Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get started with Earthpill?
First of all you should use the search box on the home page to try to find the electrical appliances that you use. For example, if you have a TV made by LG with a model number LGLS4D you will find this by typing TV, LG or LGLS4D into the search box and clicking on the button that's labelled Push.
For items that you find you can see a summary of the power consumption on the home
page or you can click on the photo for more information.
If you have an account and you are logged in you can click on the +my appliances button on the home page to add this appliance to your personal list of appliances. You will need to answer questions about how many of these appliances you have, which
room they are in and how long you use them for.
Once you have added a few appliances to My Appliances you can click on the My Appliances link at the top of the page to see a summary of what you are using, the total cost and CO2 that these appliances use over the year and tips about how to reduce this.
If you can't find an item in the database and you have a power measuring meter then
you can take your own reading and add it in using the Add link.
If you have a power measuring meter and you have recorded a different reading from what's already
recorded in the database you can add your measurement to an existing appliance by finding it on the
search page and clicking on the photo of it to view details then clicking the +measurement button.
How does electricity consumption fit in with other consumption?
According to the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform http://www.berr.gov.uk the average Domestic consumer uses 3 times more gas energy than electrical energy.
The majority of gas use goes on heating so reducing heating requirements by insulating
your home and reducing the temperature of your heating will usually have the
biggest effect on your raw enery use.
However, based on figures from the excellent http://www.techmind.org web-site, electrical energy creates 2.2 times as much CO2 as gas so the average
household CO2 emissions from energy use comprises 42% from electricity and 58% from
gas.
In terms of cost - gas figures from british gas
and electricity figures from uk energy show
that electricity costs are around five times as much as gas for the same amount
of energy. This means that the average household energy bill comprises
63% electricity and 37% gas.
So all this means that cutting electricy consumption by, say, 25% will save 10%
of typical CO2 emissions and 15% of typical total energy bill cost.
Please note that these figures apply to the UK and change all the time which is why we've included the references. Also, if you've already switched to a green electricity
supplier the CO2 emissions from your electricy use will be much lower.
Also, from http://www.techmind.org you will create about the same amount of CO2 by driving your car 10,000 miles,
flying 5,000 miles short haul or 7,500 miles long haul
http://www.campaigncc.org
as you will from your annual electricity use.
Doesn't leaving appliances on standby heat up my home?
Yes, the wasted energy is given out as heat so it saves on your heating bill.
However, we've seen from the question above that it costs five times more to heat
your home with electricity than it does with gas and produces almost twice the amount
of CO2. Also you have to ask yourself whether you want to heat your home in
the middle of the night or in summer time. You might even end up with an air-conditioning
unit cooling the heat that the appliance on standby has produced.