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Original poster

I'm thinking about turning my electricity OFF over night

352 replies

LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2022 05:48

So last night before bed I took a meter reading and right now another

I've used 6 units of electricity over night (only me and Dh, pretty sure the dogs aren't boiling kettles over night)

That works out at £0.85 a night, £25.33 A MONTH Shock

The things that are running every night is fridge freezer, phone chargers, laptop chargers, the clock on the cooker

I've read it's fine to turn off the fridge freezer (no meat in it) as it won't spoil in 8 hours

I can't believe I would save £25 a month doing this !

Anything I've overlooked?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
Summerfun54321 · 08/03/2022 07:30

The fridge/freezer would just use the energy in the morning getting back down to temperature. You’d be much better off saving energy on how you live in the day rather than over night. Shorter showers, less washing and tumble drying, heating 1 degree lower etc.

imamumgetmeoutofhere · 08/03/2022 07:31

Do devices still use electric if they are plugged in but switched off? I'm spending about £2.50 a day on electric and that's on a day where I don't use the washing machine Confused

WhiteXmas21 · 08/03/2022 07:32

My flat share at Uni was obsessed with doing this - long before the days of phone chargers and laptops.
Totally burnt out the fridge - it had to work so hard each morning the motor gave up. Everything else - fine .

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Cost of living
Templeblossom · 08/03/2022 07:33

@LaurieFairyCake

So last night before bed I took a meter reading and right now another

I've used 6 units of electricity over night (only me and Dh, pretty sure the dogs aren't boiling kettles over night)

That works out at £0.85 a night, £25.33 A MONTH Shock

The things that are running every night is fridge freezer, phone chargers, laptop chargers, the clock on the cooker

I've read it's fine to turn off the fridge freezer (no meat in it) as it won't spoil in 8 hours

I can't believe I would save £25 a month doing this !

Anything I've overlooked?

Its mostly the standing charge which is applied at midnight. Not going to make much difference if you then have to get the freezer temp down again, not to mention the risk of food going off etc
Original poster
LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2022 07:42

I've no immersion heater or underfloor heating - it really is all the things I've said

There are at least 8 extension cables with the individual lights on them plus the tv on standby and the cooker/microwave clock - it would be a right pain in the arse to take the time to go around and turn plug sockets off as they're all so inaccessible (hence all the extensions)

I've no idea if it's adding the standing charge at night Confused

I'm going to turn it off tonight at the mains and report back and see how much it's used over night (to see if it's adding the standing charge then)

I remember reading on here that the the dials shouldn't move if the mains is turned off ?

Yes, it only takes an hour to charge phones but the plug is still on (plus we've 3 laptops charging too) and the internet is on overnight

OP posts:
Original poster
LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2022 07:43

The fridge freezer is only 4 years old but is massive - I think it's A or B rated (so the lowest)

OP posts:
Original poster
LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2022 07:44

And yes I'm going to take a reading tonight and see how much we've used during the day today

At the moment DH is working with the tv on

OP posts:
Original poster
LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2022 07:47

Google says providing you don't open the fridge or freezer nothing should go off

OP posts:
Original poster
LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2022 07:47

In 12 hours

OP posts:
Riseholme · 08/03/2022 07:48

If I have a car journey I always charge my phone on the move as much as possible.
Every little helps.

poshme · 08/03/2022 07:49

I trim my cooker and Bob off at the wall unless I'm actually using them. I know the clocks only use a tiny amount of electricity, but why pay for it?

I'd worry about the food constantly getting a bit too warm in the fridge if I turned it off every night.

Mrsjayy · 08/03/2022 07:52

Your fridge freezer will work harder to get back to temp every morning I think so maybe leave that on,

FourTeaFallOut · 08/03/2022 07:52

Poor Bob

toomuchlaundry · 08/03/2022 07:53

I thought the advice about fridge and food not going off is if you have a power cut. Not so you can turn it off overnight

TV on standby uses up power and why do you have internet on overnight?

Original poster
LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2022 07:54

I can't leave anything on as it would mean going around to turn everything off

There are about 25 jars of jams/pickles in my fridge, just dog food in the freezer Grin

The only things that could go off are milk/half a dozen yoghurts and some orange juice

At the moment I could put them in a carrier bag and leave them outside the door - as it's below fridge temperature at night at the moment - was 2 degrees last night

OP posts:
Original poster
LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2022 07:55

toomuchlaundry

The internet router is on overnight - it's plugged in behind a heavy dresser

OP posts:
Mrsjayy · 08/03/2022 07:55

Yeah I don't think fridges and freezers are made to be switched on and off daily well nightly!

DogandMog · 08/03/2022 07:58

Check your fridge isn’t faulty, eg leaking due to faulty sealing. Pull it out and dust the coils at the back. Get a plug in energy monitor to check its actual power consumption. We only use about 0.5 units overnight, that includes fridge-freezer, under counter freezer, wifi, smoke alarm system, cooker clock... I always leave this on as is tiny tiny minimal and indicates if we’ve had a power interruption. Work on the big fruit first like under floor heating, immersion heater, shed/greenhouse heaters etc before the low hanging fruit like chargers, clock displays etc. All those things add up over the year and are worth doing, but you won’t see any difference on an overnight reading.

Templeblossom · 08/03/2022 07:58

can't leave anything on as it would mean going around to turn everything off

I dont really understand this
8 extension leads is a huge fire risk

hilbil21 · 08/03/2022 07:59

We have a smart meter and it adds the standing charge on overnight every night.

Original poster
LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2022 08:00

They're those new extension leads - I can't remember what they're called where they turn off if there's a surge - we have battery powered smoke alarms if there's a fire

We don't have sheds/greenhouses or underfloor heating

OP posts:
Original poster
LaurieFairyCake · 08/03/2022 08:01

We don't have a smart meter

OP posts:
ifonly4 · 08/03/2022 08:01

Either way, you don't want to risk your food going off, otherwise that's going to cost you more. Certainly worth trying to identify the cause though. You could try switching off a different trip switch each night - that might help you might which circuit is using the most, there'll be a few, we've got sockets and lighting up and downstairs, cooker, smoke alarm.

It should only be a small amount, but if you've got stuff on standby/plugged in and finished charging, it'll still use a tiny amount, but not the amount you say.

poshme · 08/03/2022 08:04

@ifonly4 that's a very good idea,

Candlecassie · 08/03/2022 08:04

Sorry to hijack your post OP but does anyone know if a sky box and tv will be ok turned off at the wall every night so it’s not left on standby? By that I mean, it won’t cause problems with the electrics inside?