I'm thinking about turning my electricity OFF over night

[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

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?

@TacoCats

No don't do that that's how people get food poisoning. You'll also work your fridge/freezer harder and it'll cost more on the long run. You will use electric as things are still drawing electricity, I tend to switch off the plug and unplug at night so it's not drawing electric still.

But how does an appliance draw electric when switched off at the wall?

@Templeblossom

I think this is a wind up thread. Op has a rental property and spends £700 a year on botox

Im out!

You can still have Botox and rent out homes and still want to look after the pennies. How else would she afford her Botox if it's all going on electric needlessly?

@EmmaH2022 you'd be surprised! My DF Is a electrician and told me this and he's correct I've tried it with my smart meter. I don't have a clue why/how but it's correct.

Just like when your not using gas, there's still gas in the pipes so your still "using" gas even when your not.

TacoCats - agreed, look after the pennies and botox will pay for itself

£25 per month is a considerable sum of money over a year for doing nothing but sorting out whats running on the electric you're using at night

@Krakenchorus

Would the fridge/freezer be working harder and using more electricity each morning to restore the proper temperature? Would you pay the same for charging the devices at home during the day (assuming that's what would happen)?

Worth an experiment...

Appliances, including central heating, don't work less if turned on all the time. They are turned on or off; they don't work harder when you turn it back on, it just continues to work in the same way as it did prior to turning it off.

Your vacuum cleaner doesn't work harder if you don't use it one day, it just alters the times you use it (unless of course there are additional 'boost' you settings) .

Disturbed more than baffled actually

Wrong thread!!

@LaurieFairyCake

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

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

This is mental - putting things outside in a carrier bag . I have just checked our meter - 86p so far today which was a dishwasher load, 2 fridge freezers, 1 large chest freezer, 1 wine fridge, all the usual - Sky on, smoke alarms, one digital alarm, a couple of wi fi bluetooth speakers, internet, Ring doorbell, 1 kettle use , 1 coffee machine use. 2.67 kilowatts. Flicked back through the past days - the most used was 10 kws on a day I did a 90 degree wash and a 40 wash and 2 tumble dryer loads. Our daily bill is never above 2.70 usually about 1.90. We use TV for about 4 hours in the evening, lights, electric blankets and an over cover heated blanket for 3 hours. House is new - well insulated and all appliances are 2 years old or less.

Tilfa do you think a fridge/freezer just gets instantly cold when you switch it on ?

@TacoCats

Just like when your not using gas, there's still gas in the pipes so your still "using" gas even when your not.

100% not how it works.

When you turn on a gas appliance, the gas flows through and you "use" the gas. If nothing is turned on, you aren't using any gas. Same as turning on a tap. If all the taps are off you aren't using any water.

And electricity isn't like either of these in that it doesn't sit in the pipes ready to flow when something is turned on. When a circuit is completed, electricity can flow. When the circuit is broken e.g. switching something off, electricity doesn't flow. That's primary school physics surely?

@TILFA of course a freezer would work harder if it had been switched off - mine would show a red booster button that shows that it is doing so.

Turning the fridge back on isn't the same as turning a hoover on @TILFA

My E7 which is between 11pm and 7am, uses 1kw a night.

This is with the fridge freezer going AND the immersion heater.
I have tested it without the immersion and it makes no difference so I struck lucky somehow. I turn off at the wall the microwave, the tv and the extension lead that that has the laptop plugged in. During the day I use 7kw including the slow cooker. It goes up higher if I use the oven or the radiators.
The house is all electric but I have a log burner for heating.

Appliances, including central heating, don't work less if turned on all the time. They are turned on or off; they don't work harder when you turn it back on, it just continues to work in the same way as it did prior to turning it off

Your vacuum cleaner doesn't work harder if you don't use it one day, it just alters the times you use it (unless of course there are additional 'boost' you settings

True for a vacuum as it only has one setting. A fridge will have two modes - cooling down and then maintaining the temperature. It will use more electricity to get cold than to maintain. Similarly with central heating, if you let the house get cold it will have to work longer to get back up to temperature than to just maintain a warmer house constantly

By the time your fridge has come back to the right temperature to store food, which takes a couple of hours not only is it working harder, but you're adding at least 2 extra hours onto how long your food is sat in a turned off fridge. Milk and dairy will spoil.

But your solution doesn't make sense. Your fridge and freezer will have to get up to temperature again. Your cooker and microwave should be switched off when you're not using them anyway. And turning electricity on and off can cause surges that blow fuses, etc.
From a fire safety pov, you should be turning sockets off at night.
It might help if you read this Does Unplugging Electrical Goods Overnight Save Money

@Arghlife

Haven't read the while thread, but you also need to actually take the plugs out, not just turn it off at the wall. Recently had my oven installed and the electrician told me this

That is complete nonsense. Where is the electricity going when the plug is switched off but still plugged in? What heat, light, or movement is it generating?

Electrical appliances will only use energy if they have a light or screen /digital clock on them eg a TV left on standby. A plugged in washing machine or dishwasher will not use electricity if they are not switched on.There is no circuit.

I don't rent my property

And yes I have 2 lots of Botox a year, and the money I save doing this will pay for half of it !

We thought putting the milk/yoghurt in the freezer part of the fridge freezer overnight would be a genius idea - they won't freeze - and they can go back on in the fridge in the morning

@wearingtheT

OP did you say that you wash on a 30min cycle?

It's terrible for your machine and costs much more. my economy setting is a 3 hour wash... that's why it's AA rated.

I didn't know this. I presumed a 30 min cycle would cost less. Does this apply to all machines? Mine is very basic and about 8 years old. I mainly run the 30 min cycle because it doesn't have an eco cycle.

I'm confused: why would a standing charge show up as units of electricity used?

For heaven's sake, everyone, if a switched socket is switched off at the wall no electricity can flow out of it. That's the whole POINT of having switches on sockets. The switch breaks the circuit so that no electricity can flow. So no need to unplug.

Have a read of this - the 'Myths' section: lookaftermybills.com/blog/should-you-turn-plugs-off-at-the-wall-to-save/

It says that many modern devices - those operated by remote control - are not actually switched off by the remote's 'off' switch. They look as if they are 'off' but are actually in standby mode. And that uses power. If you want to stop them using electricity, then switch them off either using their own on/off switch, or at the wall.

If a socket is not switched, that's different. Power can still flow out of it - but only is the device plugged into it is switched on or in standby mode. Some plug-in devices can't be switched off without unplugging, eg phone chargers, wifi routers, but they are in a minority. Most plug-in devices - kettles, toasters, hairdryers etc - have on/off switches fitted. Cookers also have on/off switches - knobs to turn - for rings, grills, ovens. And most cooker clocks can be switched off, also.

If the OPs many and various extension leads are not fitted with on/off switches, either, then power can flow through them if a device plugged into them is either switched on, or in standby mode.

Why? I understood ovens etc had to be wired in, not on plugs. My oven is wired into its own 30A circuit, separate from the rest of the mains supply around the kitchen, with an on/off switch on the wall above. When that switch is off, no electricity goes to the oven at all, there is no plug socket on the wall, you cannot plug it in or unplug it.

not all ovens have to be hard wired,if the oven is under a certain wattage they can be run of a normal plug in mode
Big grin: grin

My oven and hob plugs in to a socket