v high electricity bill - anyway to get someone to check usage independently?

victor2

Your usage does sound high. As penrhyn says, take regular readings - try doing them at the same time each day for a week or so. Electric meters show kWh used, so no need for any complicated maths, just take the meter reading. Once you've got an idea what your typical daily usage is, you can start experimenting with reducing the amount you use, which is when an electricity monitor might come in handy.
By the way, your tortoise heating lamp won't use an excessive amount. 60 Watts for 24 hours is 1.44kWh, so just multiply that by the rate you are paying per kWh to get your daily cost.

Edit: Didn't see your last post until I had posted. Don't forget your fridge when considering your daily cost. They cut in and out as the thermostat controls it. It could easily take about 500W when the compressor is running, but it won't be doing that all the time.

penrhyn

Your tortoise heater and laptop would consume less than 100 watts i.e 0.100 Kw, there is a lot more consuming electricity in your house than those two items.

ukphd

victor2 wrote: »

Your usage does sound high. As penrhyn says, take regular readings - try doing them at the same time each day for a week or so. Electric meters show kWh used, so no need for any complicated maths, just take the meter reading. Once you've got an idea what your typical daily usage is, you can start experimenting with reducing the amount you use, which is when an electricity monitor might come in handy.
By the way, your tortoise heating lamp won't use an excessive amount. 60 Watts for 24 hours is 1.44kWh, so just multiply that by the rate you are paying per kWh to get your daily cost.

Edit: Didn't see your last post until I had posted. Don't forget your fridge when considering your daily cost. They cut in and out as the thermostat controls it. It could easily take about 500W when the compressor is running, but it won't be doing that all the time.

penrhyn wrote: »

Your tortoise heater and laptop would consume less than 100 watts i.e 0.100 Kw, there is a lot more consuming electricity in your house than those two items.

Thanks.

Hmm so there is the fridge, laptop, 2 x 60 watt heaters, and a UV lamp for the tortoise (not sure what the wattage is on that as it's no longer visible on the bulb). I guess the boiler has some sort of electrics to communicate with the battery operated thermostat, even though it's gas (and isn't on right now). I can't think what else there could be - a tv on standby perhaps.

It does seem high.

victor2

ukphd wrote: »

Thanks.

Hmm so there is the fridge, laptop, 2 x 60 watt heaters, and a UV lamp for the tortoise (not sure what the wattage is on that as it's no longer visible on the bulb). I guess the boiler has some sort of electrics to communicate with the battery operated thermostat, even though it's gas (and isn't on right now). I can't think what else there could be - a tv on standby perhaps.

It does seem high.

Don't know what a UV lamp might take. But as you've got a monitor, read it, unlpug the UV lamp and see what it drops by.
Other things to consider are:
Old TVs on standby (modern ones take a tiny amount, like less than one watt, so generally can be ignored).
If a TV is used heavily during the day, that can contribute something more significant.
Clocks/timers. Most homes have quite a few, but again they hardly take anything.
Stereo system - even on standby, they can use a little power.
Video/DVD recorder.
House alarm system - even when not switched on, it's using power.
Freeview or satellite receiver - switch them off and see what your monitor shows as a reduction.
Does your computer go into standby when idle? - the monitor and any other peripherals may be using power.
The boiler will use a little bit of power for its electronics, but usually hardly anything significant. When the heating is on , the pump will use more power, not a huge amount, but with everything else, it adds up.
Electric showers take a lot of power if you have one, but when you consider the amount of time they are on, it isn't so bad.

shortchanged_2

Do you have an unusual cable running from your power board to the neighbours by any chance?

Your bills sound horrendous for such a small house, particularly as you have gas CH!!

ukphd

victor2 wrote: »

Don't know what a UV lamp might take. But as you've got a monitor, read it, unlpug the UV lamp and see what it drops by.
Other things to consider are:
Old TVs on standby (modern ones take a tiny amount, like less than one watt, so generally can be ignored).
If a TV is used heavily during the day, that can contribute something more significant.
Clocks/timers. Most homes have quite a few, but again they hardly take anything.
Stereo system - even on standby, they can use a little power.
Video/DVD recorder.
House alarm system - even when not switched on, it's using power.
Freeview or satellite receiver - switch them off and see what your monitor shows as a reduction.
Does your computer go into standby when idle? - the monitor and any other peripherals may be using power.
The boiler will use a little bit of power for its electronics, but usually hardly anything significant. When the heating is on , the pump will use more power, not a huge amount, but with everything else, it adds up.
Electric showers take a lot of power if you have one, but when you consider the amount of time they are on, it isn't so bad.

Thanks - I'll try running about turning things on and off and will see how the readings change later.

shortchanged wrote: »

Do you have an unusual cable running from your power board to the neighbours by any chance?

Your bills sound horrendous for such a small house, particularly as you have gas CH!!

How would I know if it's unusual? The cables just come out of the power board and go under the floor/or up so I'm not sure how I'd know where it went?

HappyMJ

ukphd wrote: »

Ha! no - no horticulture going on here!

I just updated the meter reading and it increased the bill! argh! only by £30 ... still better to be accurrate. I have an energy monitor. Right now it's telling me we're using 8.7 pence an hour (0.821 KW) which is basic background usage I guess i.e. the tortoise heater and this laptop. Nothing else is on. Does that seem likely?

821 watts per hour is very high. I have laptop * 2 and not much else a few mobile chargers and all I'm using is about 135W per hour. It'll jump to 165W when I put some lights on later. Try switching the tortoise heater off few a bit and see what the energy monitor says then. I didn't think they used a huge amount only about 100W maybe...

macman

You said you had looked before and could not find any cheaper tariffs. But if you are on the Atlantic 'standard' tariff, then that is the most expensive one available from that supplier. Standard is always the most expensive option from any supplier. Get yourself on to a comp site ASAP and find your cheapest online discounted tariff (using your annual figs, not your DD figs): usually it will be a monthly fixed DD tariff. However you'll have to clear the debt before you can switch.

ukphd

HappyMJ wrote: »

821 watts per hour is very high. I have laptop * 2 and not much else a few mobile chargers and all I'm using is about 135W per hour. It'll jump to 165W when I put some lights on later. Try switching the tortoise heater off few a bit and see what the energy monitor says then. I didn't think they used a huge amount only about 100W maybe...

thanks - will have a go switching things off later and see how the usage changes.

macman wrote: »

You said you had looked before and could not find any cheaper tariffs. But if you are on the Atlantic 'standard' tariff, then that is the most expensive one available from that supplier. Standard is always the most expensive option from any supplier. Get yourself on to a comp site ASAP and find your cheapest online discounted tariff (using your annual figs, not your DD figs): usually it will be a monthly fixed DD tariff. However you'll have to clear the debt before you can switch.

I'm on domestic standard - it's 10.66 pence per unit. When I last did a switch search nothing came up cheaper (apart from some that locked me into a contract that was rather long if I remember correctly). We can't clear the debt right now though so can't switch at the moment but will certainly check again

macman

I repeat: any supplier's standard tariff is their most expensive, so suggest you search again. You can still switch to another Atlantic tariff, giving you an instant saving. The majority of discounted tariffs do have a 1 year minimum term, but not all.
Edit: putting your annual consumption fig into energyhelpline for my area, electricity only, standard tariff, shows that you are paying £111pa more vs Atlantic's cheapest tariff (Fixed Price 4). Adding your gas fig to that for a proper dual fuel comparison should show a saving of well over £250pa, if you have gas CH.
And Atlantic is by no means the cheapest supplier.
So, in addition to your extrmely high consumption, you're paying a premium rate for it.