Save Power Kit Results

The results were actually pretty good overall. The fridge/freezer was more energy efficient then the specs said, though this is winter so it would be interesting to see the results when its working a lot harder through summer. Both the fridge and freezer temperatures were set at the optimum for efficiency.

The biggest user was the tv system in the lounge. We have a tv, dvd and austar hooked up. We think it was the Austar box that was the big sucker, we had been turning the whole unit off every night and then only putting it on the next evening but then the Austar people told us they update at night so its best to leave it on. Well not anymore, over a quarter the cost to run it on standby and to actually use it came to more than $60. Thats more than 10% of our last bill. Wow! So we are now turning the whole thing off every night.

Surprisingly Wesley's tv/Xbox system didnt use much at all, the microwave is now being turned off when not in use after we read that over a year the digital clock can use more energy than the actual microwaving.

Draft wise it wasn't too bad but we definately need heavier curtains in our bedroom as the infared thermometre dropped quite a lot when it hit our curtains, which isn't good when your having -7 nights!

We will get the kit out again in summer and check everything again. With the recent 17% increase in electricity rates we are hoping that the combination of being more pedantic with turning everything off and our solar hot water, we will see a decrease in our power bill. Hopefully.