mike_m
Active Member
Growing up during an era of relatively cheap electricity, and armed with a schoolboys’ understanding of power consumption (‘watts = volts x amps’ just about sums it up), I have always dismissed electronics – and even domestic lighting - from serious consideration when thinking about the cost of power, because the wattage consumed by such devices is paltry compared to, say, the old 3-bar fire that used to heat the living room in my first house.
So I confess I have gone through life without really worrying about whether I leave lights switched on when I leave a room, or if I keep a computer running 24/7. In my mind, that’s always been ‘just a few quid a year’. However, a letter from SSE warning of rising prices (to an eye-watering 28p/kwh, in our case) has prompted me to go round the house and tot up what we spend on all those few quids’ worths.
The two Hummys are on 24/7 (except for a half-hour break), so (assuming a max power consumption of 28 watts) they cost me abut £140 a year in power. Putting them on standby for the time they’re not used would probably save me about £100 a year. Well, that’s not trifling, but it’s not going to make much of a dent in the leccy bill next year.
What was far more interesting was when I worked out the cost of running the halogen track lighting in my kitchen and computer room. This was considered to be energy-saving in 2003, when it was installed; I have stubbornly refused to change to LEDs because I simply hate the look that LEDs have - even the supposed 'warm white' ones – I call it the ‘corpse light’ effect. These lights are in dark parts of the house and so they’re on most of the time, and I worked out that they will cost us a staggering £900 next year – so now I’m finally replacing them with LEDs, which should cost about £130 per year to run. The hardware (new tracks, spots and bulbs – the old stuff won’t support LEDs) will come to about £300, so it’s a no-brainer.
Now I just have to get used to that awful light....
So I confess I have gone through life without really worrying about whether I leave lights switched on when I leave a room, or if I keep a computer running 24/7. In my mind, that’s always been ‘just a few quid a year’. However, a letter from SSE warning of rising prices (to an eye-watering 28p/kwh, in our case) has prompted me to go round the house and tot up what we spend on all those few quids’ worths.
The two Hummys are on 24/7 (except for a half-hour break), so (assuming a max power consumption of 28 watts) they cost me abut £140 a year in power. Putting them on standby for the time they’re not used would probably save me about £100 a year. Well, that’s not trifling, but it’s not going to make much of a dent in the leccy bill next year.
What was far more interesting was when I worked out the cost of running the halogen track lighting in my kitchen and computer room. This was considered to be energy-saving in 2003, when it was installed; I have stubbornly refused to change to LEDs because I simply hate the look that LEDs have - even the supposed 'warm white' ones – I call it the ‘corpse light’ effect. These lights are in dark parts of the house and so they’re on most of the time, and I worked out that they will cost us a staggering £900 next year – so now I’m finally replacing them with LEDs, which should cost about £130 per year to run. The hardware (new tracks, spots and bulbs – the old stuff won’t support LEDs) will come to about £300, so it’s a no-brainer.
Now I just have to get used to that awful light....