Energy monitor and electric consumption

Toomuchdebt

Just a quick question-the lowest I have managed to get everything to go when everything is turned off bar one light and the energy monitor is 106w-I did have the TV and printer on standby and the digital phone plugged in as I can't get to that particular plug at the moment(8 months pregnant and it's behind a cupboard)-does that sound about right or is that still too high?The light is an energy saving bulb.Is there any way of switching it all off bar the energy monitor other than switching it off at the mains?There is a fuse cupboard but I have no idea what fuses are what or if it's possible to isolate just that one plug in the kitchen?It's a shame they don't have a battery version of the energy monitor so you could switch everything off and check it went down to 0.

macman

What wattage is the light bulb? Did you turn off things like your fridge and freezer too? 106W is very low, that would cost you about 28p per day -and presumably the light would be off at night anyway.

Toomuchdebt

Yes everything was off totally except that one plug with printer and and tv and phone and the light which I think is a 60 or 80 watt equivalent energy saving thingy(I'm so technical LOL)I can't check as it's too high up.Most mornings the reading is around 189-that's with the fridge, fish tank filter and heater,a few things on standby.At the moment it's working out around 13kwh a day-my previous use was 18-21kwh per day on the bills but I would still like to reduce that a bit more if I can as I'm trying to pay a debt off with both gas and electric.We're a family of 7 in a 3 bed bungalow and part of the issue is the OH works 2pm to 11pm so gets back at 11:30pm and then stays up a few hours relaxing watching TV etc which obviously uses more than if everyone was asleep at that time.Grrr.
ETA one light stays on all night in the corridor till about 4am because the toddler wakes up at night still and it's pitch black without a light and I can't see where I'm going. LOL

penrhyn

These monitors are not accurate for readings below around 200Watts, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Toomuchdebt

Oh OK At least I'm getting an idea of what is using up the electricity-it'll be interesting to see if the bill next quarter agrees with what the monitor says in terms of kwH

macman

The wattage rating of the bulb is the wattage it uses, not what it's equivalent to. Thats' why they're called energy saving bulbs...

Cardew

I don't think any of these meters that monitor the total consumption of the house are accurate at very low power consumption levels.

I have tried a couple and similarly I cannot get the figure down below 120 watts.

Toomuchdebt

macman wrote: »

The wattage rating of the bulb is the wattage it uses, not what it's equivalent to. Thats' why they're called energy saving bulbs...

dumb blonde moment LOL...well it was whatever the free southern electric lightbulbs were that they sent me some time last year-no boxes left so have no idea what they were

macman

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

dumb blonde moment LOL...well it was whatever the free southern electric lightbulbs were that they sent me some time last year-no boxes left so have no idea what they were

It's stamped on the bulb, but I wouldn't worry about climbing up to check it if you're 8m pregnant.

Sandrock

Mine tends to sit about 50w, but jumps now and then when the fridge/freezer cycles on and off. However, as other posters have said, I doubt it's that accurate.

I use mine purely as a guide, it is near enough (slightly over reads) when comparing against actual figures from the meter.

Toomuchdebt

macman wrote: »

It's stamped on the bulb, but I wouldn't worry about climbing up to check it if you're 8m pregnant.

LOL definitely not going to attempt that-I only have 5 weeks to go so I'm pretty much the size of a house at the moment and very clumsy