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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Does anyone know any useful web sites that can be used to check the energy use of various domestic appliances? I have done a Google, and for the life of me I cannot find anything that can be used as a simple guide to work out the best way an appliance can be used. For example- do I turn the lights off if leaving a room when using certain kinds of fluorescent light bulbs if I might be in and out of the room? What setting is the best/ worst on my dishwasher or washing machine?

I would have thought there would be a simple guide somewhere, but it does not really look like anyone has ever got round to developing this kind of tool.

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In general -

The life of any lamp is largely determined by the number of on/off cycles. So turning them off will save power but you will have to buy replacements more often.

I would have thought anybody interested in saving power wouldn't use a dishwasher at all and, if a real miser, would not use a washing machine ( people with large young families may be excused :-) )

As a simple guide - use washing machines and dishwashers only with a full load and at the minimum temperature setting, buy low-temperature detergents. Conversely, with electric kettles, heat only the minimum quantity of water required for your tea.

Do not leave any device eg TV, computer, on standby but switch it fully off when not in use.
John. Thanks. I am on top of the basics, and was looking to reach further to try to understand how best to use the appliances I have. It strikes me that beyond this kind of useful (but generic) advice that can often be found on things like the Energy Saving Trust web site (etc) there does not seem to be much else most plebs like us can access.

Lights. Some lights (fluorescent) actually work more efficiently over a period of time when left on due to the large about of initial energy needed to get them started. Hence the question about how to work out the best way to approach using them.

Appliance. Well I am a big believer that people have moved on from smelling like Stig of the Dump, and I do not see too many of us Harringay-ites down the New River with our cottonwear and scrubbing boards... That and having 2 small kids, and real nappies, necessitate certain labour saving devices...

Overall. Given many of us have these things, the question is how to use them in the most sensitive way.
A useful Guide, Hugh. I suspect a third column showing Standby Wastage for each appliance would be even more eye-opening!
You can hire energy monitors from the library for a small charge
Hugh. Thanks. The problem is that I have a dishwasher (I cringe when I say this as I know John will remind me what a shabby citizen I am for having one) but it has 5 different settings, and I want to work out which one I should be running it on. I suspect I need to run it on each with an energy monitor on to work it out for myself...
I guess that would be the case. It'd probably be quite an undertaking for anyone to produce a list of energy consumption of all appliances by brand, let alone giving figures for the differences between the settings. Who knows; maybe it exists.
I would have thought it would be rather simple for manufacturers to both state this on product material and make it available via their web sites. Problem is they do not have an interst in this kind of progressive decision making information support. (Heck, stop me, I am sounding like a management consultant!)
"On average customers can save up to £350 on their electricity bills by switching to the cheapest supplier."

Now there's a good example of a completely useless and misleading statistic. :-)

That can mean that some customers pay more when they switch to the cheapest supplier.
"On average...save up to £350 ..." is meaningless if 99.9% of customers save only £1.00 and one (a factory say ) saves £35,000.

Quite apart from - is the £350 per quarter or per lifetime ?

Actually, I paid £291.57 last year - can I expect them to pay me £58 for using their electricity ?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Energy Saving Trust is offering a tumble dryer as a prize in a competition!!!




http://estconsumer.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/estconsumer.cfg/php/enduser...
I knew I'd seen something somewhere.

Just stumbled across this is one of my favourites folders - Sust-It - enables you to compare the power consumption of different models of appliances

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