How can tech save me money on my energy bills?
L CARROM, NORTH HANTS
A
Too much technology tends to have the opposite effect. Guru’s breaker box sounds like a particularly angry wasp’s nest, which gives both GaGu’s pet electrician and his monocled, moustachioed, hand-wringing energy provider the meat sweats.
That said, there are some obvious wins to be had. Smart sockets, for example, help you cut out the ambient power draw of devices that are on standby and really don’t need to be, though they do draw a little power themselves. LED bulbs need less juice than those from the dusty box of incandescents that Guru Sr refuses to abandon – though bear in mind that smart bulbs also need a little trickle when they’re ‘off’, because they need to listen for radio signals.
If you’re really dedicated you could swap out for more efficient appliances, or just use your big draws less. Things like kettles, tumble dryers, that weird trap you’ve been making – they all love power. Even your TV could be hitting your bills hard. GaGu would never suggest getting a smaller TV or picking LED over OLED, but the fact is that big OLEDs cooking up mad nits draw a lot more power than calm, unassuming LCD panels.
Managing that power draw – and doing so easily – is the best way to make effective change. It does mean committing to a smart platform, or at least enduring the painful learning process of configuring Home Assistant. Guru went the easy route and just threw out everything non-Hue; this enabled him to put a Friends of Hue switch (a very handsome black number from RetroTouch, £65) by the front door. One touch, and the whole house goes off.
A warning: if your kids (or your own Mrs Guru) learn about this switch they can and absolutely will use it to plunge your world into darkness if you deign to lie in.