Does my electrical usage seem right?

lataniakn

I've been in my small 1 bedroomed detatched house for a year now and i've always suspected my electric usage being sky high but put it down to an ex partner always been home when I was in work. I've had the house to myself and living on my own now for 6 months and still find my electric usage high for a single full time working person living on their own and now i'm suspicious....

I have no gas here at the property so everything is electric. My heating is 2 plug in oil filled radiatiors which I always keep ticking over at a lowish heat, just to keep the temperature at room temperature, and they click in every so often. My hot water boiler is run on electric but I only mainly turn this on after 10:30 when the economy 7 kicks in. And i only use the washing machine and tumble drier twice a week, only at economy 7 hours. I'm conscious of saving electric so never leave lights on unnecessary.

I've been tracking my electric usage for a few weeks now and this is my average results........



Day Time Usage (rate 1) = 38 units
Night Time Usage (rate 2) = 18 units

Day Time (rate 1) For 17 hours of Day Time Rate I am only in the property for 8 hours.
Night Time (rate 2) For 7 hours of Night Time Rate I am in the property for 7 hours but obviously asleep for most of it.




As an example yesterday I left the house at 7:30am, nothing left on other than the 2 heaters on low, nothing on standby etc, and returned 6 hours later. I sat on the sofa, watched Sky TV, had 2 lamps on that have got energy saving light bulbs, made a cup of tea, checked my email for half hour but turned the pc off after, left again 3 hours later, nothing electrically left on, returned 2 hours later, and exactly the same routine until i went to bed at 12am. I then left the tumble dryer on for 2 hours (rate 2). My usage was Rate 1=40 units, Rate 2=18 units



This just still seems so high!! But I'm also worried about ringing the electric company and getting an engineer out in case they find nothing wrong and bill me for the call out which i just can't afford. Catch 22.

The electric meter for the property is outside in an outside cupboard with 7 other meters for neighbouring flats on the same property. There's plenty of cables coming out of the meter. 2 Cables in particular are linked to a seperate box which has the words "Radio Teleswitch Series 3, Type R04M01840". Now I'm techinically minded but is there any cause for suspicion that i may be paying for something I shouldn't be? I'm just being cautious and suspcious now. Or do you think that this usage sounds right to you?

Thanks!!!

KimYeovil

Why are you on an Economy 7 tariff when you have panel heaters on 17 hours per day on the day rate? You should definitely switch to a standard tariff unless there is a reason you haven't told us.

You leave the heating on in the house when you are out nine hours per day?

Night rate for E7 kicks in a lot later than 10:30pm, I think.

38 units at the day rate seems reasonable enough for seventeen hours heating plus bits and pieces (electric cooking and electric showers).

KimYeovil

lataniakn wrote: »

I'm conscious of saving electric so never leave lights on unnecessary.
...
I left the house at 7:30am, nothing left on other than the 2 heaters on low, nothing on standby

Perhaps you could try switching your heaters off and not worrying about your lightbulbs?

On days you are going out in the evening after work why have heating on at all?

macman

This old chestnut about 'keeping the heating on ticking over' seems to come up with monotonous regularity. It's pointless, and, since you are on an E7 tariff, you are doing most of your heating at peak rate. Put your panel heaters on a timer to come on say an hour before you are due home.

Fire_Fox

lataniakn wrote: »

I've been in my small 1 bedroomed detatched house for a year now and i've always suspected my electric usage being sky high but put it down to an ex partner always been home when I was in work. I've had the house to myself and living on my own now for 6 months and still find my electric usage high for a single full time working person living on their own and now i'm suspicious....

I have no gas here at the property so everything is electric. My heating is 2 plug in oil filled radiatiors which I always keep ticking over at a lowish heat, just to keep the temperature at room temperature, and they click in every so often. My hot water boiler is run on electric but I only mainly turn this on after 10:30 when the economy 7 kicks in. And i only use the washing machine and tumble drier twice a week, only at economy 7 hours. I'm conscious of saving electric so never leave lights on unnecessary.

As an example yesterday I left the house at 7:30am, nothing left on other than the 2 heaters on low, nothing on standby etc, and returned 6 hours later. I sat on the sofa, watched Sky TV, had 2 lamps on that have got energy saving light bulbs, made a cup of tea, checked my email for half hour but turned the pc off after,left again 3 hours later, nothing electrically left on, returned 2 hours later, and exactly the same routine until i went to bed at 12am. I then left the tumble dryer on for 2 hours (rate 2). My usage was Rate 1=40 units, Rate 2=18 units

Thanks!!!

There is your problem: you are paying to heat the entire street on expensive day rate electricity when you are not even there! How well insulated is your detached house? Do you leave the heaters on all year round and all night too? It's irrelevant whether you work, you leave the expensive stuff running so you may as well be there ... note that lighting and standby use very little electricity. What on earth takes two hours in the tumble dryer?