Ideas how to calculate average electricity??

JennyR68

BankFree wrote: »

Maybe the oil filled radiator was not such a good idea...it was only on for 4 hours a day though and personally I find storage heaters useless, they are like a modern fire- loads of heat (so it's too hot) in the morning and then freezing my evening. (Yes I have been using the vent adjustments but anyone who has had a storage heater will sympathize.) Thankyou for all your help, I am now just going back to wolly jumpers in the evening and good old fashioned storage heaters.

Oh and thankyou Jenny R68 very helpful websites, A am now updating my weekly fuel usage so I can keep track of it...

You can get radiators to work out economically but only if you come of the E7. I've recently ditched my night storage (for the reasons you mentioned)for thermostatic radiators which run on day tariff. Coming of the E7 allowed me to switch to a tariff that is 7.4p so now my bill is less than when I had the storage heaters.

Fire_Fox

Your oil filled radiator will give you 1KW of heat for about 10p (day rate) whereas your storage heater will give you 1KW of heat for about 5p (night rate). If you turn the storage heater input to high and output to low you won't waste much heat during the day, then turn the output to high when you arrive home. You have still done well to reduce your consumption by £25 as it's been a much harsher winter than last year.

You have used as much electricity in four months as I use in a year (two bed all electric flat) - I do have to layer up but I also have a good duvet on my bed and a spare on my sofa and an electric blanket on my bed which costs pennies to run. You should also look at insulation which is difficult in a flat, but thick curtains with thermal or blackout linings really help.

xamberangel

Having switched to N power, but still had to pay my energy supplier £747 for 3 months because of damp bedroom, I HAVE 1 BEDROOM FLAT, I have nothing but sympathy for all of you. Why should we have to wrap up indoors as if we were outside? What happens when we have to go OUTSIDE!!
I wish we could demonstrate our protest to some power or other. Any ideas welcome. E. Paul. amberangel

tomstickland

although still have the water tank filling up at night so probably not much difference even if I had changed..

In cold snaps I use about 24 units per night on the heating.
The hot water tanks takes about 4 units per night.

KimYeovil

xamberangel wrote: »

had to pay my energy supplier £747 for 3 months because of damp bedroom

If your tag is correct and you are an ex amber angel surely your bedroom will be now be much less damp?

xamberangel

Don't get your point

xamberangel

Not quite sure of format but my last comment was directed at Kim Yeovil and still waiting for response.

BankFree

I totally agree xamberangel, why the hell should I have to wear so many bloody layers indoors!!!??? I do like doing my bit for the environment, and also to save money, but sometimes it just feels like your paying just to stay alive!!

I know this will probably make others on this thread cringe but I have sat in front of the electricity bill for half an hour today trying to find the strength to even care what Kw are and what relevance it bears to actual money...

I've now realised (for my own sanity) that this is one thing which I don't actually want to understand any more, I already live extremley frugally and make all kinds of other cuts in my life but I think (personally) it will be one step too far if I were to know how much it costs me to use/switch things on. (I can imagine myself becoming a bit OCD and going to extremes like building fires outside to make a cup of tea, to avoid switching the kettle on.)

Thanks for all the replies posted up here, it has been helpful to know that I am not the only one

I think I will post on this thread every week after I take my meter reading though.... can't be bad to keep an eye on things.

tomstickland

Just take some meter readings soon, leave it a week and take some more, divide the increase by 7 and then we can comment on whether it's reasonable or not.

Lights, TVs, phone chargers don't use much electricity.
Heat sources do; cooker, immersion heater, heaters.

KimYeovil

xamberangel wrote: »

Not quite sure of format but my last comment was directed at Kim Yeovil and still waiting for response.

If you didn't catch what I meant then you won't want to know what I meant.