Ways to save money on electric

[RedRobyn2021]

Any suggestions?

Have just had our bill doubled for January and feeing really upset 😭

I know they said electric prices were going to go up but they had already put our bill up to £110 and now it's doubled this month after we sent a meter reading. We live in a two bedroom terrace and have one baby

Does anyone know how much it costs to run a tumble dryer for an hour or so?

If I put it on overnight the clothes will be creased by the time I get them out, no delay function, I don't iron.

Timer in the shower.
We have one that sticks on the tiles.
I contacted our electric company about our bills and she said it was high usage rather than cost (couple of years ago). It was teenagers languishing in the showers (electric).

32 energy saving tips

A dehumidifier sounds like it would be a good investment for you.

It will help solve the damp in your bedroom AND you can use it to dry clothes on a clothes horse – all without opening your windows and letting your heat out.

(You should probably open windows occasionally, to air the house each day, but they needn't be open long.)

Obviously they do cost a little to run, but they basically blow warm, dry air around while getting rid of water from the atmosphere. You'll be amazed how much water you're emptying down the sink for the first few months, till the house dries out.

I use the short washer cycle but set the temp to 20 or cold. Modern detergents work well at low temperatures. If you can choose good weather to do washing and peg it out. Even 3 hours on the washing line gets most of the moisture out. Alternatively a spin drier.
When replacing a tumble drier consider a gas one, much cheaper to run.

Turn everything off at the socket when not in use.
Microwaves use quite a bit of power although only for a short time. Stop ironing.

When you boil the kettle, make a flask of left over water for later. Even a microwave will be cheaper for cooking. A pressure cooker,slo cooker. Led bulbs everywhere. I bought myself a heated airer this year, rather than use the tumble dryer. A decent dehumidifier on the clothes drying setting while it's on. I have had economy 7 for 50 years, every house we've had.

Most of my washing is done on a quick cold cycle, always a full load.

Look up your washing machine model online to find the booklet that goes with it. It will show you the cheapest programme which is the one that uses least energy.

If your machine doesn’t have timer delay, buy a cheap timer plug socket thing so you can set it to finish when you get up and start at night.

If no eco programme, the standard ones with low temp will be cheaper than speed wash programmes.

Look at the Martin Lewis thing on Money Saving Expert about increase in fuel price cap in April. Most houses will see their bills rise rapidly then too. It’s going to get worse.

Wear lots of jumpers. Have throws in the living room to sit under. Reduce the amount of washing you do by wearing clothes double the amount of time previously apart from underwear….that’s such an easy one. Yes to reducing shower o 2 mins.

Have just looked it up. 9kg tumble dryer vented or condensing uses 5kw per load,just over £1. Heat pump dryer 50p but 3 times the price to purchase.

@RedRobyn2021

Any suggestions?

Have just had our bill doubled for January and feeing really upset 😭

I know they said electric prices were going to go up but they had already put our bill up to £110 and now it's doubled this month after we sent a meter reading. We live in a two bedroom terrace and have one baby

Are you on a fixed tariff? I got an email the other day telling me that they need to increase my monthly payments as I’d used more energy than my standing order covers. I emailed back pointing out that over a 12 month period, my energy consumption fluctuates, we are in the most expensive quarter so jo, I did not agree to them increasing my standing order, and I would review it in April. They basically replied saying OK, no change, review at the end of April.

We have a heated airer (with the cover - this is the key bit) and only use the tumble drier for things that we really need to. I am obsessive about line drying for the pure pleasure of it but it helps keep my bills down. We are still on a fixed tariff but trying to get in to good habits before it ends

I didn’t know about the short washing cycle using more power so I’ll do a longer one where possible.

@WombatChocolate

Look up your washing machine model online to find the booklet that goes with it. It will show you the cheapest programme which is the one that uses least energy.

If your machine doesn’t have timer delay, buy a cheap timer plug socket thing so you can set it to finish when you get up and start at night.

If no eco programme, the standard ones with low temp will be cheaper than speed wash programmes.

Mine doesn't say anything about time, just temperature. It's installed with a switch in the kitchen, I can't get to the plug so no option for overnight. There's no eco and no speed wash, just set to cottons and adjust.

@nannybeach

When you boil the kettle, make a flask of left over water for later. Even a microwave will be cheaper for cooking. A pressure cooker,slo cooker. Led bulbs everywhere. I bought myself a heated airer this year, rather than use the tumble dryer. A decent dehumidifier on the clothes drying setting while it's on. I have had economy 7 for 50 years, every house we've had.

No, just boil exactly how much you’ll need! I worked it out once by filling my mug with water, pouring it into an empty kettle, then marking it on the side where you can see the water.

Now I have a stove top kettle and we have an induction hob. By far the cheapest way to boil water.

@WombatChocolate
Ignore that, it ,does have an eco setting, I thought that was a dryer setting (I don't use it to dry). Eco only goes down to 40 though! So I don't know if it's any better than regular 30.

My eco setting is either 40 or 60. I usually wash at 30 over 62 mins. Thought that would be cheaper than a longer eco one.

@svara The energy consumption numbers are what you are looking for. Looks like the cheapest setting is the hand-wash setting, then synthetics and then cotton 40°. Cost will depend on your tariff. Mine is 21.3p per kwh. At that price your synthetic wash would cost 11.7p, cottons would cost 18p. It isn't true that a longer wash will cost less, my cheapest wash cycle is my 30 min cycle at 30° which costs me 5p per wash. It really depends on your machine.

@lightningstrikes
Thanks, I think the time adjustment is to do with the amount in the machine as it shows a t-shirt with bars on it, it seems to wash fine even on a 50 minute wash though. I set it to cottons 30, synthetics and handwash are quicker but only spin at 900, no good in winter to then dry them.

You do have to look at your individual booklet.

A cottons wash is often a really thorough wash. A synthetic or mixed wash is often shorter and can be done on lower temperature.

Eco wash normally relates to cottons. Not all washes you do will need that level of clean.

My machine (Bosch) allows temp adjustment within every cycle, so you can have a shorter cycle and lower temp. For lots of things this would be fine. I’d want to wash underwear on a decent heat (40 degrees) and bedding on that or possibly 60 degrees, but most other stuff would be fine in 30 degrees.

Yes, look at energy consumption. The more a wash consumes the more it will cost.

Do also think about capacity. Obviously some cycles cannot take a full load (that’s usually the case with speed wash cycles) and so the ‘cost per item’ might be higher - that’s relevant rather than outlet the cost per load. If you have to do lots of loads, it might not be cheaper.

But basically, wearing clothes longer, allowing towels to go an extra day or 2 will all reduce the amount you need to do anyway. Kids are horrors for throwing something worn for 30 mins in the washing basket. I’m always returning stuff unwashed to them and we have a rule of 4 wears for jeans and 4 wears for tops which have another top under them and to aim for 2 wears of tops that touch your skin unless is summer or sportswear. Limit the number of towels that get used per week and definitely don’t wash them every day, except tea towels if you use them.

In summer, reducing the spin a bit can save money, when you’re pegging out….obviously you still don’t want it dripping wet. But in winter, spinning to get stuff as dry as poss is good for most items.

Take things off of standby. So if you e.g. run the dishwasher turn the dial back to off when finished, ditto the washing machine/tumble drier if using.

Pressure cooker/slow cooker/air friar.

I’ve just bought an electric grill on the basis that my oven/grill is gas and is crap so woefully inefficient. Ten minutes on the grill is going to cost me less in electricity than half an our in the oven for instance.

Go to bed early with a hot water bottle rather than having the heating on.

In terms of gas, an electric fan heater for half an hour in one room is more efficient than central heating heating the whole house for several hours.

I think I'll switch to washing on synthetic once I can dry outside again, the spin speed just doesn't get enough water out to dry inside.

I already wash towels and pillowcases together weekly, other bedding less often. DS is more likely to wear clothes too long than not long enough, and I'm on day 29 of the 6 month jeans challenge 🙃. Washing is mostly t-shirts, socks and underwear.

I do an extra spin on fastest spin if I am tumble drying. It cuts down on the drying time saving money.

Anything that involves heat, especially if on for a long time, uses a lot of electricity. Electric shower, oven/cooker, immersion heater, electric heaters or radiators, tumble dryer.
Other appliances and standby chargers all add up but draw less power so running around unplugging them won't make much difference.