Tuesday 2 June 2009

Save your energy darling!

Snoozing away on Friday morning, I felt an arm resting on my hip, followed by a kiss on my temple.

"You should save your energy darling!" I said. "You'll need to now that you're 40!"

And right on cue, the door burst open. Our two little boys bursting into song with a somewhat untuneful rendition of "Happy Birthday To You" filling the air with celebration.

"Happy birthday Daddy", beamed our eldest, as he handed over their gift.

"Now you're old, you need to save your energy." they said, as he untied the fabric wrapping.

By now there was most definitely a theme occuring. He was getting suspicious that something was afoot, while I was desparately hoping that he would not be disappointed with his present.

But before he managed to unwrap it, our little bin defender tripped over his words, and couldn't explain it fast enough....

"It's a thing that you plug into the electricity and tells you how much energy you're using and reminds you to turn things off."

"That's brilliant." came the reply, coinciding with the box being opened to reveal all its contents. "I've wanted one of those for ages."

Phew. The relief that an electricity monitor - all be it a snazzy one - could have been such a successful gift.

It was indeed a great start to the birthday celebrations that continued all weekend.

And yes, before you ask...we have played the game of turning on all the lights and watching the display go up and up and up and then turning everything off and seeing the numbers go back down and down and down. And we've been surprised at the difference it makes just by turning off a few halogen bulbs.

But if you think this present is to keep Mr A on his toes...trust me...it's not.

Remember, information is power. And now that he's in full command of such information, he can watch my every move. From his new control centre he's been busy keeping me on my toes, constantly demanding that I turn off the light in the downstairs loo and switch off the TV while I'm working on my laptop.

Blimmin' 'eck, I think I'm now officially on a low carbon diet as well as a rubbish diet.

At least now the celebrations are over, he's back to work where he can't keep an eye on me....unless he wants to monitor the historic data that is.

Well, just in case Mr A is looking in, the official line is that all the lights are now off and our house is currently using just 263 watts. Once I turn off my laptop we'll save another 30.

However when I load up the washing machine with the next round of pants, that'll be a different story! Just watch it spin out of control during the washing cycle.

So happy birthday Mr A. By the time you've got to 41, we should save some more money as well as energy. After all, we're both getting on now and with our retirement to consider, it's a good job we've started now!

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Of course if you're the efficient type - unlike disorganised and forgetful old me - you don't need an electricity monitor to remind you to turn things off. You can just save money by simply remembering to flick the switch.

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7 comments:

Eliane said...

Snap. We bought our Wattson last year and it becomes an obsession for a while. Everyone who visits comments on it - though a lot seem a bit paranoid about what one in their home would tell them!

Mrs Green said...

great gift, Mrs A - do you know the differences between this and the OWL monitor?

And can you isolate just one thing; say, could I find out how much my immersion costs when its on for an hour or would I have to switch everything off in the house to find out?

Happy Birthday to Mr A :)

Diet said...

thanks, your article is very informative.

John costigane said...

Hi Mrs A,

This sounds like every nag's dream. Keeping an eye on them, while lazing!

The device can be used positively as well but in the wrong hands....

Caeseria said...

Happy Birthday, Mr. A!

Almost Mrs Average said...

Oh my word...sorry to be replying to these late. As you might have read, I've suffered from a bit of trauma since, which sent me beyond confusion.

Hi Eliane - great to hear you've got one too. I don't know anyone else who has one of these and ended up buying based on a review that I found on the Internet. Have you found it's made a difference at all?

Hi Mrs G - I don't know the specific differences between this and the OWL in terms of effect, but I think the OWL is cheaper. I wanted to get something that would appeal to Mr A's gadgetry mind and that was really stylish and easy to use. The Wattson is very simple to use in fact and to see how much energy an item is using, you simple turn it on and the results are shown straight away. It certainly made me think twice about making sure I don't let the oven preheat for too long :-D x

LOL John...so true...fortunately by now Mr A has stopped nagging me. Maybe it's working at last. But as for our bin defender...looks like he's defender of the lightbulb too. :-D

Hi Caesaria - great to see you again and thanks so much for your support. Can't believe Mr A's birthday was just over two weeks ago. Seems like an eternity. :-D

Layla said...

lol Great to see the birthday gift was a success!! :)

Maybe even too successful, eh? ;)
I don't dare give one of these to Dad!!:)

And a very belated Happy Birthday to Mr A too - can't believe I've missed this!! :)

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