Leaving the shower on (just the electric - not the water)

cougie

Before this flashpoint escalates any more (seemingly its only me in the house that can work out to turn it off after use) does it actually matter ? I was thinking (probably erroneously) that somehow that little red light in the ceiling is making my electricity bill huge - but thinking about it - its probably not doing anything is it ? The waters probably not being constantly heated ? And a lil red light probably doesnt cost much to run ?
Any experts around ?

pottssteve

If the light's on it's using electrcity...

Ben6899

If it turns out the light's on AND it isn't using electricity, then I'd look into it and maybe apply to Dragons' Den.

bagpusscp

Looks like some one else has the same question here. Answer given.
http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/showe ... stion.html

Anonymous

bagpusscp wrote:

Looks like some one else has the same question here. Answer given.
http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/showe ... stion.html

Stevetheplumber would fit in here quite well I think.

skyd0g

Whether the shower is using any appreciable amount of electricity (apart from the light on the switch) would be dependant on if the shower has a 'resevoir' of water that is being maintained at a constant temperature while the shower is switched on.

If it has no resevior and purely heats the water if there is a flow going through the system, then it should only be using electricity to power the on light and perhaps a 'standby' circuit ready to switch on the element if there is a flow.

Brassknocker

...I've wondered that before, as the electric shower probably draws the most electricity in a house.

If the shower's switched on at the pull cord switch, the little light is just a stand-by light showing that there's an electrical flow open to the main shower unit.

When the actual unit is switched on and the water's flowing/getting heated - that's when the real power is getting used and your meter will start spinning properly!

It's the same as an electric oven - there's the iluminated switch (mounted in the tiles - usually alongside a plug socket) in your kitchen (which is usually always on to avoid having to reset the clock etc) - even though the orange light is on it's not really pulling any sort of current until you switch the oven/grill on to cook.

Bunneh

Just don't use the shower, sure you'll smell but your bills will be cheaper and you can get plenty of bottles of Lynx :P

cougie

Well its a new shower so I'd think it should be energy efficient and its not like when I turn it on theres a nice warm flow instantaneously - so I reckon theres no reservoir of warm water ? So its probably nothing to be worried over.

Now - my TV - thats got a glowing red dot too - and theres no way of turning that off except at the switch in the wall. Whatever happened to the good old days of push buttons that turned the whole thing off ? Pah !

Bunneh

In all seriousness;

I turn everything off at the switch when it's not in use, bar the 'puter, the alarm system and the fridge. That red dot is using leccy but it's not a HUGE amount, however instead of worrying about the bills I'd suggest worrying more about the environment. Turning off that little light may not make much of a difference but in a grand scale with a lot of other people doing it too it will make a nice dent.

If you can turn something off do so. My motto (one of them anyway) is 'if it's not in use save a moose'.

My leccy bill for last quarter was £75. My gas bill for the summer quarter was, wait for it and I ain't lying here, just under £4! On average I pay around £500 a year on my bills (water, gas, leccy).

Cressers

I turn everything off at the switch when it's not in use, bar the 'puter, the alarm system and the fridge. That red dot is using leccy but it's not a HUGE amount, however instead of worrying about the bills I'd suggest worrying more about the environment. Turning off that little light may not make much of a difference but in a grand scale with a lot of other people doing it too it will make a nice dent.

If you can turn something off do so. My motto (one of them anyway) is 'if it's not in use save a moose'

you can believe that if you want to, and if you want to feel good about yourself. But in the greater scheme of things it won't make a wet flap's worth of difference. I turn off all the standby lights because I'm such a skinflint and i distrust devices that can't be turned off.[/quote]

cougie

Impressive - but when is the fridge not in use ?

cougie

Impressive - but when is the fridge not in use ?

Stone Glider

Mrs SG has a thing about (No you're wrong) the pilot light on the gas fire. I told you you were wrong

She thinks it costs a fortune to leave on, I think meh. But I don't say so.

Scrumple

My wife thinks if you turn the heating up to 30 it gets warm faster.

It gets warm as quick as normal, then gets even warmer......

andy162

Stone Glider wrote:

Mrs SG has a thing about (No you're wrong) the pilot light on the gas fire. I told you you were wrong

She thinks it costs a fortune to leave on, I think meh. But I don't say so.

When I was a Service Engineer for British Gas it was reckoned that a permanent pilot light cost about a quid a week to run...that was when gas was cheap though. This may have been a bit of marketing blarney to get people to install more modern appliances??

nwallace

Bunneh wrote:

Just don't use the shower, sure you'll smell but your bills will be cheaper and you can get plenty of bottles of Lynx :P

That's known as a Weegie shower round here.

Mike67

Scrumple wrote:

My wife thinks if you turn the heating up to 30 it gets warm faster.

It gets warm as quick as normal, then gets even warmer......

Ahh... the black art of thermostats.

Glad it's not just me who's forever fighting the battle over that all powerful dial.

Did you know turning it down to 10 will also cool the now overly hot house quicker

oldwelshman

Havent read all the replies but I would turn it off. Over time the siwtch will over heat and neutral cable can burn and snap off even. I have changed a couple which have more or less fallen appart ( the pull cord type).

passout

My electric shower on/off pull broke recently due to be turned on and off ever time. I don't trust myself with electricity so got someone in. I asked the electrician that exact same question. He reckons it uses virtually no power as water is not been heated when the shower is not in use - I think most electric showers are the same in this regard. He said something like it will use less than a ponds worth of electricity over a year & that it's not like leaving a TV on standby. I have no idea how true this is but I do know it cost 25 quid to have it fixed. So from an economic stand point, leave it on unless going on holiday or 'maybe' turn it off over night but don't turn it on/off every time - especially if you've got a family/kids. It will break with over use.

passout

Mike67 wrote:

Scrumple wrote:

My wife thinks if you turn the heating up to 30 it gets warm faster.

It gets warm as quick as normal, then gets even warmer......

Ahh... the black art of thermostats.

Glad it's not just me who's forever fighting the battle over that all powerful dial.

Did you know turning it down to 10 will also cool the now overly hot house quicker

Ah yes, the 'just under the click' school of thought.

Pross

Stone Glider wrote:

Mrs SG has a thing about (No you're wrong) the pilot light on the gas fire. I told you you were wrong

She thinks it costs a fortune to leave on, I think meh. But I don't say so.

Unfortunately she's right - this is why boilers with pilot lights are being phased out!

Bunneh

Aye, I had my old boiler replaced with an electric one. The installer said it does save quite a few bob. Bear in mind, if you're on certain benefits there's the Warm Front scheme where you get a grant to have your boiler replaced, along with new central heating, loft insulation and rubber stuff fitted around your door.