Electricity usage with nothing plugged in.

Options
JackSnap
JackSnap Posts: 21 Forumite
in Energy
I have been recently been monitoring my electricity usage with an eco-eye device.

Something that supprised me is that the usage is about 30W with Nothing plugged in! is this normal?

I can confirm that ive unplugged every device, and turned off any hard wired sockets, (*like boiler and cooker) and its roughly 30W, if i pull out the fuses one by one, i can see its split over the up/downstairs socket circuits.

my first thought was that it was the meter equipment itself, but pinpointing it to these circuits suggests different.

could it be faulty wiring, or a short circuit somewhere, or is this simply the way it is?

and feedback would be appreciated.
«1

Comments

  • 4$£&*(£$&*(!
    4$£&*(£$&*(! Posts: 999 Forumite
    Options
    JackSnap wrote: »
    I have been recently been monitoring my electricity usage with an eco-eye device.

    Something that supprised me is that the usage is about 30W with Nothing plugged in! is this normal?

    I can confirm that ive unplugged every device, and turned off any hard wired sockets, (*like boiler and cooker) and its roughly 30W, if i pull out the fuses one by one, i can see its split over the up/downstairs socket circuits.

    my first thought was that it was the meter equipment itself, but pinpointing it to these circuits suggests different.

    could it be faulty wiring, or a short circuit somewhere, or is this simply the way it is?

    and feedback would be appreciated.

    It's important you remember these circuits complete back on themselves in a ring, so the residual current could generate this reading. The best possible thing you can do is switch everything off again apart from something that uses about 30w of power - say 3 energy saving bulbs. Turn them on and watch the dial on the electric meter, you should get an idea how fast 30w makes the dial turn. Then turn the lights out. If it genuinely is using 30w like your meter says, the dial will slow to half the speed. If it stops completely you know what the device says is bunkum. Which I think anyway - I'm not a subscriber to the idea of these monitoring devices, I think they're generally a waste of money.
  • Incisor
    Incisor Posts: 2,271 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Options
    JackSnap wrote: »
    I have been recently been monitoring my electricity usage with an eco-eye device.

    Something that supprised me is that the usage is about 30W with Nothing plugged in! is this normal?

    I can confirm that ive unplugged every device, and turned off any hard wired sockets, (*like boiler and cooker) and its roughly 30W, if i pull out the fuses one by one, i can see its split over the up/downstairs socket circuits.

    my first thought was that it was the meter equipment itself, but pinpointing it to these circuits suggests different.

    could it be faulty wiring, or a short circuit somewhere, or is this simply the way it is?

    and feedback would be appreciated.
    Wot CitySlicker says. Your electricity meter is what measures what you pay for. And the only reason you are doing this is probably to do with monitoring charges. So expect the meter to stand still. If the eco-eye device is still recording, it may be seeing capacitative currents into your wiring. These currents are at a power factor of 0, which your tarriff meter will take into account, and there will be no charge for this current.
    After the uprising of the 17th June The Secretary of the Writers Union
    Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee Stating that the people
    Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could win it back only
    By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier In that case for the government
    To dissolve the people
    And elect another?
  • moonrakerz
    moonrakerz Posts: 8,650 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Options
    Incisor wrote: »
    These currents are at a power factor of 0, which your tarriff meter will take into account, and there will be no charge for this current.

    We've had this discussion before, domestic meters assume a fixed standard power factor (0.8 ish ?). If the wheel is turning (the hamster is in !) you will be charged for it !
  • Incisor
    Incisor Posts: 2,271 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Options
    moonrakerz wrote: »
    We've had this discussion before, domestic meters assume a fixed standard power factor (0.8 ish ?). If the wheel is turning (the hamster is in !) you will be charged for it !
    No, domestic meters DO NOT assume a power factor. They are true power meters and take the power factor into account.
    After the uprising of the 17th June The Secretary of the Writers Union
    Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee Stating that the people
    Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could win it back only
    By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier In that case for the government
    To dissolve the people
    And elect another?
  • JackSnap
    JackSnap Posts: 21 Forumite
    Options
    i should have mentioned the meter is moving yes, although its incredible slowly, you can also hear it.
  • BagOfSpanners
    BagOfSpanners Posts: 9 Forumite
    Options
    In this situation I would tend to trust the electricity meter. If the dial is turning, it is likely that the house is consuming real, chargeable power.

    Just some thoughts:
    Have you checked the loft for things like aerial amplifiers which are sometimes wired directly into the upstairs lighting circuit?
    Do you have a burglar alarm, if so where does it get its power from?
    Have you measured how fast the electricity meter is turing, and calculated what power level it corresponds to?
    Have you tried measuring power with the sensor clamp in the same location as at present, but not actually clamped around any cable? The inductive clamps used by these devices are very sensitive to stray AC magnetic fields, which may become a factor when trying to measure very low power levels.
    Is your Eco-Eye running entirely on internal batteries or is it drawing some power?

    Although I have a whole-house power monitor that I find very useful for monitoring what my house is doing, I'm not sure I would trust it to be highly accurate at very low power levels. It is required to measure power levels of more than 10kW, so measuring differences of 10W would require an accuracy of 0.1%, which is a lot to ask of a gadget costing £20.
    The CurrentCost website has an interesting page about accuracy: http://www.currentcost.co.uk
  • moonrakerz
    moonrakerz Posts: 8,650 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Options
    Incisor wrote: »
    No, domestic meters DO NOT assume a power factor. They are true power meters and take the power factor into account.

    The "bog standard" domestic electricity meter does not correct for power factor !
    Some of the very sophisticated modern devices can measure/record this but it is not corrected for in the meter.

    The spinning wheel type of meter measures current flow only, this is corrected mechanically to give a read out value in kWh (usually). The usual figure of power factor applied in the mechanics of the meter is around 0.74, but this can vary depending on the type of meter.
    If your power consumption is based on a totally different power factor this is (usually) achieved by application of an agreed pf figure in the billing or a fixed figure being built into the meter just as in a domestic meter.

    To return to the OP, a meter, like any electrically driven device, actually does consumes power to operate so it is possible that he is seeing the power used by the meter !
  • 1carminestocky
    1carminestocky Posts: 5,256 Forumite
    Cashback Cashier
    Options
    I think the only house that probably wouldn't be using any leccy at all would be a recently demolished one. IME there's always *some* appliance that's consuming some leccy, obvioulsy not of the plug-in variety. Alarm system or some such device? 30 watts is hardly a large draw.
    Call me Carmine....

    HAVE YOU SEEN QUENTIN'S CASHBACK CARD??
  • mech_2
    mech_2 Posts: 620 Forumite
    Options
    1carminestocky wrote: »
    I think the only house that probably wouldn't be using any leccy at all would be a recently demolished one. IME there's always *some* appliance that's consuming some leccy, obvioulsy not of the plug-in variety. Alarm system or some such device? 30 watts is hardly a large draw.

    I'd say it is if it's 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That would add 14% to my electricity usage.
  • 1carminestocky
    1carminestocky Posts: 5,256 Forumite
    Cashback Cashier
    Options
    By 'not a huge draw' I meant that the appliance/s which are causing the reading are not high consumption item/s. As regular readers will no doubt already know, maths is by no means my strongest subject but isn't 30 watts charged 24 hrs per day 365 days per year on my 10p per kw price just £26? If so, you have refreshingly low leccy consumption..
    Call me Carmine....

    HAVE YOU SEEN QUENTIN'S CASHBACK CARD??
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.6K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.9K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.3K Life & Family
  • 248.3K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards