Loxley House

Posts Tagged ‘Energy Saving Tips’

Energy Saving Tip 11: Tea Time Wastage

Friday, December 11th, 2009
Fancy a Brew?

Fancy a Brew?

We all like a good cup of tea, don’t we? It’s a great British tradition after all. Recent government figures claim that about 229 million cups of tea are consumed in the UK every day. So, after a bit of basic maths, we can see that 9.5 million cups are made and enjoyed every hour of every day! That’s a lot of tea, and a lot of energy being used to make it. The most accurate estimations suggest that, on average, every kettle is filled with twice as much water than it needs and is boiled 90 seconds longer that necessary. So it seems we are all using more energy than we need to make our favourite break-time beverage.

I know a lot of you may think this seems a tad trivial – surely there’s bigger climate change fish to fry than this!? – but The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) reckon that if everyone used just the amount of water they needed every time they boiled the kettle “we could save enough electricity to run practically all the street lighting in the U.K.” When you look it at like that it doesn’t seem too trivial really, does it? Also, by only filling your kettle with the water you need you will see a sizeable reduction in household bills, as the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) say that overfilling kettles amounts to wasting enough electricity to light your house for a day.

So by just being a bit more environmentally conscious next time you make a brew you could help save the planet and save money at the same time!

Guest post written by Luke Glassford from Anicca Solutions.

Energy Saving Tip 10: Turn off your TV at night!

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Just like every other nation, Britain loves TV! Today the box in the corner is a focal point, the bigger the better in some homes. The TV provides us with a lots of entertainment, very few are now just used for terrestrial channel watching. Most now have digital, Freeview or Sky for example. Films on DVD are easy to watch and you never have to miss your favorite soap with sky+. When your not watching TV on your TV you can play games or even surf the web on it!

With all of this, it can’t come as any surprise then that the TV is one of the biggest energy burners in the living room. You sat in front of it certainly isn’t a contender! 

Dont press standby - turn is off!

Don't press standby - turn is off!

On average a traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) television set uses 100 watts of power when in use and about two watts on standby. Newer LCD and plasma screens are higher users of energy, with the largest models consuming up to 400 watts when in use and about four watts on standby.

TVs can also present a potential fire hazard. Many house fires are due to electrical faults from TVs being left on stand by. Obviously, TVs are electrical safety checked by the manufacturer but is it really worth the risk?

People simple pressing the off button on the remote, rather than the power off button on the TV is a real issue when it comes to saving energy and climate change. So much so that there is a chance the government is to outlaw standby switches on televisions and video and DVD players to cut the amount of electricity wasted in the home. 

Manufactures are making measures to address the problem. Some clever TVs do power off at the remote and there are some products on the market (one featured on Dragons Den) that can cut off the power at the plug.  

Consumers can now safely switch off most DVD players/recorders, hard disk recorders or video recorders purchased in recent years, according to the Energy Saving Trust. They should not need to retune the devices when they are switched back on or have to contend with the dreaded flashing clock as the machines usually retain their settings.

However, manufacturers recommend that some satellite TV receivers be left in standby when not in use so they can receive updates.

When you go to bed at night count how many little flashing lights or red dots you can see. Its surprising how many household appliances stay awake whilst you are asleep!

Guest blog post by George Thomas, from Tag Medical – Medical Equipment Testing

Energy Saving Tip 7: Mobile Phone Chargers

Monday, December 7th, 2009

When you have finished charging up your mobile phone do you ever leave the power adaptor plugged in and switched on? If you don’t, give yourself a pat on the back!

Turn off your mobile charger when its not in use!

Turn off your mobile charger when it's not in use!

When plugged in and switched on, mobile phone chargers normally draw the same amount of energy whether they are charging a phone or not.

Do you leave your phone on charge overnight while you are sleeping? Most modern mobile devices will take around an hour to fully charge, so this will mean that while you are asleep your phone which will be fully charged is wasting energy and should really be switched off.

If you need your phone charged up for the day, the best time to charge it is when you wake up in the morning. This means that when you leave for work, your phone will be charged! To speed up the time it takes to charge your phone you could switch it off. If you have a modern phone, turning off bluetooth and wifi will ensure that your battery lasts much longer between charges and will charge faster when plugged in.

Energy Saving Tip 2: Computer Energy Consumption

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Do you realise the how much power your PC or laptop uses?

New computers & laptops consume less power

New computers & laptops consume less power

  • On average a standard desktop computer uses between 65 to 250 watts of power.
  • On average a typical computer moniitor will use between 60 to 120 watts of electricity (dependent on screen size).
  • A laptop will generally consume around 8 to 30 watts depending on the screen size and tasks performed.

There are lots of ways to reduce the power consumption of your computer:

  • Don’t use screen savers, set up your monitor to turn off when inactive for a long period of time. When activated, a screen saver will run the monitor at the full amount of power usage.
  • If you are still using an old CRT monitor switch to a newer flat screen LCD one. In addition to freeing up lots of room on your desk, you will also be making an energy saving between 40 to 60%/.
  • Set up your laptop or computer to sleep or standby after a long period of inactivity. It will only take a few moments to re-boot next time you sit down ready to use it.
  • When you are nipping out or leaving work, turn off your computer and monitors. Don’t leave the monitor on stand by, press the button and switch it off. If you have a networked printer in the office, do you ever switch it off?

Energy Saving Tips for Christmas!

Monday, November 30th, 2009

I’ve been really neglecting this site over the past few months. Most of the free time I’ve had recently has been spent taking photos for the site which has meant that the development has taken a back seat. I do have a hard disk full of pics though!

Most of the pictures I have will eventually be featured on the site, or on the Turn Off Your Lights flickr group that I have just created – if you have any of your own, please feel free to uploaded them to the group too!

To get the blog going I will be publishing an energy saving tip each day in the run up to Christmas – who needs advent calendars?

If you have any of your own tips that you would like to share on the site then please send them in to info@turnoffyourlights.co.uk