Here we have an annotated graph of a typical day in my house. Using data like this is a really useful way to keep track of what energy you are using, and pinpointing where you can make savings.
For example we can see the dishwasher usage at (J) and (K). The standard cycle on my dishwasher has a ‘heated dry’ part at the end. I never realized before just how much energy it uses. Having the heated dry on basically doubles the dishwasher energy consumption. From now on I think I’ll run the dishwasher before I go to bed, and leave off the heated dry.
Tip: Don’t use heated dry on the dishwasher.
The ‘resting’ electricity in my house seems to oscillate between 80 and 115 Watts. I think the change might be the fridge coming on every 90 minutes. Here is a list of what is on 24/7 in my house:
- The fridge
- Alarm system
- Clocks on the cooker/coffee machine/boiler
- Cable modem and router
- CurrentCost and the laptop that’s currently uploading the data.
Of these the laptop is the only saving I can really make – it’s being replaced by a low energy alternative (more on that later this week).
Even without the CurrentCost/laptop the house seems to be drawing around 80 Watts, which seems like a lot. Anyone know how much their house uses so I can compare?
Tip: Before bed go around your house and switch off everything that you can.
The kettle draws a lot of power but for a short period. You can really see the difference between boiling a single cup (H) and enough for a saucepan (G).
Tip: Only boil the water you need.
As you can see from (I) there was 1.5 hours in the evening when I left on the kitchen lights. The lights in the kitchen are 6 halogen spot bulbs, and boy do they suck up the juice – 240W in total! If I did that every day I would be emitting 180 lbs of CO2 into the atmosphere (0.24 kW * 1.5 hr/day * 365 days * 1.37 lbs per kWh).
Naughty!
Tip: Make sure you switch of lights when not in use, especially halogen/incandescent bulbs. Replace them with energy efficient bulbs when they die.
So apart from the power hungry kitchen lights nothing too surprising here. However, seeing the energy in graph form like this really shows where you can make savings, and I’m already changing my habits.
