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Well, 4 of my computers stay on 24/7. 3 of which all have 1 Hard drive (SSD) My main computer also has an SSD but also have 4 other drivers.

Same here, actually during winter, all of my PCs run 24/7 (folding farm) while at early spring only 4 run 24/7

(gotta keep pumping those WU deadlines) :)

Not clicking off from 8pm-8am is a great feature, I wish we had that sometimes

Our electric is inside but gas meter by law now has to be outside so when it runs out its generally because its freezing outside and always late at night too and we have to go outside freezing our butts off waiting for the slow-assed meter to turn the gas back on

Electric meter takes 2 seconds to top up, push key in, beep, pull key out

Gas meter, put card in, wait for meter to wake up, wait for meter to realise there is a card in, wait for meter to realise the gas is off, wait for meter to realise we have emergency on the card, tell us to press this button for gas, tell us to let go, tell us gas is off push and hold to turn gas on, tell us to let go of button, stand up rubbing hands stamping feet watching breath in air, wait for gas meter to click and turn gas on, stand shouting HURRY THE **** UP! At the meter, eventually meter says Emergency on

Why not just have the exact same method as electric? Same fookin company! lol

Yeh the gas meters are slow and you have to wait to press the "A" button like its THAT important. As for them being outside by law, mines indoors but then im in a converted house and i have the upstairs and neighbor downstairs.

@Guth i would hate my meter being outside speciaally during winter plus i would always loose the key/card so i leave them in the meters all time till top up day, also i have to climb onto the kitchen workbench to "topup" my electric for some reason they thought it be a good idea to put it up high over the counters.

Yeh the gas meters are slow and you have to wait to press the "A" button like its THAT important. As for them being outside by law, mines indoors but then im in a converted house and i have the upstairs and neighbor downstairs.

The last flat I lived in was a house converted into my landlords shop downstairs and my flat upstairs which basically consisted of the 2 upstairs bedrooms made into 1 bedroom and 1 living room and an extension downstairs for the bathroom and kitchen, but the tight-ass wouldn't move the meters so I had to get meter readings to pay my bills from over the counter in his shop lol

The last flat I lived in was a house converted into my landlords shop downstairs and my flat upstairs which basically consisted of the 2 upstairs bedrooms made into 1 bedroom and 1 living room and an extension downstairs for the bathroom and kitchen, but the tight-ass wouldn't move the meters so I had to get meter readings to pay my bills from over the counter in his shop lol

That would suck but have heard of someone with a similar situation where the guy said if the shop was for let he had no gas.

That would suck but have heard of someone with a similar situation where the guy said if the shop was for let he had no gas.

lol, Ive had friends suddenly without water in their upstairs flat only to find that the guy downstairs went away and turned his water off for the winter so the pipes didn't burst

We were going down into the garden and collecting loads of snow, then melting it in the kettle just so we could flush the toilet lol

These meters are crazy - but wouldn't you just put like 200 quid on them and not worry for quite some time?

Guess depends on where your at financially, so these are all in juts rent apt/flats - you don't see these in single family homes?? Do you.

I could see them making great sense in flats/apartments -- especially if there was a bit of turnover in the renters, if people renting the place change out every few months. Never seen anything like it here in the states that is for sure.

Gonna have to get me one of those meters then, I've always just assumed the PC was the biggest drain during the night because I know during the day the whole house uses around ?0.30p but with the PC on and using it normally (Yup around 18 hours too :) ) that jumps anywhere between ?1.00 to ?2.00 per day

We have a key meter for electric and gas, think of it as 'pay as you go' so you put ?10 on the key, stick it in the electric meter and it shows ?10 credit, every 15-30 mins that credit drops depending on what you use, so I get a fairly accurate idea of how much things cost

Example when we're cooking in an electric oven and hobs, its painful watching the money disappear from the meter

Have you had your key meter checked for the rate its set at, traditionally these were put into premises (previous tenants/owners) that had debts on their accounts, surprisingly a lot are still set at this higher rate.

These meters are crazy - but wouldn't you just put like 200 quid on them and not worry for quite some time?

Guess depends on where your at financially, so these are all in juts rent apt/flats - you don't see these in single family homes?? Do you.

I could see them making great sense in flats/apartments -- especially if there was a bit of turnover in the renters, if people renting the place change out every few months. Never seen anything like it here in the states that is for sure.

No you can get them in family homes too and you can have them changed but at a cost for labor think its about ?50 or so, so you have to make sure you know you can pay the bills and make sure its worth the change. This is something i really have not looked into because i know id mess it up i like prepay even if it is a little more expensive ofc if your in a good job and dont spend there isn't an issue.

No you can get them in family homes too and you can have them changed but at a cost for labor think its about ?50 or so, so you have to make sure you know you can pay the bills and make sure its worth the change. This is something i really have not looked into because i know id mess it up i like prepay even if it is a little more expensive ofc if your in a good job and dont spend there isn't an issue.

thing is with accounts though, you can move provider for better rates and say ?50 a month max for both utilities would be plenty. I find it easier to have the direct debit n bills coming off my main account which my wages come in, I then transfer the surplus to my "fun account" as im terrible of budgeting anything, only way I manage lol, even now.

I have a few PCs and a couple of tropical aquariums with 800W lighting, filters and heaters running 24/7 ambient temp in apartment approx. 25ish C for livestock.

flat heating on 30mins every hour 24/7 for my reptiles. And lots of tech on lots of hours, leccy oven etc gas CH and water and that's a big 3 bedroomed Apartment with 2 living and using energy.

Id suggest phoning to get your meter checked and reset if its set at a higher rate ;) worth checking

thing is with accounts though, you can move provider for better rates and say ?50 a month max for both utilities would be plenty. I have a few PCs and a couple of tropical aquariums with 800W lighting, filters and heaters running 24/7 ambient temp in apartment approx. 25ish C for livestock.

flat heating on 30mins every hour 24/7 for my reptiles. And lots of tech on lots of hours, leccy oven etc gas CH and water and that's a big 3 bedroomed Apartment with 2 living and using energy.

Ive never really looked into it all because like i said i suck with money plus i can never be bothered with the hasel of changing, plus i like to know exactly where i am with my money everytime i get paid i do my "calculations" for how much gas and electric im adding then other bills and food etc cause i still mess up because something catches my eye and then i buy it lol (always gets me into trouble)

Ive never really looked into it all because like i said i suck with money plus i can never be bothered with the hasel of changing, plus i like to know exactly where i am with my money everytime i get paid i do my "calculations" for how much gas and electric im adding then other bills and food etc cause i still mess up because something catches my eye and then i buy it lol (always gets me into trouble)

sorry was editing my post when you quoted, im exactly the same mate, hence I opened a 2nd bank account with my bank for my "fun money" leaving enough for all my monthly bills in wages account.

sorry was editing my post when you quoted, im exactly the same mate, hence I opened a 2nd bank account with my bank for my "fun money" leaving enough for all my monthly bills in wages account.

Yes this si something ive just started to do going to transfer bill money(debits) to one account and then have fun money (+ gas and electric) in the other i also need to sort out a savings account somehow lol mind you been readin up on some tips saw one which was putting an extra $1 into an account every week and by end of the year there was over $1,000 anyway off watch a movie, catch all later.

Oh, i already asked british gas and they said i was on the best tarrif at the time becuase i enquired about my bills, also signed a paper for a price fix till end of 2013.

Have you had your key meter checked for the rate its set at, traditionally these were put into premises (previous tenants/owners) that had debts on their accounts, surprisingly a lot are still set at this higher rate.

Yea we got it put in after receiving a huge bill for the normal meter, we're on the lowest tariff they offer too :)

I measured how much current my dual core 2.5GHz desktop system took, and it idle'd around 160W, going up around 200W with use.

Leaving on 24/7 will ensure your components don't heat up and cool down, which can cause latent failure (cold solder joints, cracked traces, blown caps, etc). FWIW, powering/sleeping/hibernating is not bad for the current PC. Having on a power filter/UPS is a bigger issue priority than powering up and down as the power fluctuation with constant uptime is more damaging than power up/down process.

I'd figure out how much you use it, and if its more than 15hr a day, likely wise to keep powered on. It will only kill your disk quicker because it has to load data from it to ram on each power up.. Unless you have a 10 year expectancy for your system's HDD, no backup plan, or have it going in a 10C or colder room, this is completely irrelevant.

You face a bigger problem of popping the mainboard or PSU caps than the HDD with power cycling. don't skimp on the supply/UPS/filter.

I pulled out 3 desktop systems and a plasma, bought LED TV's and tablet/laptops and enabled auto-off on them all. Cut almost $50 off my electric a month. At almost 1kW with the computers & monitors (which use the most power) and nearly 600W going to the plasma, cutting back to ~250W for everything (110w or so for 2 LED panels and 140W for the 2 laptops & mini) makes a difference. I also hit the power bar switch for my HT setup when I walk out of the room now too which saves 10W or so idle power.

These meters are crazy - but wouldn't you just put like 200 quid on them and not worry for quite some time?

Guess depends on where your at financially, so these are all in juts rent apt/flats - you don't see these in single family homes?? Do you.

I could see them making great sense in flats/apartments -- especially if there was a bit of turnover in the renters, if people renting the place change out every few months. Never seen anything like it here in the states that is for sure.

both my houses ive lived in been family homes and theyve all had them. Theyre really common over here. More people I know have them than dont. Most people prefer it to getting a huge bill in at the end of the month/quarter.

PAYG makes sense for most people. Same as mobile phones, most people use PAYG not contract.

People like to know what and when they are spending. Its not that much of a problem really, ?20 lasts us like a week or two so you just need to get it within those two weeks when you're at the shops

Having on a power filter/UPS is a bigger issue than powering up and down as the power fluctuation with constant uptime is more damaging than power up/down process.

You face a bigger problem of popping the mainboard or PSU caps than the HDD with power cycling. don't skimp on the supply/UPS/filter.

how exactly having a UPS that regulates voltage ( provided it's one with a built in battery) damaging? its the other way around?!

how exactly having a UPS that regulates voltage ( provided it's one with a built in battery) damaging? its the other way around?!

Yes. Power cycling will cause very little damage. Not having a UPS causes a LOT more problems. If you don't have A UPS you SHOULD power off whenever not in use! Sorry, English is my first language, but I am terrible at it.

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