Help! I'm using about 12,000 kWh per year!

jasondainter

Hi All,

This is my first post to the MSE forums so hello first of all and thanks for a great forum and website!

I've just received my electricity bill for Npower who charge me 15.8p on the first 190 kWh and then 14.72 kWh on anything above.

My bill from between 29/09/08 and 05/01/09 was a whopping 628.87 pounds, and we've used 4055 kWh apparently of energy.

After getting that shocker - I did some Google to find that the UK average for kWh seems to be around the 4,800 kWh per year mark, with high energy spenders coming in at around 7,000 kWh per year.

By my shoddy maths, given that our bill was only for around a 3 month period, our energy usage is going to be around 16,000 kWh per year which is INSANE!

Our average bill current is 41.38 kWh per day. (again, insane!)

There are three of us living in a city centre 2 bed apartment in Leeds, and what worries me is we are quite (or at least thought we were) energy aware and always turn lights off after leaving rooms etc. The only other useful piece of info I have is that last year when our landlord was living in the flat (again, quite an energy aware chap) the average was a little lower at 35.45 kWh per day, which is lower - but still massively higher than the UK average.

I’m concerned that it may be the flat itself that is really energy unfriendly.

To give you an idea of factors here here's a few bullets to describe the flat and energy usage:

- We have a thermostat, its currently set to being permanently on at around 22 degrees. (I'm going to try bringing the heat down through the night and in the morning to see if that helps). I could potentially turn down the average to about 20 degrees, and perhaps set this to go off at some point during the day (I work from home so it’s a bit hard to completely turn it off, I'll freeze!)
- I use a laptop which is on most of the day (eg on and using it, rather than being on standby)
- the whole flat has halogen lights throughout. I wonder if this could be a main factor? There’s not a lot I can do about that as it’s not my flat so I’m stuck with those.
- all the rooms have brick walls (well normally in each room one side is brick and the other is painted). Could this be causing so much loss in energy?
- I have a few electrical bits and bobs (printer, etc) that occasionally gets left on standby, planning to turn these off (but can’t see that being the sole cause).

Other than that our usage is pretty standard (or at least I thought).

My question is, can anyone see anything glaringly obvious that we can change to dramatically lower our costs here?

Many thanks in advance for any help.


Jason

DrFluffy

The thermostat will do it... Why is perminently on?

belfastgirl23

Don't forget when you look at the average amounts for electric use most of those people use, it won't include heating or indeed possibly hot water which will be supplied by oil or gas. So I would guess this it's not quite as bad as it sounds in terms of averages. We use around 4000kwh of electric a year but around another 30,000kwh in gas for heating and hot water...also some cooking. This is for a 4 bed detatched house with DH in some daytimes.

Halogen lightbulbs are sore on electric though, we have them in the kitchen but I also have a lamp with an energy efficient lightbulb in it and I tend to leave that on for all the making a cup of tea etc.

gazza975526570

Are your readings actual or estimated?

ka7e

22 degrees sounds rather warm, unless you have a very young child on the premises 24/7. I have a draughty Victorian semi and usually keep the thermostat at 17-18, and switch the heating off between 11pm and 6pm.

If I feel the chill getting to me I bung on an extra layer or go out for a short walk - the house always feels warmer when I come in from the cold!

Could you use a localised heat source at your work station, like a thermostat-controlled heater?

If the halogen bulbs are power-hungry, buy a few table lamps or standard lamps for lighting the reception areas and bedrooms. Then you can use energy-saving bulbs.

A_fiend_for_life

Hi and welcome!
First off I'm assuming everyone is healthy.:j:j:j
Sounds like you can make a lot of gains here:beer:

Keep a daily diary / spreadsheet of the energy you are using and track improvements.

Space and water heating are the most energy intesive so use only what you need. This'll include;

As you say, turn the heating down to 20C and keep it there for the next few days or week (sounds like your dooing daily checks anyway but good to keep a record.).

Layers of clothes help a lot too - I know only too well sat at a pc all day.

This is likely to be your major problem though (as mentioned above). You probably don't need the heating on overnight so try timing it to switch off half an hour before bedtime and to come on for half an hour to an hour in the morning. An extra duvet or blanket would probably be cost effective if the flat is that cold. A hot water bottle is a good option too.

Shower instead of bath.

Wash only a full load try 40C - most powders will wash at 30C.

If you've central heating turn the radiators down in the bedrooms and close the doors - it'll keep the heat in the inhabited rooms.

Boil only the water you need for a brew and flask the rest.



Can you confirm if your readings on the bill are:

actual (A)
confirmed (C)
estimate (E)

Cardew

Why are you paying 14.72p on tier2 electricity? There are much cheaper tariffs around 10p.

As your heating is electric, you simply cannot take a Sep-Jan quarter and multiply that by 4. (incidentally your heading states 12000kWh pa and yet 16,000kWh in the post?) - the summer will be much lower.

You haven't said what type of electrical heating you have(with a thermostat) but this will almost certainly be the major area with potential for savings.

Bear in mind that the average household spends around £1300 pa on energy, and that includes those with much cheaper gas.

So considering you are heating with electricity, paying over the odds for electricity, and working from home, you will have hefty bills.

Patchwork_Quilt

Can you go and work in the library for one morning a week and use their electricity?

Also aren't there energy saving bulbs to fit spotlights?

tyllwyd

If you work from home, it makes sense as someone else said to keep the room where you are heated to whatever feels comfortable, but turn the heating down (say to 18 degrees) everywhere else.

What about cooking and washing/drying. Do you use a tumble dryer - they do eat electricity. And your windows - are they all double glazed?

Turning lights on and off is pennies compared to other things like heating/washing/cooking.

Fire_Fox

Patchwork_Quilt wrote: »

Can you go and work in the library for one morning a week and use their electricity?

Also aren't there energy saving bulbs to fit spotlights?

If it's a dark flat LEDs are useless.

tyllwyd

One thing you could check is your hot water heating - do you have an immersion heater? Is it on constantly?