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Just got my first bill at the new place, and it follows a different cycle than what I had at the old... Off by about 20 days.
I have some (fairly) sophisticated charts comparing my energy & fossil use over time that I'll have to try to adjust as a result.
Also, by default, the new place is on time-of-use billing. Which means I'll have to adjust my heavier usage to later at night instead of whenever it needs to be done. This could get tricky...
Maybe I should setup a bunch of smart plugs to disable power on certain outlets during the day, only reactivating when batteries go under 20%? That'll help with my computer & various tablets, but I'm not sure it's quite what I want to do.
Going to need to think on this.
@srgray I wonder about the charge/discharge loss vs directly using mains power. Charging produces a fair amount of waste heat* but I don't have a good feel for the scale of loss compared to the off-hour savings.
* Though it's not waste if you're heating your air anyway.
@trevorflowers Most lithium-ion batteries should be kept between 20% - 90% charge to help extend their total lifespan.
Additionally, I have a few battery-powered things that are always plugged in (control panels, laptops), which creates a lot of extra heat on their own.
I *could* walk over and throw the breaker, but there's a number of things that actually need power throughout the day (as I currently WFH), so other than the washer/dryer, that really isn't a viable option for me. So there's a fair bit of standby-power that's always being drained.
I'm just uncertain if the standby power of a smart plug is less than the standby power of the devices that will be plugged into them. That's one question that I don't really know how to determine.