The “how much does this cost to run” thread?

[AtomicBlondeRose]

Based on posts about people thinking of using candles instead of electric lights - which is both dangerous and not likely to save any money, I’d like to set this thread up as a place where people can ask how much items in their house cost to run, to let posters make informed decisions about whether or not to keep using them after energy price rises.

If you want to ask, useful information to have is: the energy usage of the item - eg a heater might say on it that it’s 1000w. If you don’t know that the name/model number as accurately as possible. Also to give you a useful estimate it would be good to know your current gas/electricity price tariff price per unit. However it’s easy enough to work out at current and predicted price cap levels.

I can’t promise to answer everything so please can I call upon other numerate MNers to help out? I think this could be a real lifesaver.

I'm worried about how quiet this thread now is, have people stopped worrying now the government have stepped in, or just so swept away with all the other shit that they haven't got the head space?

I’ve turned the heating off and brought out my thermals. But f me, organic butter is now £2.85 a pack, it was £1.85 at the beginning of the year.

It's quiet because it contains facts rather than borderline lunatic speculation.

Things I have read on this forum regarding saving money on fuel.

Not using the heating at all.

It cost 6 pounds just to switch a tumble drier on.

Turning the firdge freezer off for 12 hours a day.

Keeping food in the garden! ( Peak lunacy).

Turning chargers off will save a significant amount of money.

Using candles.

Getting on the bus to charge your phone.

Loads more.

@Blondeshavemorefun couldn't help noticing that colour on your nails it's absolutely lovely! Do you mind me asking what it is?

@Nolongera i agree, some absolutely bonkers stuff out there about saving energy, most of which will either be actively hazardous or cost more money than they save!

This one @Unforgettablefire ?

I will ask my nail lady

I've zero concerns about my electric use now.

Mainly worrying about gas and heating - I've had a diagnosis of COPD this year, and the advice seems to be that my living room needs to be at least 18°, and my bedroom 15°. I'm not sure if that's daytime only, or overnight too.

@Blondeshavemorefun thank you it's the pink shimmery one in your earlier post it's lovely!

To add to @Nolongera the thread covered quite good range already and there were explanations how to claculate the cost.

It may actually be a positive it is quiet! It means people can now find out and calculate the cost and so they just don't ask.

It probably just means when you are in it. These are doable temperatures but from experience of UK builds, I highly recommend heating it up more sometimes.
Air and heat is really important to prevent damp and mould issues.
Also, keep furniture an inch away from skirting boards to allow for air flow. I had mould issue in one house until we made enough space behind.

I think mould will became even bigger (and imho it's already major) issue now.
Air and heat, air and heat.

Thanks - that makes sense.

I'm home all day so I've set the thermostat to kick in at 18 in the day and 15 at night, and keeping an eye on my meter - I was using about 6/700kwh a month of gas last winter, I think I only had it set to come on for a couple of hours a morning/evening though.

@NewBootsAndRanty have a google about support charities may offer. There are quite a few for asthma and other breathing related conditions so there might be a good advice available

Has anyone with a dishwasher done a full wash with a smart plug to measure their usage?

This from yet another energy thread, I might be wrong but I think it's more expensive than hand washing.

Apparently the saving on water (0.7p a gallon here) offsets significantly the energy usage. No figures are given for water usage by a dishwasher.

Some comedy gold on here at the moment.
.
A child crying as it's too expensive to watch the TV (1p and hour).

Why are we using so much energy, I only switch my immersion heater on twice a day?

Hot water is provided by gas.

Don't use your sound bar.

Mine says this in a manual. Can't use the smart plug due to access

If you fill up full one, it should be cheaper than washing it individually

People are still learning. They didn't know before because energy was so cheap they didn't need to consider it.

It's not surprising people make some mistakes while they learn and have misconceptions.

For me it is a good process, because it shows how much energy people have been wasting that they don't actually need to use.

People are wise-ing up rapidly and the result is going to be good for everyone as well as the planet.

I have tried out my big old lap top to see how much juice it uses, it's 19 inches and was top of the range when I bought it in 2008, forget what speed to processor is. It was 1300 quid before VAT.

Battery is fully charged, it has been used plugged in for 99% of its life.

Normal usage about 40 to 50watts, I have just put a film on and there was no increase in power use

Sleep mode is less than a Watt, it could sleep for 1000 hours for less than 34p.

@Nolongera I need to do my laptop as well

it’s 10yrs old. A bit slow but works

Been following this thread on and off for months, thank you to everyone for the info in it!

I have my own question... how much to boil a full kettle? To wash dishes, in comparison with gas hot water (roughly 10.2kwh to heat twice a day = £1.05). The hot water is occasionally used for a bath too.

I'm trying to figure out if it will be cheaper to turn it off completely, and boil a kettle for washing up - then turn it back on just for a bath as needed? This is how I grew up and is a pain, but if it's cheaper than that's just tough.

No dishwasher ☹️ Shower is electric and washing machine cold fill. Heating is gas too... but the longer we can do without, the better. My water isn't on a meter, so no water cost to consider.

Kettles are about 3000W, so would be about £1 an hour to use. Of course they’re not on for an hour - so 1.7p/minute is better. 5 minutes would be 8.5p, so maybe you could time your kettle and work it out from there if you’re bothered.

I have had small rants on other threads about the futility of using a flask to avoid boiling water for tea BUT if you’re saving it for washing up AND you already own a flask, pouring the dregs into a flask every time you have a hot drink could probably save you a boil and help you with small bits of washing up.

@AtomicBlondeRose can you advise on my tumble dryer please?

Its a simple indesit one and it says it's 2400 watts.

If I've worked out the maths right that 2.4kwh per hour? Our unit price is 30.32 so does that mean the tumble costs 2.4 x 30.32 to run so less than a pound an hour? That sounds quite good to me but everywhere says about tumble dryers costing a fortune etc?!

@BeyondsEnergyObsession

Do you have a system boiler (hot water tank with gas boiler) ?

If so your system is like mine.

The key with a system boiler is to make a tank of hot water, then use it all as
quickly as possible, then not make any more until you need it (makes sense).

The problem is that you have to make a full tank each time, and if you don't use it all you are wasting energy.

For me I make 1 full tank of water (145l) every 2 days. That gets me 2x washing up and 2x showers. The hot water is timed to go on for 30 mins every 2 days, but my guess is that it switches off after about 20 mins because the tank is full then.

Re your system, it is surprising that you have to turn it on 2x per day to get hot water for just washing up. I would think once per day before the first lot of washing up would be fine, unless your hot water tank is very badly insulated. You may be able to do something about this. What happens if you switch off the second heating cycle ?

Re whether it would be cheaper to use electric or gas for your washing up, I would guess electric. If you do have a hot water cylinder, then at the moment you are probably heating far more water than you actually need, maybe 5x as much. Gas is only 3x more expensive than electric, plus electric is less "lossy" (easier to direct the power and more power goes where you want it so there is no energy loss in pipes etc).

The way to really win would probably be to use the gas to heat a single hot water tank full of water once per day then use it for 2x dishes and a shower. That way you are maximising the hot water use. I guess the only issue would be if you have low hot water pressure or don't have a bar mixer shower/shower tap attachment for hot water.

A full 1.7 litre kettle boil cost me 6.5p at 34p per kWh .

I have no experience of a system boiler but they sound like a nightmare if you have to fill a tank just to use hot water.

Just had our bill from Shell, we used 8 quid of gas in September, a few baths, all our washing up, most of our cooking and the heating on a couple of times. Standing charge of £7.50 is nearly the same as our usage.

Obvs this will go up when winter hits.

@Nolongera

System boilers are good if you need a lot of hot water at the same time (say 2x showers at once). These days if you are in a smaller house then they recommend combi boilers, which don't have a tank and just heat the water as you use it, but most older houses are on system boiler. Combi boilers and electric showers are "thought free" in terms of operation - the cost is pretty much how long you use them for and what temperature you heat to.

If you have a system boiler there is more potential for messing around with timings etc and how you use it to optimise the use of the hot water produced.

I wouldn't say they are a nightmare - I get hot water much cheaper with a system boiler than I would via electric because gas is 1/3 cost. But I do have to think about how I use the hot water more. They are much better for larger houses with larger families though.

A well insulated hot water tank helps me a lot, because once I generate a tank full of water it stays hot for at least 24 hours, ensuring I can use it all and means I don't have to use it all at once.

There has been talk with the LL (my family, so happy to make changes to the property) of replacing it with a combi, but apparently this would mean putting it in the back bedroom as it needs an external wall to vent to. Atm we have a back boiler.

Anywho, I have turned the water off for now so I can compare the average electric cost before and after.

A BIG advantage of system boilers is the airing cupboard though. When your clothes come in from outside slightly damp, just pop them in there. Helps with reduction of tumble drying and no damp issues.