UK energy

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Jdsk
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Re: UK energy

Post by Jdsk »

Mick F wrote: 27 Oct 2022, 10:29am Listening to Money Box on R4 the other day, and a lady (ex science teacher) worked out how much she can save on her lecky bill by turning off her automatic electric kettle manually as soon as it reached 100degC. It was surprising how much lecky was used for those ten seconds added up to over a year.

Now, I'm no scientist, and I see her point, but she as an ex science teacher should know that water only boils at 100degC as sea-level.

We live at about 250ft, and people up the hill at 750ft.
If we lived in Princetown up on Dartmoor we would be at 1,400ft.

Found the calculator site.
Interesting eh?
https://www.omnicalculator.com/chemistr ... t-altitude

Water boils in Princetown at 98.62degC ................ and that doesn't include barometric pressure variations!
if you're working to two decimal places on the Celsius scale then at sea level water doesn't boil at 100.00 °C but rather at either 99.98(4) or °C 99.97(4) °C depending on method of calibration.

Jonathan
rjb
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Re: UK energy

Post by rjb »

My daughter moved house recently and found a quooker tap in their Kitchen. I can see how the convenience of having one can make owners think their indispensable. Fortunately Mrs Rjb couldn't cope with boiling water and steam gushing out of a tap into her coffee cup inches from her fingers. :lol:
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simonineaston
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Re: UK energy

Post by simonineaston »

hahahaha...
really funny screenshot
really funny screenshot
(actually it's only funny if you're my age - and even then it's not that funny)
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
axel_knutt
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Re: UK energy

Post by axel_knutt »

Mick F wrote: 27 Oct 2022, 10:29amIt was surprising how much lecky was used for those ten seconds added up to over a year.
10 seconds per boil, 3 boils a day, 2.7kW kettle, 35p/kWh electricity = £2.87 a year saved.
“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
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Mick F
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Re: UK energy

Post by Mick F »

It's only early afternoon, and I'm on five boils. Living alone.
Mrs Mick F is away at the moment, so it would be more than that for the two of us. She drinks gallons of coffee. :lol:

Consider ten boils per day JUST for two people.
What about a household of four or five?
Mick F. Cornwall
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mjr
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Re: UK energy

Post by mjr »

al_yrpal wrote: 27 Oct 2022, 10:46am When we moved here there was a Quooker boiling water tap already installed. We dont have a kettle. In addition to hot drinks its useful for preheating cooking water for veg, pasta and rice. As you only use what you dispense and they claim the constant preheating costs pennies per day I wonder if the Quooker is saving us money?
Yes, but how much excess water did you boil before? If it's a few pounds a year saved, it'll take a long time for it to payback its £1000ish cost, even if the secondhand cost was hidden from you by being part of the house price or rent. It's an expensive alternative to a kettle: and do you still have a kettle anyway?

You'd save more money getting a low-fill kettle (there are £20 kettles than can boil 280ml, enough for one mug) and only filling what was needed. If you boil too much, then pour any excess into a flask and use it whenever water that's merely very hot is acceptable (for hot water bottles, lemsips, starting off veg boiling, washing up, whatever).

A £45 countertop boiling water dispenser (basically an unpressurised podless version of those coffee pod machines) might be worth the money, but I'm still not sure if it would replace a kettle. I also expect its refilling to involve more moving parts that would wear out.
Mick F wrote: 27 Oct 2022, 3:00pm Consider ten boils per day JUST for two people.
What about a household of four or five?
Similar number of boils but each one costs more because it's a bigger volume of water. Probably very slightly more efficient as you've only one lot of wiring losses, but it's still heating the water which dominates the energy use.
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al_yrpal
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Re: UK energy

Post by al_yrpal »

No, we dispensed with the kettle. The Quooker is very useful. Wouldnt go back to a kettle. Pop a teabag in a cup, fill the cup from the Quooker, tea made in seconds. As for coffee we have a bean to cup coffee machine. Press a button and theres your coffee. I dont think the Quooker figured in the house price at all. Its dimensions, great age and state of delapidation put lots of potential buyers off. Friends all said "dont buy it Alan!", they were all totally wrong... We celebrate every day just being here. Best home ever...

Had a lot do do with the Chinese all my life. They are very big on hot water vacuum flasks. Very sensible.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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simonineaston
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Re: UK energy

Post by simonineaston »

From what I've heard from sundry chums in the business, any potential savings based on energy costs were largely offset by maintenance ie replacing filters / servicing / rebuilds due to overlooking same. Now of course more so.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
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Mick F
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Re: UK energy

Post by Mick F »

Tea bags! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Loose tea, brewed in a proper teapot for me please.
Not bought a teabag ........... maybe never ever ever.
Mick F. Cornwall
Biospace
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Re: UK energy

Post by Biospace »

Will the UK govt simply ignore this and continue shipping in processed wood for our electricity grid to set fire to? https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... nction-aoe

Screenshot 2022-12-05 at 21.53.50.png
https://www.energylivenews.com/2021/10/ ... 2-emitter/
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... 2e5db3bdd6
Psamathe
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Re: UK energy

Post by Psamathe »

Biospace wrote: 5 Dec 2022, 9:54pm Will the UK govt simply ignore this and continue shipping in processed wood for our electricity grid to set fire to? https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... nction-aoe


Screenshot 2022-12-05 at 21.53.50.png

https://www.energylivenews.com/2021/10/ ... 2-emitter/
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... 2e5db3bdd6
There was an investigation report on TV about this a month or so ago. They traced where the company were logging, filmed with drones, followed the lumber trucks to the processing plant, etc. and pretty definitively demonstrated Drax's claims about sustainability and not using wood suitable for construction were complete drivel. Drax put somebody up to "counter" the report but he couldn't, all he could do was repeat the demonstrated untrue PR Drax kept putting out. BBC Panorama I think.

Ian
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simonineaston
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Re: UK energy

Post by simonineaston »

Loose tea, brewed in a proper teapot for me please.
Not bought a teabag... maybe never ever ever.
In some ways, the teabag represents a watershed. Before they came into common use, we were used to making food from scratch, buying ingredients and preparing dishes ourselves. The benefits to us as consumers are clear: we stayed in control of the preparation and enjoyed the unadulterated product.
Then the food processing industry came along and saw an opportunity. Now they control the product and the process and so profit from that control. As consumers we're sold a commodity that tastes like tea, not of tea. We've lost the ability to enjoy the tea experience (well, most of us have - people like Mick who are preapred to take the time and trouble to do it properly haven't). The industry sell us this loss by fooling us with advertising.
What started with teabags, continues to spread, like mould through a barrel of apples, across the whole food industry. They sell us stuff that tastes like food, we roll over to have tummies tickled and they pocket the difference. More fool us.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
francovendee
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Re: UK energy

Post by francovendee »

al_yrpal wrote: 27 Oct 2022, 4:49pm No, we dispensed with the kettle. The Quooker is very useful. Wouldnt go back to a kettle. Pop a teabag in a cup, fill the cup from the Quooker, tea made in seconds. As for coffee we have a bean to cup coffee machine. Press a button and theres your coffee. I dont think the Quooker figured in the house price at all. Its dimensions, great age and state of delapidation put lots of potential buyers off. Friends all said "dont buy it Alan!", they were all totally wrong... We celebrate every day just being here. Best home ever...

Had a lot do do with the Chinese all my life. They are very big on hot water vacuum flasks. Very sensible.

Al
Teas not tea unless made in a teapot. :lol:
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Cugel
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Re: UK energy

Post by Cugel »

Mick F wrote: 27 Oct 2022, 3:00pm It's only early afternoon, and I'm on five boils. Living alone.
Mrs Mick F is away at the moment, so it would be more than that for the two of us. She drinks gallons of coffee. :lol:

Consider ten boils per day JUST for two people.
What about a household of four or five?
Get a coffee-making machine with a-one of the highly insulated jugs. Makes lots of coffee without boiling any water (it heats the water to the right lower temperature for coffee-making) and keeps it hot for many hours.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Melitta-1011-1 ... r=8-5&th=1

We have this one, which has been making our daily coffee now for over two years. It claims to keep the coffee hot for 2 hours but in fact it stays hot for 4-5 hours and warm enough to drink for another 2 hours. One pot per day usually serves two of us.

Electric kettles are very wasteful of energy, as you often boil when you need less-hot water, you often boil too much and the things lose immense amounts of heat to the surrounding air as they work.

Cugel
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al_yrpal
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Re: UK energy

Post by al_yrpal »

Franco erm...one word answer from the Mrs. Unprintable.... :oops:
Mrs Rjb couldn't cope with boiling water and steam gushing out of a tap into her coffee cup inches from her fingers. :lol:
Yes, one does learn to be cautious using a Quooker.

The EU tried to ban coffee machines that kept things hot as not being green.

Al
Last edited by al_yrpal on 6 Dec 2022, 9:04am, edited 2 times in total.
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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