Home » Discussing the #EnergySavingChallenge with Pollyanna Woodward

Discussing the #EnergySavingChallenge with Pollyanna Woodward

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Last evening, MoneySuperMarket.com organized a Google Hangout with Pollyanna Woodward (GadgetShow, just in case you were wondering) to discuss the #EnergySavingChallenge. The idea is simple. They sent me, Pollyanna, and a few other technology and similar bloggers a set of Efergy energy monitors. These monitor your full usage, as well as a couple of plugs monitor your usage on a per item basis. The challenge has been going on for about a month, and we are all ready to put in our results. The plugs give you your usage both in terms of cost as well as consumption.

Last night was Pollyanna’s turn to discuss her findings with us. Pollyanna, bless her, had a few issues with her Hangouts, as a result of which I saw her appear and disappear a couple of times. The initial hiccups sorted, we finally had myself, the MoneySuperMarket team, her, as well as Gina and Fabio as the other bloggers.

Pollyanna chatted about how the challenge had really made her think about her usage. As a person living on her own in her flat, she has a small number of items as well as a small area. However, as she is expecting, she is also trying to see how things may look for her in the future.

Following were some of the highlights of her findings:

  • Items such as vacuum cleaners and hair dryers were surprisingly heavy on usage and cost. Irons too.
  • Kettles are expensive too, but since they’re not used as much, they don’t cause a lot of difference.
  • Toasters were an item she found didn’t cost as much as she thought.
  • She also had her chargers (laptop plus phone) plugged into a single socket, and that was fairly cheap too.
  • She also found that sterilizers are quite heavy on consumption too.

Based on her findings, she had the following suggestions and observations:

  • Running the iron on a lower setting halved the usage.
  • Do not keep your vacuum running while you do other chores, such as straighten things while cleaning.
  • Turn off devices that are not being used, and do not keep charging items for the sake of it.
  • Use washing machines efficiently, only do full loads.
  • Try lower settings on various devices to see if it helps.

She also discussed that after doing her measurements, she did some comparisons on MoneySuperMarket.com to see how it would affect the cost, and was pleasantly surprised. Gina, one of the other bloggers, also mentioned that they had found it useful, and had been able to cut their costs by a third on energy consumption.

I’ll be writing more about my own experience, as well as a general review of the devices soon. Meanwhile, you can read more about Pollyanna’s experience with the #EnergySavingChallenge at her blog:

http://www.yellowbydesign.com/all/living/energy-saver-challenge-update/#.U_dxZPmg0vI

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