn't much use.
Yebbutt if it has then you really start to make savings with Economy 7.
>
>>Do you use a tumble dryer or dishwasher?
>
> No.
>
>>do you have an immersion heater?
>
> Yes, but it's never used as we use the gas boiler to heat house/water.
Fit a timer to the immersion heater and use it on Economy 7 overnight.
You'll use substantially less gas if the tank is already hot in the
morning and the radiators will warm up quicker. If you must, let the gas
give it an hour's boost in the early evening.
>
>>Fridge freezer?
>
> Fridge and freezer.
>
>>Have you seriously considered Economy 7?
>
> No idea of potential benefits/pitfalls of it.
/If/ you can get 25% or more of your consumption into the 7 cheap hours
you benefit. By running the washing machine and immersion heater at night
and ditching that instantaneous shower you should easily achieve that.
Can you make the washing machine cold-fill only like a modern one? Get a
dishwasher so you don't use hot water washing up and you might even save
more: your dishes will be a LOT cleaner too!
We use 8-12 units a night and the leccy is 8p/unit cheaper so we're
saving 64-96p a night, which adds up! Don't forget the fridge and freezer
will also run on the cheap power overnight so if you're freezing half a
pig or loads of stuff from the garden it's best to put that in last thing
at night, too. Could mum be persuaded to do the Dysoning at 3 a.m. :)
Day units are /slightly/ more expensive here in Jersey. YMMV, have a look
at Atlantic's rates. When I lived the UK I checked every three months and
no-one could ever beat them for dual-fuel. Canvassers faces used to fall
when I told them who I was with. Things may have changed though.
Tosspot
Mates got one of these or similar
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=225407
you can walk around the house just turning things on and off. I won't
buy one because, well, I'd walk around the house turning things on and
off untill I blew a mains fuse. I mean after a while, it would become a
target to aim at....
Tosspot
Mates got one of these or similar
Gyp
<nickm...@spamcop.net> writes
>On Sun, 5 Oct 2008 20:09:51 +0000 (UTC), wessie
><putmyn...@tesco.net> wrote:
>
>>Are you going to be disciplined enough to do your laundry at 1am? Do you
>>already have a lagged hot water tank or is your gas boiler a combi job[1]?
>>Will you get up at eek AM to shower before the meter clicks over to peak
>>rate?
>
>Laundry costs 13p... it's just the shower. might look into other
>options.
Join a gym and use theirs
Alternatively take a lover and insist that it's better you stay over at
their to avoid waking your mother
--
Gyp
Change to dotcom to reply
wessie
news:6ksoc0F...@mid.individual.net:
> Day units are /slightly/ more expensive here in Jersey. YMMV, have a
> look at Atlantic's rates. When I lived the UK I checked every three
> months and no-one could ever beat them for dual-fuel. Canvassers faces
> used to fall when I told them who I was with. Things may have changed
> though.
>
>
Atlantic don't exist anymore. I used them when in Cardiff and they were
taken over by SWALEC[1] which is part of Scottish & Southern
[1] sometime during 2003-05
steve
> Those bored enough to read & contribute to the old Power Monitor
> thread to help discover why I got a �240 electricity bill 2 months ago
> for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
>
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
Anything that heats up water, (washers, showers, immersions), or cools
it down (fridge and especially the freezer when freezing food) sucks up
power.
With the freezer, pre-chilling stuff helps, (as well as keeping the
freezer in a cooler room). (It is worth looking for a fridge \ freezer
with separate compressors for each compartment).
I'd like to find ways of pre-heating water using waste heat from central
heating boilers, or even the warmth in the house. Anyone use solar water
heating?
In my last house, a 100 year old terrace, insulating the outer facing
walls with insulation batts placed under dry-walling and putting 75 mm
of insulation over the solid concrete floors and effectively 300 mm in
the loft made a hell of a difference to my heating bills. I found I
could fit 20% smaller radiators in most rooms.
Steve
Andy Bonwick
<malunsp...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
>> Really, there's absolutely no need to take longer than five minutes
>> simply to get clean in a chower - any longer is wasting money.
>
>It's something that always amuses me (FSVO amuse) when we go camping and the
>showers need money. Some people take loads of change to the showers because
>they don't seem to be able to shower in less than 20 minutes. I can get
>clean in the duration of the average advert break on TV.
If I want to have a decent soak then I have a bath and take a beer and
a book with me but if I want to get washed and get on with something
else then it's a two minute shower and I'm out of there.
I have to admit that a bath is a form of relaxation rather than a way
to get clean quickly but I can't se the point in standing under a
shower longer than it takes to get scrubbed up and out of there.
Andy Bonwick
snip>
>Day units are /slightly/ more expensive here in Jersey. YMMV, have a look
>at Atlantic's rates. When I lived the UK I checked every three months and
>no-one could ever beat them for dual-fuel. Canvassers faces used to fall
>when I told them who I was with. Things may have changed though.
I'm waiting for Ace to chip in that gold taps are more energy
efficient.
Pip
wrote:
>On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:32:18 +0100, Pip
><gingerbl...@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>>> I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity
>>>>> bill, with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess
>>>>> over that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
>>>>> a long way.
>>>>
>>>>Fridge?
>>>
>>>Fridge is included in the chart at www.bgn.me.uk/energy.jpg
>>
>>Cooker. Ovens use a lot of juice.
>
>Gas cooker
Fan oven?
>gas central heating & gas to heat water.
And electric pumps to circulate the water.
--
Pip: B12
BGN
<beavis....@ntlwoxorld.com> wrote:
>
>"des" <d...@yahoo.fr> wrote in message
>news:des-B2BC7F.1...@news.free.fr...
>> In article <ftahe4p34ts45ucut...@4ax.com>,
>> BGN <nickm...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:20:41 +0200, des <d...@yahoo.fr> wrote:
>>>
>>> >> Power Shower costs 51p a day to use for 30 mins (two people @ 15 mins
>>> >> each) but I sometimes have a shower in the evening.
>>> >
>>> >Fifteen fucking minutes under the shower???
>>> >
>>> >How the hell can it take you fifteen minutes to wash?? I'm under for
>>> >six, seven minutes max.
>>>
>>> We don't just call the French unwashed for entertainment purposes.
>>
>> 'I'm not French'. :-P
>>
>> Anyway, when Brits come to stay, they take showers here and stay under
>> for around the same time.
>>
>> wash hair: 90 seconds
>> wash body: 180 seconds
>> wash feet: 60 seconds
>> stand and rinse: 90 seconds (180 seconds if I'm feeling naughty)
>>
>> Total: 420 seconds, or seven minutes.
>
>It's good to know your watch is waterproof.
>
>I don't think I've spent less than 15 minutes in the shower.
See, normal people get properly clean in the shower.
BGN
<grimly...@REMOVEgmail.com> wrote:
>We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
>drugs began to take hold. I remember BGN <nickm...@spamcop.net> saying
>something like:
>
>>I'm thinking that perhaps back in the day it was cheaper to take a
>>shower than to have a bath, but even if one pays for the water (which
>>is metered) to fill a bath and the gas to heat the water it's probably
>>cheaper to have a bath now instead of a shower.
>
>If you use the shower properly - in, out - dry off, it's dirt cheap.
>A typical 8.5kW electric shower used for five minutes will use 0.7kWh,
>cheap, no?
Hrm, it's an "Aqua Profile Plus" which, according to
<http://www.discountedheating.co.uk/shop/acatalog/Heatstore_.html> is
sold as 7.2kW, 8.5kW or 9.5kW.
My one used 0.8kW in five minutes, so I guess that means it's normal
and working fine?
>Really, there's absolutely no need to take longer than five minutes
>simply to get clean in a chower - any longer is wasting money.
I'll do a Des and time myself.
BGN
<gingerbl...@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> I can therefore directly account for £35 of my £70/mo electricity
>>>>>> bill, with the finger being pointed at the Power Shower for any excess
>>>>>> over that. Power Shower uses the most electricity ever in my house by
>>>>>> a long way.
>>>>>
>>>>>Fridge?
>>>>
>>>>Fridge is included in the chart at www.bgn.me.uk/energy.jpg
>>>
>>>Cooker. Ovens use a lot of juice.
>>
>>Gas cooker
>
>Fan oven?
Nope.
>>gas central heating & gas to heat water.
>
>And electric pumps to circulate the water.
I believe we use small Elves in Kent to circulate water, so
electricity isn't required.
BGN
>>>Are you going to be disciplined enough to do your laundry at 1am? Do you
>>>already have a lagged hot water tank or is your gas boiler a combi job[1]?
>>>Will you get up at eek AM to shower before the meter clicks over to peak
>>>rate?
>>
>>Laundry costs 13p... it's just the shower. might look into other
>>options.
>
>Join a gym and use theirs
Or I could just have a shower at work.
>Alternatively take a lover and insist that it's better you stay over at
>their to avoid waking your mother
Or take man into shower with me at work so that we're not wasting as
much water while playing trunks.
BGN
>> Those bored enough to read & contribute to the old Power Monitor
>> thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
>> for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
>
>http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
>
>Anything that heats up water, (washers, showers, immersions), or cools
>it down (fridge and especially the freezer when freezing food) sucks up
>power.
The reality in the UK is that one can probably get rid of the fridge
for three or four months of the year by keeping stuff in the shade
outside in winter, until the pesky animals get it.
>With the freezer, pre-chilling stuff helps, (as well as keeping the
>freezer in a cooler room). (It is worth looking for a fridge \ freezer
>with separate compressors for each compartment).
The fridge & freezer aren't my main concern as they only use £71.28 of
electricity a year.
BGN
wrote:
>> the shower costs me more than half of my entire
>> electricity bill on it's own.
>
>Hardly surprising considering it's probably iro 8kw. Use a mixer tap
>with shower attachment on the bath instead, with a pump, & you'll get a
>much more powerful & much cheaper shower.
I agree. The main problem was my father (who died last October) was
so disabled we had the bath taken out as he couldn't get in it and we
had a shower fitted instead so the length of the bath is essentially a
huge shower area. This means we only have a shower at the moment.
Obviously now that he isn't here anymore I could have a bath put in
with some golden shower taps installed and just keep the electric
shower there in case the boiler goes poof one day.
Mick Whittingham
>BGN wrote:
>http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
>
>Anything that heats up water, (washers, showers, immersions), or cools
>it down (fridge and especially the freezer when freezing food) sucks up
>power.
>
>With the freezer, pre-chilling stuff helps, (as well as keeping the
>freezer in a cooler room). (It is worth looking for a fridge \ freezer
>with separate compressors for each compartment).
>
>I'd like to find ways of pre-heating water using waste heat from
>central heating boilers, or even the warmth in the house. Anyone use
>solar water heating?
>
>In my last house, a 100 year old terrace, insulating the outer facing
>walls with insulation batts placed under dry-walling and putting 75 mm
>of insulation over the solid concrete floors and effectively 300 mm in
>the loft made a hell of a difference to my heating bills. I found I
>could fit 20% smaller radiators in most rooms.
>
My old place was designed as an autonomous house. Used solar and lots of
insulation, plus a thought out approach to it's design.
Gave us heating and hot water at a fraction of normal costs.
Worked in Kent, no problem.
--
Mick Whittingham
'and I will make it a felony to drink small beer.'
William Shakespeare, Henry VI part 2.
BGN
wrote:
>>Really, there's absolutely no need to take longer than five minutes
>>simply to get clean in a chower - any longer is wasting money.
>
>I'll do a Des and time myself.
5m55s.
And, like a good boy, I brushed my teeth BEFORE I got into the shower
and had a shave AFTER I got out. I generally do both in the shower.
Catman
> Catman wrote:
>> BGN wrote:
>>> On Sun, 5 Oct 2008 16:47:50 +0100, "mentalguy2008"
>>>
>>>>> Those bored enough to read & contribute to the old Power Monitor
>>>>> thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
>>>>> for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
>>>
>>> I got a Power Meter or Power Monitor from Maplin,
>>
>>
>> *Way* too much hassle :)
>
> Use a stopwatch and look at the electricity meter for a few seconds.
> Or is that too much hassle?
>
Yes.
HTH
--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk
Catman
Definitely the kind of thing.
Pete Fisher
<nickm...@spamcop.net> cast forth these pearls of wisdom
>On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:27:31 +0100, steve <s...@d.net> wrote:
>
>>> Those bored enough to read & contribute to the old Power Monitor
>>> thread to help discover why I got a £240 electricity bill 2 months ago
>>> for 90 days use might like to know my findings.
>>
>>http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
>>
>>Anything that heats up water, (washers, showers, immersions), or cools
>>it down (fridge and especially the freezer when freezing food) sucks up
>>power.
>
Assuming your washer isn't cold fill only, it may be worth only doing
the washing when a supply of hot water is already available in the tank.
>The reality in the UK is that one can probably get rid of the fridge
>for three or four months of the year by keeping stuff in the shade
>outside in winter, until the pesky animals get it.
>
A good old fashioned larder with a cold slab is surprisingly effective,
but most houses that used to have one have been modernised.
--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: Pe...@ps-fisher.demon.co.uk |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
Gyp
<nickm...@spamcop.net> writes
>On Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:06:20 +0100, BGN <nickm...@spamcop.net>
>wrote:
>
>>>Really, there's absolutely no need to take longer than five minutes
>>>simply to get clean in a chower - any longer is wasting money.
>>
>>I'll do a Des and time myself.
>
>5m55s.
>
>And, like a good boy, I brushed my teeth BEFORE I got into the shower
>and had a shave AFTER I got out. I generally do both in the shower.
Right, I'm going in
Gyp
writes
>Right, I'm going in
How long was that?
Gingerpose
"Gyp" <G...@gyponline.co.uk> wrote in message
news:YyXYAvBc...@orange.orange...
> In message <pVKkZYBq...@orange.orange>, Gyp <G...@gyponline.co.uk>
> writes
>>Right, I'm going in
>
> How long was that?
In: 0834
Out: 0838
ginge
Not when you fire up the bolier using wads of 20 euro notes, they
aren't.
Fr Jack
>Atlantic don't exist anymore. I used them when in Cardiff and they were
>taken over by SWALEC[1] which is part of Scottish & Southern
The brand still exists and still has the best service rating and good
prices.
http://www.atlanticeg.co.uk/
--
Fr. Jack
Life is short and love is always over in the morning.
wessie
4ax.com:
> wessie <putmyn...@tesco.net> wrote:
>
>
>>Atlantic don't exist anymore. I used them when in Cardiff and they were
>>taken over by SWALEC[1] which is part of Scottish & Southern
>
> The brand still exists and still has the best service rating and good
> prices.
>
> http://www.atlanticeg.co.uk/
website is dead
Champ
er, not from here it isn't
--
Champ
Two standard issue crutches
To email me, neal at my domain should work.
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember BGN <nickm...@spamcop.net> saying
something like:
>On Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:06:20 +0100, BGN <nickm...@spamcop.net>
>wrote:
>
>>>Really, there's absolutely no need to take longer than five minutes
>>>simply to get clean in a chower - any longer is wasting money.
>>
>>I'll do a Des and time myself.
>
>5m55s.
>
>And, like a good boy, I brushed my teeth BEFORE I got into the shower
>and had a shave AFTER I got out. I generally do both in the shower.
Perfect. You've dropped your shower cost (assuming it was ~15mins) from
~35p to ~13p. Doesn't sound like a lot of money, but over a year it adds
up. Previously, you were paying >Ł120/year for showering.
Another benefit is the longer life of the shower unit - they do get
knackered eventually, sometimes in as little as a couple of years,
depending on local water supply.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a
"It's a moron working with power tools.
How much more suspenseful can you get?"
- House
Grimly Curmudgeon
something like:
>In message <pVKkZYBq...@orange.orange>, Gyp <G...@gyponline.co.uk>
>writes
>>Right, I'm going in
>
>How long was that?
Four minutes. I hope you scrubbed properly.
Grimly Curmudgeon
<gingerbl...@NOSPAMgmail.com> saying something like:
>>gas central heating & gas to heat water.
>
>And electric pumps to circulate the water.
Typically ~35W - 50W.
wessie
4ax.com:
> On Mon, 6 Oct 2008 09:44:41 +0000 (UTC), wessie
> <putmyn...@tesco.net> wrote:
>
>>Fr Jack <s...@m.com> wrote in news:femje41e4direcbblvuk641a2ct31vspc5@
>>4ax.com:
>>
>>> wessie <putmyn...@tesco.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Atlantic don't exist anymore. I used them when in Cardiff and they were
>>>>taken over by SWALEC[1] which is part of Scottish & Southern
>>>
>>> The brand still exists and still has the best service rating and good
>>> prices.
>>>
>>> http://www.atlanticeg.co.uk/
>>
>>website is dead
>
> er, not from here it isn't
It obviously hates me, as it still won't load in IE, Chrome or Firefox.
Same happens with the site of the sister company, SWALEC. They both give a
runtime error.
Grimly Curmudgeon
like:
>I'd like to find ways of pre-heating water using waste heat from central
>heating boilers, or even the warmth in the house. Anyone use solar water
>heating?
<waves>
In the process. Purely diy, not a penny spent as it's the only way it
makes economic sense.
>In my last house, a 100 year old terrace, insulating the outer facing
>walls with insulation batts placed under dry-walling and putting 75 mm
>of insulation over the solid concrete floors and effectively 300 mm in
>the loft made a hell of a difference to my heating bills. I found I
>could fit 20% smaller radiators in most rooms.
Indeedly.
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember BGN <nickm...@spamcop.net> saying
something like:
>My one used 0.8kW in five minutes, so I guess that means it's normal
>and working fine?
That's a normal figure for that, so yes. There's a slight variation in
power consumed depending on exactly what your mains voltage is on the
day /hour.
Simian
> We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
> drugs began to take hold. I remember steve <s...@d.net> saying something
> like:
>
> > I'd like to find ways of pre-heating water using waste heat from
> > central heating boilers, or even the warmth in the house. Anyone
> > use solar water heating?
>
> <waves>
> In the process. Purely diy, not a penny spent as it's the only way it
> makes economic sense.
>
I'd love to have time to do this. The options appear to be do it
yourself, with payback time in reduced bills within 2 years fairly
easily, or pay someone else to do it with payback time ~10 years, if
the weathers good.
I reckon I could design and build a reasonably effective system using
mostly scrap components and a new hot water tank.
Grimly Curmudgeon
<Simian@in_valid.semi-evolved.org> saying something like:
>I'd love to have time to do this. The options appear to be do it
>yourself, with payback time in reduced bills within 2 years fairly
>easily, or pay someone else to do it with payback time ~10 years, if
>the weathers good.
It makes no sense at all in monetary terms, paying someone else to do
it, for the savings will have only just about paid for the whole cost
when the system will need replaced through time and wear. The cost of
the commercial systems has come down a lot in the past year, but still
not very cheap.
>I reckon I could design and build a reasonably effective system using
>mostly scrap components and a new hot water tank.
Cheapest way is mine - rather, a system I'm copying.
I have a surplus of old single panel rads, to be painted black.
Last year I picked up (for free) a 7'x 4' double glazed unit which will
be the frontpiece - there's no shortage of DG unit out there for the
taking.
I'm not going to the expense of a new twin-coil tank - I have a couple
of spares and will simply raise the domestic one and mount the solar
tank under it as a pre-heater, so there's a thermo-syphon arrangement.
Fortunately I have the space to do it.
Mick Whittingham
<grimly...@REMOVEgmail.com> writes
That is the way to do it and if you can use a thermo syphon from the
panel to the preheat tank you need no clever electronics or control
valves at all.
Grimly Curmudgeon
<Mi...@whittinghamsite.fsnet.co.uk> saying something like:
>>I'm not going to the expense of a new twin-coil tank - I have a couple
>>of spares and will simply raise the domestic one and mount the solar
>>tank under it as a pre-heater, so there's a thermo-syphon arrangement.
>>Fortunately I have the space to do it.
>
>
>That is the way to do it and if you can use a thermo syphon from the
>panel to the preheat tank you need no clever electronics or control
>valves at all.
That's it exactly. In fact, the whole two-storey gable end faces south,
so it's tempting to cover as much as possible with panels, but that's
for later.