Have an Energy Monitor? How much do you use?

sarymclary

Hi,

We got a free energy monitor from our supplier earlier this year, and it's been very interesting seeing how much our usage fluctuates from day to day.

We had a huge bill last year, and made a concerted effort to cut our usage prior to getting the monitor. We switch everything we can off at the mains at night, and during the daytime if we're not using it. Nothing gets left on standby, and even the PC and Skybox are unplugged at night. We made a staggering reduction over 6 months, equating to £50 per month less usage.

Now we have the monitor, my OH is like the electricity police, and if it goes above the expected 'flat' rate, he searches for the offending applicance culprit.

We aim to use 1-2p/hr when not using a main appliance. Our daily rate is targeted to be below £1.50. I don't think that's bad for a family of 6.

I'd be interested to know what others' usage is, because I'm convinced that we can't cut it any further, but my OH thinks we still can, but is already concerned about the increase in the winter, when we have lights on more, and the children stay inside more.

PeterDuckett

I'm Guessing that £1.50 target is about 8kWh worth of electric a day which is about 2920kWh a year which to be honest ain't bad in fact below average.
Personally I'm on about 6kWh a day for a professional couple in a three bed house.

Thing to consider Lighting are they all energy saving remember you can now get dimmable energy saving bulbs and remember halagons are bad
Can you cook more than one meal at a time to store for the week often doesn't take too much energy to re heat.
Full loads in washing machines and use outside lines or radiators
XBOX/PS3 are bad in my view even on stand by could you buy a power down plug that detects when your TV is off

Remember look for the phantom loads items that have LED or displays even when your not using them is a good indication though alarms cordless phone charges still add up

KimYeovil

PeterDuckett wrote: »

I'm Guessing that £1.50 target is about 8kWh worth of electric a day

Eh? Try doubling that useage! If you are paying 19p per kWh then find a new supplier, now.

moonrakerz

KimYeovil wrote: »

Eh? Try doubling that useage! If you are paying 19p per kWh then find a new supplier, now.

This is why I keep saying that these energy monitors are a waste of time/money and effort ! What is the point of knowing (approximately - they are not very accurate) how much electricity you are using if you can't even convert that into pounds/pence ?

gonzo127

I have to say thats one thing i quite like about the free Eon one i have just got as it allows you to input your unit cost so it shows usage and money - although is getting confusing as i am looking at the watt's and Mrs keeps looking at cost, still only have it for less than 5 days so have not gotten a 'base' figure to work from at the moment although i dont think we are 'that' bad although 2 teenagers in the house sure does eat it up,

just for an idea my standing household usage seems to be just over 100 watts with no TV's on although we do have tropical fish so their heater and filter etc are always on

PeterDuckett

KimYeovil wrote: »

Eh? Try doubling that useage! If you are paying 19p per kWh then find a new supplier, now.

I was only looking at tier one though even averaging it out at .15p only makes around 10 kWh hence the word GUESS!

moonrakerz

PeterDuckett wrote: »

I was only looking at tier one though even averaging it out at .15p only makes around 10 kWh hence the word GUESS!

My highlighting.................


What !!

Viper_7

Use about 5KW - trouble is - it doesn't work with out supply. Typical of Npower! Supply a single energy monitor to a property with 3 supplies...
Can only monitor one supply at a time.

The 5KW is everything excluding water heater, and storage heaters.

Interesting to see that the TV/SKY/DVD etc on Standby use 40W.

The remote control sockets will pay for themselves within a year.

LeifGR

sarymclary wrote: »

We aim to use 1-2p/hr when not using a main appliance. Our daily rate is targeted to be below £1.50. I don't think that's bad for a family of 6.

First of all, well done for reducing your consumption so much! Our family is half of yours and our usage fluctuates between 7 kWh per day in summer and 9 in winter, so I'd say you've done very well.

It would be useful if you could post your consumption in kWh, to even the playing field by eliminating tariff differences, standing charges etc. and focus on usage.



I think your OH is potentially right, you could reduce consumption further, but it would take some investment in items like:

• Low energy bulbs
• Intelliplugs
• New freezer and/or fridge

We've found that buying the right low energy bulbs at a higher price gives us both quicker start-up, nicer light quality and longer life span.

Our biggest saving on electricity came when we switched out our 10 year old freezer -- this alone reduced monthly consumption by around 90 kWh!!

Pop over to the Energy Diary thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=980757 and look at Imeasure (http://www.imeasure.org.uk/).

KimYeovil

PeterDuckett wrote: »

I was only looking at tier one though even averaging it out at .15p only makes around 10 kWh hence the word GUESS!

No, that makes it 1000 kWh so even using your assumption you are making things up.

The OP mention they are a family of six - absolutely no sense in using the tier 1 price.

Anyway, as mentioned by others, people should really be concentrating on useage in kWh or 100s of Whs rather than confusing themselves with money modes.

sarymclary

Thanks so much for all your contributions.

We've just checked our kW usage and for example, yesterday we used 12kW (£1.44), and used 95kw the week before.
The monitor we have was supplied by Npower, with a default setting. We are paying 12.190p p/kw (14.650p p/kw for the 1st 180 kw) according to our bill and it does seem to work out at about 12p p/kw.

We do have low energy lightbulbs in the majority of our lights, and my OH is going to change complete light fittings, to get rid of the spotlights in some rooms, and replace them with 1 low energy bulb.

I guess what I wanted to discover was that we were achieving a low enough usage, and compare it with others'. We use about £48 p/m but pay an overspend of £60, which should take into account any winter increase. We have already had a refund of £300, so it's all going in the right direction.