Souther Electric - Energy monitor

GEEGEE8

savemoney wrote: »

I seem to recall energy monitors aren't 100% accurate and doesn't measure low powered devices very well ultimate measure is of course your meter which I use regularly to read measurements of consumption

I am lucky to get below 500w at any time during late afternoon/evening and normally its around 800w+ during evening more if I have dehumidifier on, we dont use electric for heating

I'll put the dehumidifier on and see what that does.

I guess, if nothing else, it's made me conscious of what we can turn off a bit more often to save on electric.

Gas is the worst though as most things, cooking, cleaning, heating all run off the boiler.

savemoney

Yes that whats I use mine for. I got quite a few monitors from BG none seem to work on my meter other than the owl, even tried then on two other householders with same result

Of course you and I may be conscious that meter is costing us money but try getting kids to switch things off is well challenging at times to put it lightly

GEEGEE8 wrote: »

I guess, if nothing else, it's made me conscious of what we can turn off a bit more often to save on electric.

GEEGEE8

savemoney wrote: »

Yes that whats I use mine for. I got quite a few monitors from BG none seem to work on my meter other than the owl, even tried then on two other householders with same result

Of course you and I may be conscious that meter is costing us money but try getting kids to switch things off is well challenging at times to put it lightly

Luckily it's just me and the OH, and we both want to save money, so this should come in handy.. although Electric and Gas aren't very easy to work out if you are saving money just on the bills alone.

Comparing readings is hard too, especially after a bad winter..

savemoney

I read meter every month and then put the meter readings into a spreadsheet I can then work out my annual usage over past few years. Whilst my electric bills have gone down until recently mainly due to usage it has crept up slightly in recent months I pout thsi down to xbox360 My gas bill is some what different as I am sure many others have. Even though I use alternative source for heating as well, I was until recently still paying for my usage for last Winter so didnt accrue much credit for this. I cant cut down much as we have one daughter who is disabled and OH and other daughter but have a condition where they feel cold more than most. I skimp when I am in during day to try and cut back but you can only cut back so far

macman

GEEGEE8 wrote: »

1715 Watts when the kettle was on, kettle was 1/4 full.

I think you're rather missing the point with these devices. Yes, a kettle will draw maybe 1.5kW (which you could have deduced anyway by looking at the rating plate on it), but it's only on for a few minutes a day.
In terms of actual billed usage in kWh, it's a fraction of your total bill.
If you want a cup of tea, what is your alternative?
What matters far more is your overall daily consumption, which you can get far more accurately from your existing meter.

penrhyn

You either have a very low powered electric kettle or have the sensor on the neutral side of your mains feed, check you kettles rating plate, they are usually 2.5-3Kw.

GEEGEE8

macman wrote: »

I think you're rather missing the point with these devices. Yes, a kettle will draw maybe 1.5kW (which you could have deduced anyway by looking at the rating plate on it), but it's only on for a few minutes a day.
In terms of actual billed usage in kWh, it's a fraction of your total bill.
If you want a cup of tea, what is your alternative?
What matters far more is your overall daily consumption, which you can get far more accurately from your existing meter.

I just used that as an example to see if it was reading accurately or not.. I'm not worried about the useage of the kettle, as like you say it's for a short period of time.

Just trying to work out how accurate it might be..

GEEGEE8

savemoney wrote: »

I read meter every month and then put the meter readings into a spreadsheet I can then work out my annual usage over past few years. Whilst my electric bills have gone down until recently mainly due to usage it has crept up slightly in recent months I pout thsi down to xbox360 My gas bill is some what different as I am sure many others have. Even though I use alternative source for heating as well, I was until recently still paying for my usage for last Winter so didnt accrue much credit for this. I cant cut down much as we have one daughter who is disabled and OH and other daughter but have a condition where they feel cold more than most. I skimp when I am in during day to try and cut back but you can only cut back so far

We used £100 of electric, and £300 gas in the 3 months we have been here :eek:

It's an old house with limited insulation and old windows at the back of the house.

Still, we need to cut back drastically!

I also cut back on the heating during the day as I'm here quite a lot, being a student. In fact, I need to get myself a part time job, it'll save loads on the heating! haha :rotfl:

savemoney

Well you are doing the right thing, I wish everyone would monitor there usage and submit readings to avoid nasty large bills

I assume you done loft and cut down on drafts etc

GEEGEE8 wrote: »

We used £100 of electric, and £300 gas in the 3 months we have been here :eek:

It's an old house with limited insulation and old windows at the back of the house.

Still, we need to cut back drastically!

I also cut back on the heating during the day as I'm here quite a lot, being a student. In fact, I need to get myself a part time job, it'll save loads on the heating! haha :rotfl:

GEEGEE8

savemoney wrote: »

Well you are doing the right thing, I wish everyone would monitor there usage and submit readings to avoid nasty large bills

I assume you done loft and cut down on drafts etc

The house is rented, so we probably wouldn't do the loft, although I may ask the landlady about it when I next speak to her as I can lay down insulation myself if needs be..

Drafts from both the front and back door are kinda bad, I got some draft excluder stuff but the door wouldn't close with it on

I could do with a letter box flap of some sort actually..

If I'm honest, we were a little silly with the gas over winter, and could have cut down a lot. Lesson learned! I've done the readings though and we are prepared for the bill, but it's our own fault and hopefully a one off.