Parents' £80 Elec. bill p.m, surely too much?Emersion heater?

buel

lu lu, what a truly fantastic reply, thank you so very much!! Absolutely brilliant advice and i really really do appreciate it!!

korky69

not wanting to hijack this thread, but have similar problem with my dads.
he had a new central heating system fitted by the council in february, they replaced the gas boiler with an immersion heater,
i checked his meter last week and he had used 75 units more in 79 days than his previous bill which was a 137 day bill!
the council sent an engineer to check it out and they had not wired up the thermostat up and it was constantly boiling up the tank,
ive checked his meter again and he had been averaging 8.9 units per day before and now is averaging 7.8 per day

dannymccann

korky69 wrote: »

not wanting to hijack this thread, but have similar problem with my dads.
he had a new central heating system fitted by the council in february, they replaced the gas boiler with an immersion heater,
i checked his meter last week and he had used 75 units more in 79 days than his previous bill which was a 137 day bill!
the council sent an engineer to check it out and they had not wired up the thermostat up and it was constantly boiling up the tank,
ive checked his meter again and he had been averaging 8.9 units per day before and now is averaging 7.8 per day

If they admitted the mistake in writing I should say he is eligible for a refund on his leccy bills

And for the OP, the basic advice is if they want to save money on electric they need to turn things off. If I have read correctly your mum does/did clothes washing 4 or 5 times a week, same with a tumble dryer, had three freezers, left an obvious heat source on in a cold place 24h a day and has been boiling water away for the sake of it :eek:

lu_lu_2

Hi Buel,

Re washing machine:

What temperatures is your Mum using & what length programmes? Polycottons ie quilt cover, undies etc will wash efficiently at 30 degrees and on a standard wash - mine is 80 mins. & spins at 900 this gets them reasonably dry but they don't crease. I also always empty the machine as soon as it stops.

This might sound disgusting but I only change my bedding one a fortnight as I do not do a "dirty/sweaty job". I do have a clean nightshirt each week tho'!

Towels I wash at 40 degrees on a cotton wash but if I have grubby cleaning cloths I pre soak these in a bucket with boiling water, washing powder & good old fashioned (washing) soda crystals to loosen the dirt. This programme spins at 1000. (The higest setting on my machine which is 12 yrs old, but was A rated when purchased).

Does your Mum iron everything including tea towels, undies & dusters? By shaking out the washing/pulling into shape before pegging out carefully I avoid ironing - well almost. Irons are another high elec user and it's time consuming, I can think of better things to do!

Immersion heater - mine would heat a full tank from cold in 20 mins, maybe your Mum could try 30 mins & see if that is sufficient. Not wishing to sound disrespectful but does she remember to turn it off?
You could buy, or maybe she already has, an old fashioned wind up timer which she could set as a reminder.

I agree with other posters that the probable highest elec guzzler is the heat lamp in the puppy shed. See what it's wattage is because if this is running 24hrs per day all winter then thats the problem. If it draws 500 watts per hr 24hrs per day for 6 months that = 2,160kw @ 10p/kw = £216.

Check the wattage on the pond pump. I have no idea how much elec they use but I assume it is on constantly ie 8,760 hrs per yr.

Could your parents manage with 2 freezers not 3? I guess that one is probably the puppy freezer. Are they kept fully stocked & do the doors shut/fit snugly?

Your first prioity tho' must be to get them off the prepayment meter & onto a better tariff, internet billing & monthly D/D. This will make the biggest difference.

Good luck

buel

Hi again!
To lu lu- Thank you SO much for that brilliant reply! It was so very useful!

What temperatures is your Mum using & what length programmes? Polycottons ie quilt cover, undies etc will wash efficiently at 30 degrees and on a standard wash - mine is 80 mins. & spins at 900 this gets them reasonably dry but they don't crease. I also always empty the machine as soon as it stops.

- Not sure but i will find out!!

This might sound disgusting but I only change my bedding one a fortnight as I do not do a "dirty/sweaty job". I do have a clean nightshirt each week tho'!

- Not disgusting at all!!!

Does your Mum iron everything including tea towels, undies & dusters? By shaking out the washing/pulling into shape before pegging out carefully I avoid ironing - well almost. Irons are another high elec user and it's time consuming, I can think of better things to do

!- No she doesn't iron!

Immersion heater - mine would heat a full tank from cold in 20 mins, maybe your Mum could try 30 mins & see if that is sufficient. Not wishing to sound disrespectful but does she remember to turn it off?
You could buy, or maybe she already has, an old fashioned wind up timer which she could set as a reminder.

- A wind up timer would be perfect but unfortunately it isn't a 'plug' for the immersion heater but a switch that is either off or on and yes she does sometimes forget! Grrr! However, i've read that the immersion
heater isn't actually a big user of electric?

I agree with other posters that the probable highest elec guzzler is the heat lamp in the puppy shed. See what it's wattage is because if this is running 24hrs per day all winter then thats the problem. If it draws 500 watts per hr 24hrs per day for 6 months that = 2,160kw @ 10p/kw = £216.

- The heat lamps are not used much, usually just in the winter but according to the Owl they only use 0.242kw?

Check the wattage on the pond pump. I have no idea how much elec they use but I assume it is on constantly ie 8,760 hrs per yr.

- Yes on 24 hrs a day and according to the owl, that+the freezer (same plug im afraid) uses between 580 and 1.320 Kw (im guessing the increase is due to the thermostat on the freezer)

Could your parents manage with 2 freezers not 3? I guess that one is probably the puppy freezer. Are they kept fully stocked & do the doors shut/fit snugly?- They use three but only one is a chest freezer

- One small fridge/freezer that is in a shed outside, one fridge/freezer in the house and one chest freezer in an outside shed.

Your first prioity tho' must be to get them off the prepayment meter & onto a better tariff, internet billing & monthly D/D. This will make the biggest difference.

- Yep, im just trying to find out if they are being overcharged by comparing the owl readings with the meter readings and then the big change to eON will happen! I cant wait!!:)

Ps-Hi everyone!
Great news, my mum is now taking a reading from both the Owl and the meter every morning at 9.30am. Just for the record, the first meter reading was 18 'units', would that be 'Kilowatts' please?

buel

Hi again! Please may i clear up that if my parents' meter says they have used less units than the owl says they have over a set period, say 24 hours, then that means they are being undercharged? And vice-versa?

espresso

buel wrote: »

Hi again! Please may i clear up that if my parents' meter says they have used less units than the owl says they have over a set period, say 24 hours, then that means they are being undercharged? And vice-versa?

No of course it doesn't! As stated previously the Owl is not very accurate due to the way that it is attached. It simply gives an indication of power consumption without actuallly knowing what your supply voltage is which does vary.

The Owl is not really helping you as you don't seem to understand what it is telling you and the figures that you have posted contradict.

e.g. You have said that the "constant usage from 8am to 11pm is between 0.0700kwh and 1.200kwh (i assume the variance is due to fridges/freezers coming on and off?)"

and then you tell us that "the Pond pump+Fridge Freezer(on 1 plug): Min 0.580kwh/Max 1.320 (on all the time)".

You need to separate the pump and the fridge freezer to find out how much each one actually uses.

Your figures don't stack up!

buel

Thank you for clarifying that my figures 'dont stack up'.I will get my mum to seperate the pond pump and the freezer and get the more accurate reading later. As for how the owl works, if comparing the owl+meter's readings over a period of time doesn't determine whether my parents are being over/under charged, what will??Ps-From 9am monday to 9am tuesday the meter read 22 units, the owl 20, 9am tuesday to 9am wed. the meter read 18units, the owl 16, if this helps?

Norman_Castle

Hi,A year or so back I bought a plug in type energy monitor,they are different to the owl monitor and apparently much more accurate,to find out what was costing most to run.My fridge was suprisingly expensive,I don"t have a freezer but guess these are similar,and using a vacuum cleaner also costs more than expected.Does your mum spend hours vacuuming?.Low energy bulbs make a difference as does boiling the minimum amount needed in the kettle.As suggested before,If your washing machine does not spin very well,try using a different programme or spinning the items again.It will be much cheaper than putting overly wet clothes into a tumble drier.

davidgmmafan

There's not a huge amount to add to what others have said. The consumption was given as 12366 over 12 months, that means they are using on average 33.87 units per day. That is fairly high usage for a domestic property, if you ever see an advert for average usage it is based on 3300 Kwh per year, but given the appliances you have listed its no great mystery why thier usage is lower.

Most people don't have 3 freezers (I would imagine!) or a lamp which is on 24/7. I'm not trying to score points here, just making an observation.

I would also re-iterate what others have said regarding the home energy monitor. Whatever brand it is it isn't the magical smart meter people think it is. It gives near accurate figures for the consumption not 100% accurate figures. If it says something different to the meter its the inaccuracy of the monitor which is being shown.

They can be useful aids to help you to identify what uses the most, and roughly how much a given appliance uses, but it no substitute for regular meter readings. Hope this helps and hope you get it sorted.

PS I believe you said they are on the social tariff? If this is the case that strengthens the case to get the prepayment meter removed without being charged. They would be classed as vulnerble, in addition to the difficulty your father may have because of his back.

Let us know how you get on.