Energy Saving

On my Freebie hunt today I picked up some microwave steam bags - basically sealable plastic bags - that work "by a combination of the microwave and pressure steaming method". I'm not impressed that they're not reusable (so it says) but I think they'll be useful for cooking fish and other things that make the microwave smell.
https://www.planitproducts.co.uk/quickasteam

Given today's announcement about Energy price increases, Its time to have another look at this thread!
Any more suggestions?

I have in the past purchased plugs that be turned off remotely so nothing sits in standby mode. Keeping the freezer full helps.

I've just loaded the washing machine -using the "quick wash" option. It cuts the wash time by about 20 minutes. To my embarrassment, it was years before I realised what this button did (cuts out a wash & rinse cycle) - so less energy and less water.
I only use the washing machine when the weather looks like it will stay sunny and breezy for the day so that it can line dry. Anything that hasn't dried completely before dusk is moved into the log store (an old car port) to finish off.
I used to have a tumble drier that stood idly in the kitchen for years. When the kitchen was remodelled, I threw it in the skip. The timer was dodgy and it needed repair so didn't want to gift it.

Taking this one step further, I used to wash almost everything at 40C Synthetic and the wash cycle took about 40 minutes with "quick wash". Recently, I've been washing stuff at 30C with "quick wash" and it only takes 20 minutes. Still gets the mud off my clothes.
In OZ they had Cold wash detergents and most washing machines didn't have the option to heat the water.  
My previous washing machine was a hot and cold fill which also seems more sensible to me than having a heating element in a WM. I have plenty of hot water in the hot water cylinder and would rather use that than have a machine that starts from cold every time.

EDIT The Duckduck found this https://www.ariel.co.uk/en-gb/how-to-was...wash-guide
May try 20C next wash.

I have started using an air fryer to do my fish, remove the paddel and heat for 7 minutes, used it this evening, after making the chips, a lot quicker than the oven or the frying pan

Here's a list of common appliances and how much energy they use.

https://www.cse.org.uk/advice/advice-and...am-i-using

So those of you with an electric shower might want to get a move on in there

Irons use a lot of power. When I have ironing to do, I get everything organised first, before switching on the iron, and if I have to stop mid-way through the ironing (not that I iron a lot), even for just five minutes, or to answer the door or phone, I switch the iron off. Irons heat up fast, it's better to stand and wait 30 seconds with the ironing ready to go, than turn it on then sort out the pile.

^^^^ Not a problem as I don't iron much to OHs disapproval, and as our shower area is large enough for 2 people I am always willing to share

Some day it might happen

Interesting list. Thanks.

I've saved a lot of energy by Not ironing for the last 20+ years. Don't even know where the iron is if I needed to use it.

When I got the new grow light at the end of 2020, I also bought a Watt meter to adjust the dimmer switch on the light to set it to the required wattage. At some point I went around the house testing the wattage of various things, and found that newer TVs on standby draw no power, or at least less than 0.1W (they must need some electricity to keep the red light on), despite what you read on many websites. Mobile phone chargers also don't draw any power if left on at the switch or if a phone with full battery is left plugged in.

The Virgin TV box draws around 20W constantly, even in standby, so now we have it in Eco Low Power mode which shuts it down when it's not been used for X amount of time.

An electric toothbrush charger draws about 0.2W constantly, even with no toothbrush attached, so it's best to turn them off at the plug when you're not charging (would cost about 34p a year if left on 24/7).

My laptop right now is charging and drawing about 17W at max screen brightness, 11W at minimum screen brightness, 0.5W with the screen off and on standby. The charge on a smartphone also lasts much longer if you lower the brightness.