House 2 - 2009 Hidden Consumer Results
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Part of the 2009 survey included identifying the 'hidden electricity consumers' and measuring their total consumption. All of the items found so far are included in the in the survey results. Find out more about the hidden consumers.
The initial total consumption of these items was 60W (electricity consumption with all items off that are normally switched off). This equates to around £14 per quarter. Our first full electricity bil was just over £97 (a winter bill when consumption will be highest) so around 14% is due to these hidden consumers.
While it is unlikely the figure can be reduced to zero it should be possible to achieve a significant saving.
Based on instinct the standby current of the cooker was measured (normally left switched on at the wall) - switching this off reduced the total standby power from 60W to 42W a massive saving of nearly £4 per quarter assuming the cooker is used on avaerage 2 hours a day.
Removing one of the cordless phones reduces the figure by a further 2W
A list of the items identified with their standby consumption is shown below:
- Gas Fire Ignitor (Unknown)
- Cooker (18W) - now switched off at mains when not in use
- Water Softner (2W) - no plans to change
- 3 Cordless Phones + Chargers (3*2W) - one now removed
- 2 Smoke Detectors (Unknown)
- 2 Shaver Sockets (Unknown)
- Lounge gas fire ignitor
- Bell Transformer (Unknown)
- Water Pump (runs when upstairs hot taps on) (Unknown)
- Burglar Alarm (Unknown)
Over the next few of months it is intended to identify the unknowns in this list and where possible do something about them.
The current standby consumption is 40W a 33% reduction.
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