Extraordinary Increase in Electricity Usage

Frugal_Goblin

We've just received our electricity bill for £171.46 which seemed quite high, so I checked the last quarter and the bill for that was £71.34.

I am sure that we could shop around for a better deal, but my question is not so much about the unit cost, but how the number of units could increase so much from one quarter to the next.

The current bill does a unit usage comparison to the same time last year and we've apparently increased our electricity usage from around 600kWh in this quarter last year to 1885kWh this year.

We have gas central heating and although we have a convection heater in the loft we've not needed to use it this quarter.
We have the same electric oven, tv, laptop, router, radio/stereo equipment as we had this time last year.

The main change has been that our bathroom fan has been fixed, but that only comes on with the bathroom lights so is not on during the day. Could a fan alone increase our electricity usage so much?

We are 2 adults living in a 3 bed house with 16 month old twins who don't have any plug in appliances now that they didn't have last year, in fact less (no steriliser, breastpump, baby monitor etc).

We do leave the hall light on overnight, but it is an energy saving bulb and we think we did the same last year.

Generally speaking we turn most stuff off at the sockets when not in use, including the wireless router.

We have an Owl monitor but it's batteries ran out so we've not been using it recently. Could a small increase in use of all appliances be the cause of such a massive increase in electricity use?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

penrhyn

Are your bills based on meter readings or have they been estimated in the past and you are now catching up.

SwanJon

Frugal_Goblin wrote: »

We've just received our electricity bill for £171.46 which seemed quite high, so I checked the last quarter and the bill for that was £71.34.

Were both reads real or estimated. Is £240 for 6 months about right?

maddipops

spend longer in the shower (if electric) than in the summer? I know I do.

Do your lights also get used about 4 hours earlier every evening this quarter as compared to the last? I know mine do

Frugal_Goblin

All the bills have had meter readings.

I think perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned the previous quarters bill as I completely accept that I have lights on longer as it gets dark earlier.

My issue is more with the year on year increase in consumption, from 634kWh for this quarter last year (I've just dug out the bill) to 1885kWh for the same quarter this year.

albyota

How do you heat your water......immersion heater left switched on?

Frugal_Goblin

Water is heated by gas and a solar panel. We had an immersion fitted when we got our fan done and I've just checked it and it's off. We've not used it since it was put in.

albyota

The solar panel pump isn't constantly running is it? dragging hot water from the tank to the panels?

Frugal_Goblin

It doesn't seem to be. I usually tell that the pump is working because it makes a noise. I've just checked and it's not making a noise now. I don't know how else I could tell?

albyota

1251 units difference between this quarter this year compared with the same quarter last year averages out at about 3.5 units per day, so there must be something you have forgot.....

brewerdave

albyota wrote: »

1251 units difference between this quarter this year compared with the same quarter last year averages out at about 3.5 units per day, so there must be something you have forgot.....

Actually averages an extra 13.9 kwh per day! No way is that a light left on or even a faulty thermostat on a fridge/freezer.
Sorry, but if the immersion is not on or there isn't a heater switched on somewhere,it sounds like a meter misread to me somewhere along the line....

634kwh per qtr sounds very low to me for a house with young kids in.