My electricity readings

So I’ve been keeping track of my electricity meter readings for the last month or so in preparation for the launch of www.tryingtobegreen.com.

They’re not great at the moment and have not been improving.  Will be interesting to see if I can start to make a difference some time soon.  I will log all my readings here until the site is launched.

For info: we are a family of 4 living in a 4-bed semi with cavity wall insulation!

I am trying to find out what is the average and its incredibly hard to find out.  I just get the feeling mine is rather high.  The value in kWH is our average daily use in that period

Readings:

28/3  40651
5/4    40805  22 kWH
12/4  40959  22 kWH
19/4  41126  23.9 kWH
26/4  41288  23.1 kWH

Cycling to work

I cycled to work for the first time ever this week. The cycling itself was quite easy but the logistics have been anything but.

About a month ago I decided it would be a good idea. So then I spent £55 getting it serviced and getting mudguards fitted. I didn’t want to wear a helmet – no-one else I know wears one – but in the end I bought a cheap one in halfords together with some lovely fluorescent cycle clips and a lock. You definitely can’t be a safe AND cool cyclist.

Then I was all set to go I thought. But when I went to leave on my first morning I packed my bag – laptop, lunch and handbag and I realised it was just to heavy and I would topple off (I’m already a bit wobbly with nothing to carry). My laptop is a big beast – but I can’t work without it so I almost gave up there and then.

After feeling totally defeated for a week I finally perservered and came up with a new plan. I could take an old computer to work and not lug the laptop around at all. This was actually quite a good idea – I don’t really need it to be portable when I’m in the office. So after a day of setting it up I was all set at work.

Finally I did a couple of test runs on a quiet Sunday afternoon – I haven’t cycled for 4 years – I was ready to go.

I enjoyed the cycle itself and didn’t seem to be too much of a chore (when its not raining) but whether it was worth the expense (£75 so far, and I already owned quite a good bike) and effort (have had to completely re-organise the children’s computer so that I can steal bits for work), I will let you know.

Tryingtobegreen.com static site is live

Ok so its not very exciting yet.  In fact my husband says it looks indescribably dull.  But as I don’t have any pictures to add I’m not entirely sure how to jazz it up.

On the plus side I do think it explains quite clearly what I’m trying to do.  And it allows people to sign up for the beta – which is only a few short weeks away.  Not that anyone has yet of course.

Washing machines (aaah)

We’ve been wondering for a while whether our washing machine is the cause of our rather high electricity bills. Definitely when the machine is on you can watch the meter spinning rather rapidly.

Well we’re now being forced to put that to the test as I’ve just had to order a new machine. An enthusiastic repair man turned up last night to check out the washing machine which seems to be working normally: except the clothes just don’t seem very clean – and that, surely, is the point. And yes the nice man stroked his beard and said that actually we’ve been washing our clothes in cold water for months and that its ready for the scrapyard.

I would like to point out that we are surprisingly clean looking and unsmelly (honestly). And I think it might be about Christmas when it stopped working properly!! Goes to show that you don’t need a hot wash to get your clothes clean – and I’ll find it hard to justify washing above 30’c.

So a new machine has been ordered – a Zanussi 1600 if you’re interested – it is A rated. Hopefully our electricity will go down this week (no washing) and we’ll see if we have an overall improvement. I am secretly hoping that this was our electricity beast and we’ll be ultra-efficient with our new one. We shall see…