Clever dad slashes energy bill by replacing appliance that 'eats electricity'
Householders in Ireland are getting creative to cut down their energy costs as the cold snap sets in. And one example which may be worth following is from a savvy dad in the UK who has trimmed a cool €722 from his yearly energy expenses by using a smart plug. David Miles, 46, got shrewd by figuring out which of his household appliances were zapping the most electricity to keep his spending in check as prices soar – and the discoveries he made are quite eye-opening. The economical father-of-two patrolled his home with a smart adapter in hand, testing every appliance's power draw, tracking their energy usage through an app on his smartphone. Sharing his method, David said: "It tells me how much power each appliance is consuming at any given time and its average daily consumption." He's even able to remotely switch these appliances on or off through his phone, a handy trick for times when he's left the house but left something on. But the real jaw-dropper came when David calculated the running cost of his vintage, 25 year old American-style fridge freezer. "Incredibly, it ate up a fifth of my entire electricity bill." In just one year, this outdated fridge had downed a whopping 1,600-kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity – that’s as much as his friend's hot tub. David's antiquated cooling behemoth is draining €512 annually from his pocket. However, since the price for a shiny new fridge freezer can range from €404 to €2,310, depending on what you go for, David reckons splashing out on a new model is certainly a wise choice. Typically, a shiny new fridge freezer will chew through a max of 400 kWh of electric juice annually, which is gonna hit you for €240 a year when the prices leap up. "That will save me at least €722 a year, so upgrading my fridge freezer will pay for itself in two or three years, plus I will also slash my home's carbon footprint," he said. For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage. Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
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