Suzanne be careful with some movment sensors as not all switch on quickly enough for domestic environments especially PIR's the microwave versions seem quicker because they sense before you actually enter the room.
To be fair to them, 3 and 4! but hey you have to start training them early.
In the gite we've just moved to I have switched the girls bathroom light off about 20 times today. On the list for our next place is not only a monitoring system but also automatic timers/movement sensors on the lights which will be LED of course.
It is questionable that people should switch everything off in winter - mobile phones, chargers, PCs etc etc. Where does the energy go if they are on? Into the room/house which is being heated anyway. In the summer, sure, it is wasted energy. And of course as already said, put more jumpers on. Being of a certain age I remember when we laughed at Americans with central heating. We thought they looked pasty faced. In the past I let a few houses in France and had complaints from Americans that the heating system wouldn't get the house up to 26° - in Spring! It is certainly possible to live at a much reduced ambient (air in this case) temperature. Radiant heat gives a greater feeling of comfort.
Do wooly jumpers stop radiation or is that part of PPE for when the pile catches fire ;-) just teasing.
I distinctly remember on tomorrows world, the discussion of how cheap electricity would become, ahem sorry profits would soar
Fantastic Leslie, thanks for posting!
Hi James,
Yep, I can not see Electricity getting any cheaper.
When you add all the French taxes on, I reckon about 0.30 euro per Kwh.
We are on Grid but going off, so we only use the EDF cheap tariffs at night time, (similar to the UK old Economy 7).
We have about 9kw of power generation, 3off 3.7m dia Wind Turbines and 3off PV Solar Trackers and a 2Kw of a static PV Mount, (In the chicken run, LoL.).
This charges a 56Kwh battery bank, (48v 1300ah).huge
And before you ask, yes the system is financially viable, as the batteries are Second hand, Gel types from Security/banks, computer server back up supplies, that have hardly been used. I just make sure the batteries are holding well.
Our Wind turbines are Hugh Piggott design, efficient, robust, simple and cost effective, Hugh just publishes the designs, (thousands all over the world).
Our PV Trackers are my design, have been running nearly 2 years and have seen horrendous gales. I will be publishing a small booklet this Christmas, called, catchy title, "How to Make a cost effective, simple, 1.5Kw & 2Kw PV Solar Tracker". I just want my printing costs back.
see:- http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/index.php/topic,20386.0.html
and a 24v simple complete system :- http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/index.php/topic,21161.0.html
If you want to go down creating your own energy, then this European Forum his very helpful, don't be afraid to ask.! http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/index.php
We are in Normandy and always welcome interested visitors, http://www.echorenovate.com (we are, not for profit).
My Mantra, Insulate, Insulate, insulate and more Insulation. 500mm minimum in the roof, insulate the walls with minimum 100mm etc etc. Get your loved old building up to Passive Huase standards.
If we can help we will.
They are extremely helpful on the phone too, if you are unsure give them a call on +44 (0) 114 327 2646
If you want to analyse the data via smartphone or browser, you need the engage hub and the e2 Optical, exactly what I have. You don't need to get near the wires if you have a digital meter with the flashing light, it's perfectly accurate too, I think the cable clamp is less so.
I have three phase and the wires are impossible to get at. I have a digital meter (with the pulsing light) - what exactly do I need to get to monitor AND analyse? I find the website is not too good to sort exactly what I need!
Following form Julian, Mike there are huge differences in LED lights, I have bought, imported and installed these commercially and early on made big mistakes, with some as you say being totally useless but these days I have far better suppliers
Not much fluctuation Martin but we don't have electric heating or even a central heating system. 70kW/hours a week is enviable. Nice work!
Mike, glad you found one, it sounds like it will be ideal for you with all that equipment. Perhaps a little eye-watering when the kiln is on!
I managed to find an Efergy e2 2.0 Optical Wireless Energy Smart Meter on e-bay for a good price so have ordered one of those. By the amount so far we are very heavy users. However, we have tried eco lights, led lights and for our requirement they were all useless. We run a small farm we need a lot of light in the stables during winter for training the llamas, administering medication and general husbandry. I also have a large workshop, storage area, wood room, vehicle room etc which all amounts to 600sq mtrs of floor space (not including the house) and my wife has a pottery and a 7WK Kiln, what I do want to know is how much are we racking up per day and also I want to know how much energy certain things use. The house itself is run fairly economically (or so I believe) and as we have 3 separate fuse boxes (house, barn, Pottery) I will eventually put a monitor on each box so I can see where the money is going.
Martin, yes workshop lights, or more specifically old fluorescent fittings are hopelessly inefficient. The tube maybe stamped 58watts but the actual consumption is nearer double, the rest is used to power the ballast unit.
Even the old circular fittings which my Mum had in her kitchen were actually consuming 120watts each but only had 60watt lamps in them.
Likewise microwaves, the 600watts is what is beamed into your food, the actual consumption of the microwave is nearer 1200-1400 watts.
Laptops are far more efficient compared to desktop pc's.
James, wow that’s some consumption. Do you notice much fluctuation between the seasons?
I posted some months ago my concerns apropos the preferred water heaters here in France. The replies were interesting and my experiment, switching off after the last shower in the morning and then back on when I got up for my morning coffee. The results revealed I could save a few cents a day. However, this created a bit of a whirlwind in the house and everything was subjected to a severe optical interrogation to check its consumption. As a result we use between 75 and 70 KW/h per week. This is monitored weekly as is the water which is currently at between 1.5 and 2 CM per week.
We are 2, with a far too regular stream of guests, all wood fire heating, gas hob (a bottle every 6 months) and electric oven. 2 laptops, chargers and the usual small items.
During our examination period one casualty was my workshop floodlight. That seriously sent the metre spinning!
Mike, what are you having trouble with. Can I help? If there is a problem with purchasing from eFergy I can contact them for you if you like?
Julian White said, "One of the big power draws here sometimes is from pool pumps, often running for too long".
That has been the case for a lot of pool owners but I and my company have put an end to that. We have torn up the rule book and designed the most efficient pool flow system in the world. Thinking of contacting the Guiness world record team to have this officially recognised.
A small pool will use a pump around 650 watts/hour, medium pool 730 watts/hour medium large 1500 watts/hour and a large domestic pool 2200 watts/hour. Some pools like Desjoyaux, Magiline and Water air use monoblock filtration and pumps around 1800 watts.
Using the correct flow for the given pool size and by way of demonstration, a medium pool (8m x 4m x 1.5m) can run on 69 watts/hour during swimming time and 35 watts/hour for the rest of the time, this represents massive savings but also better water quality as the water is not stagnating unlike conventional pools where cost denotes the pool run time. clearer water means lower chemical usage and less maintenance so lowering those costs too.
The pool pump during the summer months is most likely to be the second biggest user of electricity in a house hold, This can be reduced to less than the power required to run a conventional light bulb and the savings provide a reasonable pay back period for the modifications leading to actually repaying some of the costs of the pool. We also have a 12m x 6m x 1.8m running on 114 watts all summer with excellent water quality, that replaced a 2200 watt pump setup.
Like so many web sites these days..it does not work and comes up with error pages when you try and enter.
thats about 440units James.
Lis and I turn everything off at the wall, and limit showers to 5 minutes. We have a dual chamber water cylinder, we keep the largest part off and only use the smaller top tank. Thermostat is set at the correct temp and Ive had it checked. We have no extras running. We use LED bulbs , and take advantage of every single power save we can.
Its ironic in that the majority of our power is hydro generation, so renewables. The issue we have is that the transmission costs have to be paid separately as a line charge. Of the current bill 20% of the overall price is paid to Vector the company that owns the power lines. Up until the late 80's the generation and supply companies were all owned by the taxpayer, worked well and provided affordable power to the nation. Then governments started down this 'neo liberal' model of selling it all into private ownerships. They said that private owners would build better infrastructure. The reality is that private ownership has led to profit driven only , so prices just ratchet up every 6 months. Despite the neoliberal policy being largely discredited globally , certainly in the instance of essential infrastructure, or current National/Tory govt has started down that road again, selling 49% stake in the last remaining. So they have been ratcheting prices, reducing spend on service and maintenance to maximise balance sheets to up its float values.
any way....my moan over LOL.
Basically we are a country of 4 million trying to live like a country of 40 million & paying through the nose for everything.
That's interesting Tim. How much do you pay per kW/h?
We are a household of 4/5 people, electric hot water heater and one electric towel radiator. Gas hob/kettle. Electric oven. Heating is wood. I reckon the power drain will be the water heater mainly.