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

Norman_Castle

Before condeming all of your electrical items to the tip,try using a plug in energy monitor.Unlike your Owl monitor it will tell you exactly what each item is using.
Type, maplin energy monitor into google.

buel

excellent posts lulu and norman, thank you again!!! I will certainly take a look at the plug in energy monitor, it sounds exciting!! I shall certainly wait before replacing the fridges/freezers or washing machines!! Just out of interest, what is regarded as the bigger user- an old fridge freezer or an old chest freezer? And is A+ the highest rating there is please?
Ps-what are your thoughts on those plugs that are only to be used on fridge/freezers that reduce useage by 20%?

davidgmmafan

Just as a general point on average cos its always quoted as 3300 which is just over 9 units per day. Personally I am quite unashamedly a cheapskate, I used around 5 units per day in my prev address (gas cooker), now myself and my partner use a maximum of 7 units per day, which is not bad considering this house has an electric heater and immersion heater.

I'd say families tend to use 12-20 units per day, and in the OP's case its all about possibilities. There are many things your parents can do to cut down on usage, its all about striking that balance between saving and quality of life. If you can make a little change to save money then do it, if its something you enjoy like the pond, then I wouldn't begrude anyone that, particularly retired folk. If something is just wasting money then that's money they could spend on other things they enjoy.

One last thing to add have you spoken to the power supplier regards to A) Vulnerability
Any hints and tips or gadgets they can give with regards to energy efficiency.

buel

There are many things your parents can do to cut down on usage, its all about striking that balance between saving and quality of life. If you can make a little change to save money then do it, if its something you enjoy like the pond, then I wouldn't begrude anyone that

Hi David and thank you very much for your help! Just a quick point about the above- you are so right about the balance but the good thing about the pond pump is that the 12-14 hours it can be switched off for can be at night time so is absolutely ideal in that respect. As for the other things- the changing of light bulbs to low energy bulbs is no bother and the changing of electricity supplier should be a piece of cake and will actually be easier on my parents being as they wont have to worry about keeping the meter credited with money!

Just out of interest, what is regarded as the bigger user- an old fridge freezer or an old chest freezer?
And is A+ the highest/lowest energy user rating there is please?
Ps-what are your thoughts on those plugs that are only to be used on fridge/freezers that reduce useage by 20%?
Link here:http://www.windtrap.co.uk/energy-saving-devices/household/savaplug/

Marcusp

Ps-what are your thoughts on those plugs that are only to be used on fridge/freezers that reduce useage by 20%?

Complete and utter waste of money, perhaps that is why it has been discontinued

buel

Ooh that is interesting! Please can i ask is that through personal experience?

buel

hello again- please may i ask how much less the A-rated fridge-freezers reduce energy useage by? (im sure i phrased that wrong)

lu_lu_2

Hi Buel,

My experience is that my old upright freezer was drawing between 1200 watts winter & 1600 watts summer. My new one is rated at 800 watts & is drawing on average 600 watts. Have got a power monitor on it.

Somebody no doubt will say that my power monitor isn't accurate but there are many factors that can govern fridge/freezer elec usage.

How many times a day the door is opened & for how long.

Is it properly levelled (I used a spirit level on my new freezer).

Is there sufficient space around it for air circulation - they do have a minimum requirement.

Where it is situated i.e too close to a cooker.

And finally, at least from me, how much dust has accumulated on the condensor.

Hope this helps,:rotfl:

buel

lu lu, your answers ALWAYS help!!! Thank you again!!! Wow that freezer saving sounds very impressive indeed, that is next on my list after fitting the timer on the pond pump, fitting the tv, DVD player, video+sky box to the extension so my parents' can turn them off every night and fitting the energy saving bulbs(all to be done tonight)! Then i will get the tv saving plug you mentioned and then get them to swap to a 'normal' direct debit meter!! That all should help a fair bit eh?

Marcusp

buel

Ooh that is interesting! Please can i ask is that through personal experience?

No just simple common sense, how can anything like that work?