It takes quite a while for my kitchen hot tap to run hot and the pressure is quite weak. Is it cheaper to boil half a kettle of water for washing up than to wait for the hot water to run through?

Hi catkin

Most definitely! If you have a 3kW kettle and you use this for say, two hours a month at 5.5p/kWh then it will have cost you 33p to boil the water. If you have to wait for the water to run hot through the tap then you're going to be paying (or at least wasting if you're not on a water meter) for all the water used...the litres certainly mount up over a month. If you've got a gas boiler to do your hot water then you'll be paying for the gas to heat all the water (remember this is from when the boiler switches on, not from when the water gets hot!) and maybe even some electricity to power the boiler up initially. If you're on an immersion, then the heater would cost a lot more than 33p/month to heat up all that you use.

If you are on a water meter remember you are not only paying for the clean water but also then about 75% of your supply is charged again at a higher rate for sewerage. Again this mounts up if you're letting the tap run...in effect you're paying the water company your money to treat their clean water!

Hope this helps.

Thank you nearlydebtfree. I shall definitely never let the tap run again and always use the kettle. If you have any other tips I'd be glad to have them. Am almost switched to a capped tariff electricity account with Scottish Power so that should help with expenses.

I'm looking to save money on electricity - I'm not a high spender but would like to cut back where possible. I've already installed energy saving lightbulbs, I tend to turn things off completely when I'm not using them and I don't have have a tumble dryer or dishwasher. The kettle trick seems like a good one (I have a really slow hot tap in my kitchen too) so if anyone has any more tips like this I'd appreciate that.

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We live in a consumer generation, but we also have to work in it.

I decided do something about the dreaded electricity bill. So I checked out http://www.sust-it.net/. It compares the energy consumption of products. So when for example my tumble drier broke I bought the most energy efficient tumble drier I found on sust-it. I noticed my electricity bill went down dramatically. So I swapped a lot of my power guzzling white goods for more energy efficient ones, and my electricity bill has plummeted. :)

You compare things like TVs, PCs, washing machines and fridge freezers too which is brilliant.

Thanks for the info. I'm not (hopefully just yet) in the market for a new appliance but would definitely try and get the most efficient. My next job is to find out the efficiency of the 3 types of storage heaters I have in my flat!

It depends how the water is heated and how much you are using. If the water is heated by gas and you are filling a basin full, you are better using the tap. However electric immersion heaters are more expensive than almost any other means to get hot water, particularly if they are left "on" all the time.

I actually need to get my immersion heater thermostat turned down again as the water is red hot - but I'm not paying someone 1 hour just to do that! However as it is so hot I can get 2 baths out of one heating up session so only put it on over night on alternate nights.

Hi catkin

There is no need to pay anyone to turn your thermostat down, it's so easy you can do it yourself in about 5 minutes. Some cylinders come with the thermostat on the outside of them...usually a little white box the size of a matchbox or so with a dial on it...I'm guessing that you haven't got this type though, unless you've just missed it...sometimes they're around the back or side...conveniently placed of course!

Now, I'm no electrician, but this is the way that it's normally done. First of all, turn off the electricity at the consumer board (better to be safe than sorry!), then on the top of your cylinder you'll have a brown/black/grey/some other colour plastic cap, about the same diameter as a coffee mug. There'll be a screw(s) in it, on the top or side...unscrew it.

After you've taken the cap off, you'll should see a tiny little plastic dial with an arrow on it, (probably smaller than an average screw, probably white, probably with numbers on it and a small ridge that you can insert a small screwdriver in to) turn this down a couple of notches, put it all back together, turn the electricity back on and then see in a day or so if your water is still warm enough. If it's still too hot then turn it down a bit more; too cold, turn it up. Sometimes it's confusing as to which way the little dial goes...just keep playing with it until you're happy. Of course, your electricity meter will feel the difference immediately!

Good luck...and please, treat your electricity with caution and at your own risk of course!

Thanks nearlydebtfree - i'll give it a try and let you know how i get on!