After sleeping on it, I decide to start with the simplest appliance: the kettle.
I plug the kettle into the transmitter, and the transmitter into a wall socket. I put a sticker (No 1) on the transmitter, press the small power button on the transmitter to turn it on, and a few seconds later, the corresponding number lights up on the EDF Energy EcoManager.
I feel greener already, so I decide to award myself a cup of jasmine tea. I flick the kettle on and watch the EcoManager – as the numbers start to climb at an alarming rate, so too does my heart rate. At peak boiling, the EcoManager tells me the kettle is using 2.93kW/h of energy and 1.57kg of CO2. That's the equivalent of £11.52 per day, or just over £340 per month.
Thankfully the kettle stops, and I sit down for what now feels like a very expensive cup of tea. You know that advice about only boiling the water you need? Well, suddenly, it makes much more sense.
When I've recovered, I dig out a multisocket adaptor and plug the second transmitter into the digital radio and TV in the kitchen. Then I climb behind the TV in the sitting room so I can plug in transmitter number three. While I'm there I discover a charger for a mobile I don't even remember anyone owning, which has been plugged in for goodness knows how long. Oops.
I plug the TV, DVD player and Freeview box into the last transmitter and start to visualise the piles of cash I'm going to save.
About the author
Hannah is a freelance journalist who lives in east London with her partner. Despite often being found watching TV while working on her laptop with the radio playing in the kitchen, Hannah considers herself environmentally aware: she takes a keen interest in growing her own vegetables and cycles to work. Here she re-evaluates her energy consumption at home thanks to EDF Energy's EcoManager.
