Welcome to Watt Watchers

Watt Watchers was formed with the intention of helping residents of Brickendon Liberty, Hertfordshire, reduce their electricity consumption and thus reduce the overall carbon footprint of the parish. The project was formally launched on 25 April 2009 and was made possible by grants from East of England Development Authority’s Cut Your Carbon scheme, East Herts Council’s LEAF fund and Brickendon Liberty Parish Council.

The first stage of the project has been to offer each home an energy meter to enable householders to monitor the amount of electricity they are using at any time and identify wastage.

What’s a Watt?

Without getting too technical, a watt (W) is a measure of the amount of electricity each appliance uses. For example, traditional light bulbs are rated at 60W, 100W or 150W whereas energy saving bulbs are typically 8W, 11W or 20W; a microwave is more likely to be 750W and a kettle 2,000W (2kW).

So a watt is what you pay for! One unit of electricity is one kilowatt-hour, that is 1,000 watts used for one hour. Depending on your electricity tariff a unit will cost you between about 15p and 20p. Reduce the number of watts you use or the time you use them for and you reduce your electricity bill.

Watt Reduction

Here are a few tips for watt loss:

  • turn off anything that is not required;
  • only boil as much water in your kettle as you need for your immediate requirements;
  • change light bulbs to 80% energy saving bulbs;
  • don’t leave fridge or freezer doors open for longer than it takes to put food in or take it out;
  • switch off lights in rooms that are unoccupied;
  • use a laptop rather than a desktop computer;
  • repair draughty doors and windows (when the weather is warm, so as to prevent loss of heat).

This website was made using 100% recycled electrons. No trees were destroyed and no animals were harmed.