Garden And Gossip Forums

I don't see why they couldn't just make night time energy cheaper, and it'd soon make people use their machines at night again!

One of our houses was on off-peak electricity for the night storage heaters. Totally useless as they were hot when we were out at work and cold by the evening. Soon got rid of them and built a wall with the bricks inside the heaters.
The Fire Service advise against using tumble dryers, washing machines etc over night because of the fire risk.
Maybe everyone should be given a time of day when they can cook/wash/dry - to spread the load.

I could do any time to be honest - I have a few timer plugs that can switch all machinery on whenever. I suppose this kind of scheme makes people realise when is NOT a good time to use electricity.

Just had the Report for my 2nd day of Energy Shifting ;-

You reduced your energy usage by 72% which means you'll get £2.56 credited to your account.
I'm happy with that.

Energy Shift Challenge has just landed - for tomorrow - and its for 2 hours between 5 - 7 pm - to save 0.42 kwh.
I think that's about the same amount as last time but spread over 2 hours, instead of 1. Should be easier, I think?

I’m not sure it be easier Veggie I know I’d sooner be sat with candlelight for one hour instead of two. 

My plan is - to fill a flask with boiling water for drinks, have the central heating on if its cold (because I'm not going to suffer for the sake of having a £1 reward ) and, maybe defer the cooking until after 7. I've just finished eating tonight so won't take much effort. Otherwise, nothing much different.

Do you have a smart meter, Veggie? If you have TRVs on your radiators you could try turning them down a bit and seeing how many kWh that saves. I think turning one larger radiator down from 3 to 2, or 2 to 1, would save quite a lot.

I do have a smart meter but I don't find it very easy to use. Its OK to see what is being used at the moment but that fluctuates a lot too - mainly by fridge/freezers coming on and off. Don't want to turn those off! I could turn the bedroom rads off completely early evening if that would help.