On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 10:10:39PM +0000, Mark Rogers wrote:
On 17 November 2011 21:31, Chris Green <[1]cl@isbd.net> wrote:
I've never really understood the utility of any of the devices being promoted by the electricity companies which all (as far as I understand them) indicate your total electricity consumption. That's next to useless as it gives you no real clue as to what is actually eating your electricity.The key thing you get is usage against time. If I come home, put the oven on, eat, put the dishwasher on then settle in front of the telly, then look at the energy trend over that period, I'll get a pretty good idea of the relative usage of those appliances, and the background usage that runs throughout the night can be narrowed down pretty easily too. Of-course you'd want some appliance meters to confirm suspicions or give extra detail, but you'd be surprised just how much you can tell from just the energy trend over time.
I don't think our usage is that regular! :-)
I also suspect that the bulk of our electricity consumption is overnight as we try and do all of our washing, dishwashing, tumble-drying (when it's not dry outside) and water heating on economy7. Since the meter already tells us what we used overnight I can't see what further another meter is going to tell us.
During peak rates I think it's quite likely lighting that consumes most but as that's very random according to who is sitting where I can't really see what a 'spot' reading is going to tell us.