Wednesday, October 04, 2006

BREAD MACHINE ENERGY USE

Thanks for the comment of the energy audit. I posted the energy calculator earlier this year whicc may give you some info on usual appliances. Looking back at the post I underestimated the amount used per day as I stated it as 15 units as where in reality it is 18 plus.

How do you do an energy audit?

Read your electric meter, gas or water meter at a starting point for 1 month and then devide by the amount of days - this should give you daily output.
Based on the fact that certain items run 24 hours per day, you take a reading before you go to bed and then when you wake up, the difference should give you an indication of the energy eaters that are continuous. If you have data for 12 hours say, and it shows you have used 2 units then you can be assured that your appliances use that when you are not doing anything with them. This could be anything from alarm clocks, videos, computers on standby but also fridge, freezer etc.
The calculator can then be used backwards to check whether what you are estimating is actually correct.
( Scientific methods)

There will be fluctuations by season etc. I am now doing the audit every month to see whether what I am changing has actually an effect on the overall consumption. As stated, I need to find a balance between the energy I need to use ( comfort level) and the one where I am going to feel deprived. In the meantime, I log the info, make small changes and monitor.
Winter for instance is predicted to increase energy supply due to more lighting, indoor activities etc but I will not find that out until I do this audit. There are no hard and fast rules as it will all depend on how many people in your household and what you use.

The breadmachine usage I use is a Panasonic one and I gave it 0.5 units per day as I used a daily loaf. If you are on low cost night electtricity you could use the timer to make the loaf and cut that amount by a small percentage.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Don't forget if you are on economy 7 you can run things at night. Unfortunately all the things I want to run are noisy (dishwasher) or require me to be present (shower) - but things like mobile phones and battery charging are ideal.