The cost of boiling a kettle, running a Wi-Fi router, and powering a floor fan

[leon.davibe]

And in my house they just have to boil a full kettle every time. But apparently it's more convenient to waste money and stand there waiting 4 or 5 minutes to make 1 cup of coffee.

All i can picture terry crews saying you just wasted 20cents boiling water you ain't using

 

[deesef]

I've often wondered how much electricity do all of those [always on] smart plugs and switches use? My house is littered with them.

About 60 to 150mA per device, at 5 volts. Maybe a Rand or 2 per year, if that?

 

[Mirai]

Mate of mine's company recently added solar and battery backup to their building
When people started complaining about not being able to make coffee during loadsheds the boss laughed and said "I'm not paying half a mil extra for you to make coffee. Suck it up"

Either a small gas stove, microwave or a freaking thermos flask, would allow for cheap solutions.

 

[Supervan II]

And what happens if you don't have that fourth cup. You heated it up for nothing.

You put it back into the kettle when you make the next cuppa, even if it is the next day (if you have a decent thermos, that is).

And since it is already hot/warm, you use less lektrix to boil it.

 

[Mirai]

All i can picture terry crews saying you just wasted 20cents boiling water you ain't using

I have one of these at home:

 

[Supervan II]

Cellular chargers please? Because although I know there may be more than 5 Billion out there in active use, there has been more energy spent mindlessly telling us to unplug them to save electricity.

At around 5V, 200mA you are saving the battery rather than electricity

 

[Mirai]

Lekker article.
Important to not fill the kettle if making just one cup, I just cover the element.
Agreed, pool pump and geyser/heatpump uses the most.

Or you know, buy a small kettle. Selection of kettles in SA is pretty bad. I purchased a small one in Abu Dhabi some years ago and it's a tiny thing which will heat up max 500ml of water.

 

[system32]

Why? There shouldn't be difference in the amount of energy you use heating 4 x 250ml though out the day than 1 x 1000ml and trying to keep it hot in a flask. I say trying because there is always going to be some heat loss. And what happens if you don't have that fourth cup. You heated it up for nothing.


I've often wondered how much electricity do all of those [always on] smart plugs and switches use? My house is littered with them.

The ESP8266 in these smart plugs uses ~0.3W - so not much at all.

 

[system32]

Sheesh I don't even see NodeRED in that list. You must be a pro
Any tips on what smart plugs to get and how to set up the smart plug/Sonoff/Tasmota integration to get nice graphs like yours?

The trick is to get the plug sensor data into a database - PostgreSQL/mySQL/MariaDB/InfluxDB.
Once it's in a database, it's easy to produce charts using Grafana.

In terms of the smart plugs:
see https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/sa-smart-plugs-that-can-be-flashed-with-tasmota.1075323/

Not looked at NodeRED - might be worth a look.

 

[bwana]

You put it back into the kettle when you make the next cuppa, even if it is the next day (if you have a decent thermos, that is).

And since it is already hot/warm, you use less lektrix to boil it.

Even if the second time uses less electricity you're boiling the same water twice.

Or you know, buy a small kettle. Selection of kettles in SA is pretty bad. I purchased a small one in Abu Dhabi some years ago and it's a tiny thing which will heat up max 500ml of water.

Most kettles will heat 500ml of water if you just put 500ml in?

 

[Ragnarök]

600w

 

[bwana]

The ESP8266 in these smart plugs uses ~0.3W - so not much at all.

So using this calculator (because it's too early for maths)... 2.628 kWh/year or R6.12 per year for me here in PE, per device. Ok, good to know. Thanks

600w

View attachment 1424811

It just takes longer to boil the water, the overall electricity use should remain the same.

 

[Ragnarök]

For when Eskom switch of the lights , and you really need a cup of coffee .

No 2kw draw on the inverter

 

[bwana]

For when Eskom switch of the lights , and you really need a cup of coffee .

No 2kw draw on the inverter

Ok - if your inverter can't handle the draw of a full size kettle then fair enough you're still depleting your battery by the same amount without the peak.

I have a generator that can handle it, but under those circumstances, that I'm desperate for a coffee, I'd rather break out one of these

 

[backstreetboy]

For when Eskom switch of the lights , and you really need a cup of coffee .

No 2kw draw on the inverter

Make a makeshift iced coffee. It's summer afterall.

 

[Cranjus McBasketball]

All i can picture terry crews saying you just wasted 20cents boiling water you ain't using

That's surprisingly accurate.
Funny enough I look just like Terry Crews. Except I'm out of shape and white. But other than that. Identical

 

[bwana]

That's surprisingly accurate.
Funny enough I look just like Terry Crews. Except I'm out of shape and white. But other than that. Identical

So basically you're bald?

 

[leon.davibe]

So basically you're bald?

Most likely not, as long as he loves yoghurt i suppose it's enough

 

[PsyWulf]

That's surprisingly accurate.
Funny enough I look just like Terry Crews. Except I'm out of shape and white. But other than that. Identical

Can you do the peck flex

 

[Ockie]

My Washing mashine klaps 1000w peak
And my dishwasher klaps approx 2500w when heating,

The geyser is the real bad guy
Assuming it takes approx 2hrs to reheat

That would mean R20.50 per bath

I run my little desktop dishwasher on the 90 minute program instead of the eco cycle which is 180 minutes long which washes at 50 degrees and rinces at 70 degrees compared to 90 minutes which washes at 65 degrees and rinses at 70 degrees....but is a lot shorter and does not have a extra rinse cycle to get through. Not sure which one is more economical with the time difference...but I prefer the shorter time and dishes comes out just as clean.

Clothes gets washed @ 30 degrees on the mixed cycle which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Towels gets washed at 90 degrees cotton cycle which is a long one...but I think for towels that is appropriate.