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Hello everyone. I’m trying to reduce my electricity bill, so I’m checking the power consumption of all my appliances. So my question is; how much energy should an A rated appliance consume?
The biggest suspect is the 30 year old chest freezer. I bought a mains power meter that says it’s drawing 0.64 KWh. What would an A rated freezer draw?
And how do I convert the KWh figure into Pounds and Pence? My supplier, Atlantic, seems reluctant to post its tariffs on its website. Those suppliers that do seem to have a figure for the first so many units and another for subsequent units. How can I average this out for a monthly cost?
Thanks,
Mike.
Re: Chest Freezer Power Consumption
Hi
Simple calculation for this..
How much is the replacement freezer ? Say £200. Am i going to save this much in 5 years running costs.
Answer: NO ..keep your old one its going to be more reliable in the end.
The idea for the chest freezers to run efficiently is to have them full to the top and set at No.2,If you dont fill the freezer then fill 6pint plastic bottles with water and fill the bottom of it with them.Then get a piece of hardboard or plyboard and put it on top of the bottles then use the remainder of the freezer as normal.At christmas when you need more space remove the plastic bottles.
Bryan
Re: Chest Freezer Power Consumption
Thanks Bryan, I’ll keep it and start measuring my other appliances.
But on a more general point, I’m having trouble with the power consumption maths. After 24 hours, my new meter is showing 4 KW/h. If electricity costs 8p per KW/h, is this 4×0.08=0.32p for a days running? Therefore 30×0.32=£9.60 per month? Is it that simple or am I missing something? There seems to be a higher rate for the first so many KW/h’s, so it seems hard to work out the exact cost of each appliance.
Feel free to give me the idiots guide…
Mike.
Re: Chest Freezer Power Consumption
Perhaps you should take this view. If its a large chest freezer let us say its has a motor with 125w consumption. Now say it only runs for 10 hours a day – thats 1.25Kw per day or about 11p a day x 30 days thats about £3.30 a month. Next variable is are you saving money by buying in bulk or are you just hoarding frozen stuff. If you are buying in bulk can you save the three quid to cover the cost of the storage? If you are hoarding and like most people will chuck lots away why not buy a smaller chest freezer.
4KW/h seems awfully high, that’s more than many tumble dryers never mind a freezer. Are you sure the meter you have is accurate as that just seems wrong?
K.
Re: Chest Freezer Power Consumption
Well the meter is new, but I can only assume it’s accurate. The KW/h figure started at 0.6, then rose to 4 after 24 hours. Right now, it’s showing 8.4 KW/h after 50 hours. The instantaneous power reading is 180 W, so I guess the KW/h figure is cumulative. Am I on the right track?
Anyway, I think after taking the advice above the chest freezer is not the culprit. I’m paying £66 per month for electricity alone, which for a modest three bed terrace seems a bit high. Central heating/water is powered by gas. My brother has a much larger house and he spends £77 pm including two bathrooms with underfloor heating that he was told will cost a Pound a day, so knock £30 off that figure just for that.
We’ve got a young family, so the washing machine can run up to four times a day, but it’s less than a year old and is AAA rated. The dishwasher runs every day, but is AAA rated as well.
We’ve got an old tumble dryer which will be used less now the nice weathers here, but I’ll check that next. Oven and hob are electric. All bulbs are energy saving. I’m not sure what else I can do.
To be honest I’d convinced myself that the freezer was bleeding me dry, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Re: Chest Freezer Power Consumption
Wall warts as they are known can be a culprit, especially if you fun a few, plug in transformers for LV lights all use wall warts a nice term from our friends in the States, chargers and the likes they have a minimal but constant draw.
PC’s, TV’s, video’s, DVD’s, games consoles, routers, NAS, oven clock… anything that is plugged in 24/7 will almost certainly draw juice and the cumulative effect can be astounding.
I’ve done this exercise more than a few times but, in the end, it usually comes down to the stuff that’s “always on” that is the real killer then, after that, it becomes a question of what you can live with. Or without.
HTH
K.
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