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News blackout?
Everybody’s asking searching questions about Britain’s power network again, after a massive blackout yesterday that was said to have affected hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
It sounds both intriguing, and slightly sinister
Wood like to power
There are few better ways to warm up cold winter feet than roasting them in front of a wood fire, but burning the odd log is good for more than just heating up the lounge. In fact, a new power station in Scotland is burning large amounts of timber waste to generate cleaner electricity.
Wave off
We’ve taken a break from testing how much electricity washing machines use to answer a question about microwaves.
Sandra Storr asked us to look at the one-time ovens of the future, as she’d heard that they used as much power on standby as they did during cooking.
Through the mangle
Just before Christmas we hooked up our washer-drier to the power meter we’ve been using to test how much power typical home and office appliances use, and measured the electricity it consumed in a 60-degree wash.
Greenwashing?
With visiting relatives in need of clean bedclothes, table cloths picking up stains from wine, cranberries and chocolate, and tea towels mopping up more than their usual share of dishwater, Christmas is a pretty busy time for the average family washing machine.
Screen test
Last week we found out how much power a typical office PC uses in a week, but that’s only the box that sits under the desk. Surely the computer’s display uses a fair amount, too?
How easy is it to switch energy supplier?
We’ve been testing how much electricity our typical household appliances use, but when working out the cost we’d been using a figure of about 9p per kilowatt hour (kWh). It turns out this is a little on the cheap side.
IT all adds up
Ever wonder how much electricity your home appliances are actually using? We’ve been plugging a power meter into various electrical goods in a bid to find out the truth.
Girl power
Recently, we’ve been using a power meter to find out how much electricity our domestic appliances are using, and asking for polite suggestions where we could stick it next.
Barbara McStravick suggested that we connected up to the electrical products used in a daily beauty routine, so one intrepid Living contributor has done just that.
Cold comfort
The fridge is the latest household gadget to fall under the spotlight of our power meter, and the results are curdling.
