How Much Can You Get for 10p?
August 3, 2015 | Money Saving Tips | No comments
What can you get for 10p? You can’t make a phone call from a public phone box, nor can you buy many products which we remember from childhood such as a Chomp chocolate bar. Instead, all you seem to be able to get for 10p today is a pack of Space Invader Pickled Onion crisps or a bag for life.
Although there’s little you can purchase for 10p, things aren’t necessarily as expensive as you may think. For example, some of the appliances we use on a daily basis having the potential to cost you a considerable amount less than you’re already paying – and below we share some tips on how to save money with your appliances.
- Light bulbs: these use around 1 unit of energy to give off 40 hours of light – which equates to roughly 0.5p per hour. Switching to LED bulbs could save you even more money, as discussed in our “Save Money by Switching to LED Bulbs” post.
- Washing Machines: on average these use roughly 2.5 units of electricity, which works out to roughly 50p an hour per long-wash. Improving the efficiency of washes will help your pennies go further – and if you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves.
- TV: it’s estimated the average family spends £67 per year powering their TV, DVD player and set top box, with the average 21 inch TV using 1 unit of electricity to power approximately 10 hours of TV viewing, this works out to roughly 2p per hour.
- Fridge / Freezer: these appliances need to be left on throughout the day, thankfully they’re not too expensive to run. According to NPower the average cost to run a fridge / freezer is 30p a day. If you’re food is running low, find out how to keep your freezer / fridge energy efficient, by reading “Don’t Waste Energy with a Half Full Fridge Freezer”.
Working Out How Much Your Appliances Cost:
We cannot tell you your washing machine will be costing you x amount each time you use it, or that for every hour you’re watching TV you’re spending x amount on electricity, as there are varying factors.
Such factors include the make and model of appliance and how much your electricity costs you – the latter will be documented on your energy bills. However, with that said by following the formula below you can work out how much your appliances are costing you.
Watts ÷ 1000 (to get KW) multiplied by minutes ÷ 60 = consumption, and then multiply this by your unit cost
Once you’re aware of how much you’re spending on your appliances each time they are in use, you can begin taking action on those which are costing you more than you think.
Tips to Reduce Energy Costs:
The obvious ways to reduce your energy costs, particularly after working out how much your appliances are costing you, is to cut down on their usage. However, this isn’t always a viable option – and there are other steps you can take, a few of which are highlighted below.
- Switch energy supplier. According to Which, you could save as much as £300 by switching supplier, and comparison sites will help you find the best deal for your requirements.
- Reduce the temperature at which you wash clothes. By turning down to 30⁰C you’ll be using roughly 40% less energy, reducing the cost of each load in the process. Remember though, if washing at lower temperatures, you’ll need to run more maintenance washes with the BuySpares Limescale and Detergent Remover.
- Only fill and boil your kettle with as much water as you need. This stops you from wasting electricity boiling water which will not be used, whilst also ensuring you have better tasting water, as it won’t be constantly re-boiled.
- There are some handy ways to keep your fridge and freezer energy efficient, as outlined in our post “Don’t Waste Energy with a Half Full Fridge Freezer” – and by following these tips you can see your utility bills dramatically fall.
- We’re all guilty of it, placing the TV onto standby. But leaving not only the TV on standby is costing households more money than you may think. If it isn’t being used, turn it off.
So whilst you may not be able to purchase much during your weekly shop for 10p, with a bit of careful planning and usage, there’s no reason why you cannot significantly reduce the cost of your household appliances – saving you money, which you can then spend on other things such as family days out.
Tags: energy saving, Money Saving Tips
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