Run the dishwasher, plug in the car: how Great Britain plans to use record wind and solar power
www.theguardian.com
With a summer glut on cards, customers are being urged to use more energy when renewables are abundant
  • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    5·
    3 days ago

    I don’t have a dishwasher or a car. There is also no financial incentive to do this for many people. Not sure if there are many loads I could move to a different time of day really, maybe washing machine but I dry clothes outside so I run it at a time that optimises drying time.

    • silence7@slrpnk.netOPEnglish
      4·
      3 days ago

      If you have an electrical hot water heater, you can put it on a timer.

      People who are already living low-energy lifestyles can’t shift as much demand, but enough can to make it a big deal

      • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        1·
        3 days ago

        Got a heat pump, tbh the best single energy saving thing I could do is switch to gaming on a steamdeck. That may even take around 1/3rd off my already low energy bill. Maybe get a fairly low spec and low energy usage mini PC. How much do you really need to run Rimworld, Factorio or CDDA?

        The idea of having 2 PCs for my own gaming seems odd, higher hardware costs but it may pay for its self in energy savings. Should get a meter to check what my PC actually uses when running these games though. Or just drop higher end games entirely?

    • Meron35@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      3 days ago

      How are electricity rates set in the UK? Some countries have companies that offer an off peak rate which can be zero during specific hours of the day.

      • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        1·
        3 days ago

        You can get those here, but its normally cheaper overnight when I am not using anything and more expensive during the day when I am. There isn’t much I could load shift so it probably isn’t worth it.

        At some point looking to get solar and maybe a battery, the battery depends on the export rate as if only terrible rates are available it makes more sense to get a battery and possibly even cut off from the grid entirely as you still have a standing charge here even if you use nothing or only send energy back to the grid.

    • silence7@slrpnk.netOPEnglish
      9·
      3 days ago

      Kind of amazing how cheap wind and solar are when they scale up to create periods when markets don’t set prices based on fossil fuel costs.