[Rolebama]

I do everything I can think of to use less electricity, not because I am particularly environmentally conscious, but because I hate giving shareholders their free lunches. Currently, all I have on are my computer, smoke and CO2 alarms, and the fridge/freezer. Are you, or have you, cut down?

[Drivingforfun]

In a lot of companies the big shareholders are actually the minority, the majority of shares are owned by e.g. pension funds, so the beneficiaries of those shares are actually people like you and me

That said I do understand your point

I read an article yesterday saying how much you can save by making small changes and most were things that save you £10s or £1-200 a year but one was about washing your clothes at 30 instead of 40 which would save £12 a year. I actually do wash my clothes at 30 but it made me consider going back, if it's only costing me £1 a month it might be worth it to have cleaner clothes, if they do in fact come out cleaner!

[NMNeil]

Go off grid if you can.
With such a small power usage it may be an economic alternative.

[olduser]

There is more money to be saved when using a washing machine to make sure it is fully loaded each wash.
I visited one of the grandchildren a while back she was living with other university students in the usual rented accommodation.
Whilst I was there, helping with the washing up, as you do, the first tea towel was soon wet, I look around for another, they take the wet one, throw it into the empty washing machine + detergent, and turn it on!

Their comment was, it's a washer dryer so the cloth will be dry soon, and that way saves buying more tea towels!
The electricity was not included in the rent.

[Mark07]

@olduser I remember going to Uni and having to teach a housemate (19 years old) how to use a washing machine. They were so proud of themselves that they phoned their parents to tell them what they'd done.

I guess we all had to learn lessons as we became more independent.

[Mark07]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

Are you, or have you, cut down?

I tend to watch more TV on my tablet than the actual TV, so I often turn the TV off at the wall rather than leave it on standby. I read an article about 'vampire devices' which consume energy without us really knowing. It all adds up.

[olduser]

This was very relevant with old power supplies, they lost unwanted voltage by dissipating it as heat the less power being used the more heat.
Modern power supplies use switched mode techniques, the high voltage input is switched on and off at high speed, to charge a low loss capacitor up to the required voltage, and the load is connected to the capacitor, it looks to the load like a small battery but it is kept fully charged.
Switched mode has very small power demand with no load, only switching losses.

For power supply I mean phone chargers etc.

[olduser]

If adverts on the TV are anything to go by, cloths smelling after they have been washed is a problem but it didn't used to be.

Is this due to washing at a lower temperature?

Most living things cannot survive 40C, (40C and above disrupts protein) there are a few bacteria that will survive higher temperatures but they live in very specialized situations like underwater volcanic vents, there is one that eats iron and can be found in central heating radiators.

The bacteria we have on our cloths are mostly species that live on our bodies, and are easily killed by detergents. (due to the action of the detergent they fill with water until they burst)
We also have yeasts and moulds but detergent should remove them.

Our body smells are made up of mostly pheromones, bacterial excrement, and the yeasts and moulds, these are more likely to penetrate deeply into the fibres, is it the case the detergent needs the help from hotter water to penetrate into the fibres? (hotter water has a lower surface tension and can penetrate better than cool water)

I can remember my mother, and grandma boiling cottons, in a large pan or the copper (boiler) in the days of soap.