Home energy saving tips /ideas...

[quixoticgeek]

I got a knock on the door this morning, and it was a guy sent round by the city council (Gemeente Amsterdam). It's called an Energiebox, and it contains a load of things to help a household save energy. There's some LED light bulbs, draft strip (gonna use that on the front door), a draft thing for the letter box (no use to me, but nice for some), a thermometer, a time switch, radiator foil, and some switched outlets/extension cords. They are clearly hoping for the message of reducing standby time, and improving draught proofness of buildings.



I think that in all but the worst of buildings, or people with the worst power hygiene, this would actually use more power to produce the contents of the box, than it saves. But it's a nice gesture.

J

[Kim]

When barakta was a librarian in the early noughties, they were given boxes of (reasonably decent) CFL lamps to hand out to patrons.  That was probably an effective measure, as many people were still routinely using tungsten at that point, and the library's demographic tended to the poor and elderly.  I suppose there are still some CFL lamps kicking around today that could be replaced with LED, but if they're still going the duty cycle's going to be pretty low.  You have to actively make an effort to buy a non-LED lamp these days.

Power strips are always useful^[1], but I'm not sure they're going to do much to help people save energy.

Bonus points if the timer uses more energy than the device it switches off would do in standby

Draught excluders are always good, if they're the right ones for your draughty things.  I've no idea how much benefit there is from sticking foil behind your radiators; presumably not much unless it's on an external wall.


I wonder if the objective here is some sort of green box-ticking exercise?


_{[1] As those following me on twitter will know.}

[Mr Larrington]

I actually installed a CFL in the standard lamp in the kitchen last week since it was sitting on the cupboard next to said lamp begging to be installed when the bulb (also a CFL) finally expired.

EDF actually sent me a bunch of CFLs free, gratis and for nothing when I switched my energy supplier to them, but they were bugger-all use since they were all bayonet fitting which in my case I have not got

[quixoticgeek]

When barakta was a librarian in the early noughties, they were given boxes of (reasonably decent) CFL lamps to hand out to patrons.  That was probably an effective measure, as many people were still routinely using tungsten at that point, and the library's demographic tended to the poor and elderly.  I suppose there are still some CFL lamps kicking around today that could be replaced with LED, but if they're still going the duty cycle's going to be pretty low.  You have to actively make an effort to buy a non-LED lamp these days.

It's a good idea, I remember benefiting from such a scheme when I was in the UK.

Power strips are always useful^[1], but I'm not sure they're going to do much to help people save energy.

The main thing that this power strip and the switched outlet offer, are switching. Dutch standard wiring does not include a switch on the power socket, which means that for a lot of modern devices the only way to turn it off standby, and thus save the standby power, is to unplug it. By having a dist board or switched outlet adaptor, you can switch off the stuff without having to pull the plug out. Esp when the sockets that Schuko plugs into are almost all universally awful.

Bonus points if the timer uses more energy than the device it switches off would do in standby

There is that. The suggestion was to use it for my phone charger, but I'm pretty certain the Iq of my phone charger is pretty close to, if now lower than the current use of a timer like this. I might use it with my hydroponics tho...

Draught excluders are always good, if they're the right ones for your draughty things.  I've no idea how much benefit there is from sticking foil behind your radiators; presumably not much unless it's on an external wall.

The draught strip is going to get installed on the front door this week. I have been meaning to do that, so this is making it simpler, I don't have to goto Gamma first.

The thing with the foil is it's a great idea, It would save my energy usage. But cos I use city heat, we have a temp meter thing stuck to the middle of the radiator. Installing foil behind the radiator upsets the readings from this, so you end up reading more energy used, than actual, which has the side effect of pushing the bill up. 

What I am thinking I will use the foil for however, is my bedroom window. In the summer the heat from the south facing bedroom window results in the bedroom getting very hot, esp during the day. If I can put the foil up on the window, it will reduce the passive solar gain, and make the room more comfortable.

I wonder if the objective here is some sort of green box-ticking exercise?

"We need to be seen to be doing something. This is something."

I think there is definitely a use case for things like this, but as someone who's pretty energy aware it's not actually as useful for me as it might be for my elderly neighbour.

_{[1] As those following me on twitter will know.}

I'm just jealous you can use all the sockets in the dist board. I have a number of dist boards where I can't use all the sockets cos the wall warts interfere with each other...

J

[BrianI]

When barakta was a librarian in the early noughties, they were given boxes of (reasonably decent) CFL lamps to hand out to patrons.  That was probably an effective measure, as many people were still routinely using tungsten at that point, and the library's demographic tended to the poor and elderly.  I suppose there are still some CFL lamps kicking around today that could be replaced with LED, but if they're still going the duty cycle's going to be pretty low.  You have to actively make an effort to buy a non-LED lamp these days.

Power strips are always useful^[1], but I'm not sure they're going to do much to help people save energy.

Bonus points if the timer uses more energy than the device it switches off would do in standby

Draught excluders are always good, if they're the right ones for your draughty things.  I've no idea how much benefit there is from sticking foil behind your radiators; presumably not much unless it's on an external wall.


I wonder if the objective here is some sort of green box-ticking exercise?


_{[1] As those following me on twitter will know.}

A few years ago,  energy saving bulbs were posted out as a "door to door" flyer!

[Kim]

Power strips are always useful^[1], but I'm not sure they're going to do much to help people save energy.

The main thing that this power strip and the switched outlet offer, are switching. Dutch standard wiring does not include a switch on the power socket, which means that for a lot of modern devices the only way to turn it off standby, and thus save the standby power, is to unplug it. By having a dist board or switched outlet adaptor, you can switch off the stuff without having to pull the plug out. Esp when the sockets that Schuko plugs into are almost all universally awful.

Ah, of course.  I'd overlooked that.  Individual switches would be better, but they're a fairly high-end feature.

Bonus points if the timer uses more energy than the device it switches off would do in standby

There is that. The suggestion was to use it for my phone charger, but I'm pretty certain the Iq of my phone charger is pretty close to, if now lower than the current use of a timer like this. I might use it with my hydroponics tho...

My box of mains electric stuff that might come in useful contains a several of those old-style mechanical timers with the synchronous motor and the pins that you set with a 15-minute resolution.  I think they're rated at about 5W, which - assuming LEDs - is quite a lot compared to the sort of lighting load (Christmas lights, random lamp for burglar-deterrent purposes) they frequently get used for.

_{[1] As those following me on twitter will know.}

I'm just jealous you can use all the sockets in the dist board. I have a number of dist boards where I can't use all the sockets cos the wall warts interfere with each other...

They're reasonable enough wall-warts, if you overlook that they were supplied by the retailer, and that each of those radio aid devices is used as a transmitter/receiver pair.  It would have been far more sensible (if not necessarily cheaper) to supply dual-output 2A chargers.  (Phonak themselves will be against the wall for using USB-C to charge the receiver while the transmitter still uses micro-B.)

[barakta]

(Phonak themselves will be against the wall for using USB-C to charge the receiver while the transmitter still uses micro-B.)

Partly my fault. The receivers are a new unit - I think the old receivers were micro-USB too - but agree about the fucking plugs! The transmitters are about to be deprecated, but I looked up the new ones which look sillier and cost more, and decided to stick with the older units for this batch and test buy units 0.

I will inevitably end up having to draft guidance sheets for 2 different transmitters come the stock run-out, but for now we have 7 matched pairs and I'm sticking to it! Got to get gen1 running, train up colleagues on using/lending them and then think about how to train up random receptionists for the public users and think about the battery charge maintenance stuff.

[Cudzoziemiec]

We have a CFL in the dining room (which functions as my "office"). Simply cos it was the most appropriate spare when the LED in there previously broke.

What in this context is a "power strip"? Is it another name for an extension cord and socket?

[orienteer]

Still use CFLs in the lounge and dining rooms, as so far I haven't come across led lamps equivalent to 200W tungstens, which will fit bayonet lamp holders.

[Kim]

Still use CFLs in the lounge and dining rooms, as so far I haven't come across led lamps equivalent to 200W tungstens, which will fit bayonet lamp holders.

In my quest to eliminate flicker I settled on the Sansi 22/27W lamps (which are excellent), with a BC22 to E27 adaptor.  It does make for a 'long' bulb (ridiculously so if you then exacerbate matters with an E27 smart socket^[1]) - which is fine with the large paper lampshades we've fitted in the interest of diffusion, but might not work with your fixtures.


_{[1] File under 'toys that turned out to be invaluable when barakta was immobile after her hip surgery'.}

[Kim]

What in this context is a "power strip"? Is it another name for an extension cord and socket?

Yeah, typically a metre or so of extension cord and 4 or more sockets.

[Mr Larrington]

Still use CFLs in the lounge and dining rooms, as so far I haven't come across led lamps equivalent to 200W tungstens, which will fit bayonet lamp holders.

200W   What are you doing in there, running an interrogation centre

[Kim]

Still use CFLs in the lounge and dining rooms, as so far I haven't come across led lamps equivalent to 200W tungstens, which will fit bayonet lamp holders.

200W   What are you doing in there, running an interrogation centre

I use them as a main light for cleaning and fettling fiddly things.  The rest of the time the room is lit by more modest dimmable uplighters.

It's particularly important in the kitchen, which has landlord-quality lighting design: A cheap central pendant, and that's it.  The only way to avoid doing the washing-up in your own shadow with that arrangement is to spaff as many photons as possible in all directions, and hope enough of them bounce.

[orienteer]

Still use CFLs in the lounge and dining rooms, as so far I haven't come across led lamps equivalent to 200W tungstens, which will fit bayonet lamp holders.

200W   What are you doing in there, running an interrogation centre

One light in the dining room, 15' x 12', two in the longer lounge, diffusion by Japanese paper lanterns. Even so sometimes need extra light to read comfortably. Age doesn't help

[orienteer]

Still use CFLs in the lounge and dining rooms, as so far I haven't come across led lamps equivalent to 200W tungstens, which will fit bayonet lamp holders.

In my quest to eliminate flicker I settled on the Sansi 22/27W lamps (which are excellent), with a BC22 to E27 adaptor.  It does make for a 'long' bulb (ridiculously so if you then exacerbate matters with an E27 smart socket^[1]) - which is fine with the large paper lampshades we've fitted in the interest of diffusion, but might not work with your fixtures.


_{[1] File under 'toys that turned out to be invaluable when barakta was immobile after her hip surgery'.}

Have the converters and large paper lanterns, but at £30 each....

[FifeingEejit]

Can't remember if it was someone on here or my brother that pointed out the fairly major safety issue with bayonet-Es adaptors that due to the potential for neutral switching you definitley want to isolate at the consumer unit before fitting

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[Kim]

Still use CFLs in the lounge and dining rooms, as so far I haven't come across led lamps equivalent to 200W tungstens, which will fit bayonet lamp holders.

In my quest to eliminate flicker I settled on the Sansi 22/27W lamps (which are excellent), with a BC22 to E27 adaptor.  It does make for a 'long' bulb (ridiculously so if you then exacerbate matters with an E27 smart socket^[1]) - which is fine with the large paper lampshades we've fitted in the interest of diffusion, but might not work with your fixtures.


_{[1] File under 'toys that turned out to be invaluable when barakta was immobile after her hip surgery'.}

Have the converters and large paper lanterns, but at £30 each....

I paid £25 for two.  But that was in 2020.

What's the going rate for a high-power CFL?

[Kim]

Can't remember if it was someone on here or my brother that pointed out the fairly major safety issue with bayonet-Es adaptors that due to the potential for neutral switching you definitley want to isolate at the consumer unit before fitting

Yes, they should be treated as potentially live.  As should bayonet sockets, tbh, as it's so easy to inadvertently stick your finger in them (DAHIKT).  They're all shit, and probably wouldn't be allowed if invented today.

The main risk (of the outer part of the Edison screw becoming live, due to polarity roulette in the bayonet socket) can be mitigated by ensuring the adaptor completely encloses the metal of the ES screw, and by fitting it to the lamp before installing them in the BC socket.

[mrcharly-YHT]

yebbut Edison screw are so susceptible to poor contacts (not screwed in quite far enough, jamming and working their way out). I hate them.

[FifeingEejit]

GU10 is a pain in the hoop for alignment.


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[Mrs Pingu]

I hate them too.

[Mr Larrington]

GU10 is a pain in the hoop for alignment.

I dunno, Farnham isn’t that bad

[MattH]

Yes, they should be treated as potentially live.  As should bayonet sockets, tbh, as it's so easy to inadvertently stick your finger in them (DAHIKT).  They're all shit, and probably wouldn't be allowed if invented today.

Back when I was a PSO, not only didn't we have that new fangled internet in our halls bedrooms (had to go down to the computer centre for that), one of the halls didn't actually have any mains sockets in the rooms. The only power was the pendant light fitting. Therefore everyone in there got BC double adaptors to allow both a light bulb and a BC plug on the end of a long bit of wire that had 13A sockets on the end. Wired to non-engineering student standards, with ancient hall electricity infrastructure that was only intended for light bulbs, what could possibly go wrong?

[Kim]

I've got a BC male plug in my box of mains electric stuff that might come in useful.  Fortunately, so far, it hasn't.

[Pickled Onion]

Yes, they should be treated as potentially live.  As should bayonet sockets, tbh, as it's so easy to inadvertently stick your finger in them (DAHIKT).  They're all shit, and probably wouldn't be allowed if invented today.

Back when I was a PSO, not only didn't we have that new fangled internet in our halls bedrooms (had to go down to the computer centre for that), one of the halls didn't actually have any mains sockets in the rooms. The only power was the pendant light fitting. Therefore everyone in there got BC double adaptors to allow both a light bulb and a BC plug on the end of a long bit of wire that had 13A sockets on the end. Wired to non-engineering student standards, with ancient hall electricity infrastructure that was only intended for light bulbs, what could possibly go wrong?

Sometime in the eighties, before Raves were a thing, I was asked to "come and run some power" for a pop-up event. The venue was a disused cinema in S London. To get to the source of the power involved climbing through a back window and in through the window of a neighbouring property. Where there was a single room with a pendant and a male bayonet adapter.

- How many lights do you want to run off this?
- Oh, not just the lights, the PA as well. Is that a problem?
-  go and get a gennie