Energy saving project

Forum about Domotica, home automation and saving energy.
Sooty
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Energy saving project

Post by Sooty »

I did the "where can I save power" thing last year following receipt an obscene bills for gas and electricity. I know part of this was down to the huge price increases but still I managed to get daily average usage down from 27kWh to less than 20.

In the summer months, my daily average is 15kWh and in the winter this can go up to 18. I have 4 32W CFL flood lights that are always on when it's dark so they make a difference in the winter.

Average night (standby) load is 180W without the outside lights.

I have seen this "power use" subject discussed many times in the past and I think there are so many factors affecting this that it is almost impossible to get any useful comparison.

For example: I know a HA enthusiast who lives on his own in a modern very energy efficient small bungalow and has a daily average power usage of less than 5kWh.

In contrast, there are 4 people living in my house (2 adults and 2 teenage girls). The house was built in 1870 so its not very efficient, it has about 250 square meters of floor space over 2 floors and my wife is at home in the daytime most days. Although the children are quite concious about energy use, I have seen 2 or more TV's, Ipod chargers and computers left on and they are nowhere to be found.

Paul..
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Post by TANE »

Paul,
I agree this is very difficult to compare.
What for me important was is to think about.
In the last months I have done lot to reduce my standby usage from almost 400 back to 225 last night.
All is done without going back in comfort. Just using domotica and scheduling for turning on and off. There are still some devices that can be turned off..like power adapters Wifi devices etc..I'm sure I can also win here.
In the next months I'm going to replace some lights with led versions to reduce also my average.
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Post by TANE »

<font size="3"><b>For the Pronto Pro Users</b></font id="size3">

I have the pronto Pro + RFX9400 extender
Both have a 5 volt adapter that is 2A..(very high)

Also the usage is very high..almost 10 watt in standby mode for both
Philips you can do it better...:(
<i>(My TV is using less than 1 watt in standby)</i>

At least 16 hours a day I don't use them....thats 60 Kwh per year.

I'm going to add both to my Powersave event in Homeseer
Powersave event will shutdown all my device at night time + when the alarm is active.

Today also added some other adapters to this event...total saving will be around 150 kwh per year.
Investment 2X Kaku AC1000 modules.
Sooty
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Post by Sooty »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I'm going to add both to my Powersave event in Homeseer
Powersave event will shutdown all my device at night time + when the alarm is active.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">This is exactly what I did last year after my huge electricity bill. All but the bare essentials are switched off if alarm is armed and also I have other scheduled events to turn off unused equipment at different times.

For instance: my eldest daughter has quite a lot of TV/AV equimpent in her room and when its all on standby (about 22 hours a day on school days) it consumes about 25 watts. I have scheduled this to shut down via a KaKu module if there has been no movement in her room for xx hours and the time is between xx:xx and xx:xx. She can also over-ride this with a remote if required.

Paul..
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Post by Digit »

Good suggestion.
Pronto, iPod, UPC Mediabox, all of those things are switched off during night-time, for now with a KAKU switch that triggers an event. And when i have my Powermax up and running i'm also going to use that as a trigger to turn off as much as possible.
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Post by Sooty »

On a slightly connected subject:

Over the last week or so the weather here in Yorkshire has started becoming colder. Below freeezing the last 2 nights. This has meant that my heating system has been active over the last few days.

I'm sure other countries have seen similar price rises for gas over the last year or so that we have in the UK. About + 35-40% here which means that gas is now about 0.40 GBP (0.50 Euro) per M3.

I do have alternative heat sources that I use in prolonged cold periods but at present I am using only gas. Over the last 2 days, my gas use has been 12M3 per day. This equates to nearly 5 GBP (6 Euro) per day / 150 GBP (180 Euro) per month, which I think is high.

I did think about replacing my 9 year old Worcester Bosch boiler with a new "super efficient" condensing unit which the manufacturer says will use 25% less gas to do the same job, but this will cost over 1000 GBP (1200 Euro) and it will take a long time to recover this cost in fuel savings.

Time to look at some heat saving projects I think, although the design of my house (built 1870) will limit what more I can do with insulation and the like.

Paul..
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Post by TANE »

I have two Harrison rails.
They use about 3,5 watt in idle..this is to much..any ideas how to reduce this.
I know there are some forum members with 10 rails ...thats 35 watt per hour. +/- 300kWh per year.
combining the adapters is no option here..
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Post by Lennart »

Hi Chak,

That's one of my concerns as well (Is it really 3,5W ?)

Some options:

- Combine anyway (in my case, I have in some cases two rails for one window).
- Use a more efficient power adapter per rail.
- Switch the adapter using a Plugwise module (0.2W idle) before closing/opening the curtains.

The last solution requires you to use a different remote (or wall switch), as the RFXCOM receiver does not receive Harrison signals from the remote that comes with the rails.

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Post by TANE »

I have rechecked 3 - 3,5 watt

One thing i don't understand...why is my 40" LCD TV just using 0,1 watt in standby and Harrison > 3 watt
maybe a better option is replace the 12 volt adapter with one what is more efficient.
max usage is 6 watt when active.
I think if the adapter is okay 500mA will be fine.

We can contact Harrison and ask them....
I have now plugwise..but this is to much for for just 3 watt saving.
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Post by Esteban »

Finding a different adapter is probably the best way to go... using a 30+eur plug to save 2.2/2,8Watts isn't the most effective solution. [:D]

I have to say that seeing what you pay for Harrison rails (and yes I know they are on the 'cheap-end' of the spectrum, but regardless), they should take this into account and have the system come with a more 'eco-friendly' adapter. Seeing what you pay for such a product, +/-10 euros more won't make a difference.

Ciao,
Esteban
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Post by Bwired »

Yes the Harrison adapter is one of the old kind.
I have combined one adapter for two rails, and that is working fine.
I don't close them at once also. On my list is to replace the adapters with better ones
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Post by TANE »

Just send a e-mail to Harrison.

@Pieter you can close them at the same time..usage is +/- 3 watt more when active.
I think your combined usage is
+/- 4 watt idle
active 1 7 watt
active 2 10 watt
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Post by Bwired »

If I close them at the same time (2 x 3.x meter rail) the sound of the motor is not that good, but it does work.
I think your mail to Harrison wont work on that part, they are not familiar with it.
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Post by TANE »

I hope they will think about it.
there products are okay...only the adapter is a big 12volt 1A..need a update.
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Post by Bwired »

Cant agree more!
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