energy usage and power costs

[eastyy]

was wondering how much it costs to run a computer had a chat with my other half and she seems to think its the computer thats the reason the electricty bill is so high i think its probably using the storage heaters and leaving lights on

wondered if anyone would know cheers

[charlesr]

I leave my PC on 24/7. It costs around ?70pa I vaguely remember calculating.

Generating heat is the number one source of electricity in the household. When I go to bed, with the PC on and everything else on standby (not off - including the fridge/freezer), the smart monitor reckons I'm spending around 2p per hour. If I turn the kettle on, that jumps to 40pph. Similar for each electric ring on the hob or oven. Turning the TV on adds another 4pph. Turn the washing machine or dishwasher or tumble drier on all add another 30pph each (heating water or air - both expensive). If you have an electrically heated shower, this will absolutely molest your meter reading - just be missing out on 2 days worth of showers will save the entire years worth of electricity they witter on about that you might save by turning off all the stuff that's on standby overnight.

[Charlie]

You'll need to know the wattage of your laptop or desktop & grahics card/sound card and monitor etc., and know how much you pay for electricity per kW to get an accurate figure. Lights cost next to nothing left on, especially energy saving bulbs, where as heaters will always use up a fair bit of electricity.

[eastyy]

well the psu is 650 watts doubt its all using that though

didnt know about the electric shower though

have a immersion water system dont have it on that much though

[speedlolita]

My thinkpad is using 16 watts at the minute.

You'll find changing stuff like lightbulbs to energy efficient ones and not having long showers will cut costs more than leaving your PC off when not using it.

[Jei]

Apply with your energy company for one of the Smart Meters that Charlesr mentioned.

We've got one and it suprised me that the things I thought were hammering Electricity (Such as the ps3 etc) were hardly using anything yet the kettle was using LOADS. A small step like not filling the kettle up with more than you'l actually use makes more difference than you think!

I'd put money on the Storage Heaters

[NW2013]

Probably your immersion heater. Cut down the length of time its on and programme it for the discounted period if you're on an economy 7 type tariff.

[EvilBoris]

Storage heaters are horribly ineffecient too, I'd blame them

[Anpanman]

Yep it's things like your heating and cooking, small apliances like PC's use watts of power i.e. sub 1k, ovens and heaters are generally rated in kilowatts. One reason your microwave uses oodles less power than an electric oven.

[Oldgamingfart]

We have storage heaters in the bedrooms, but they're on a timer so that they only kick-in on the cheaper off-peak leccy at night. In the Summer months they're turned off at the wall, so that no current is drawn unnecessarily (although I doubt they'll switch on in these temperatures).

To be honest, we rarely use the central heating unless it's really cold just to warm the whole house up (or dry out the laundry). The small gas fire in the living room takes care of day-to-day requirements in the Winter months. Hot water and shower are fed from a new(ish) Baxi Combi boiler.

[Anpanman]

You tend to find that on the Economy 7 tariffs - the ones with the late night off-peak savings, you pay a lot more for your other usage so what you gain off-peak you lose out on the rest of the time.

[Brad]

A Mac Mini (from about 3 years ago) cost about ?27 a year. My current PC probably would cost about a grand lol.