Please Help... Confused re:cost per kw/h

domestic_goddess

I have just bought one of those plug in power meters from maplin that tells you how much power your appliances are using. To test it I did a quick wash on my washing machine and the display shows that in kw/h I used 0.3.

How do I translate this to cost in ££££'s

I phone N power who have given me a really complicated calculation to do which is : Cost per unit x 2.83, multiply by 1.02264, multiply by 40.5, divide by 3.6 and the multiply by the number of units shown on the display. This worked out to over 50p for a quick wash on the lowest heat.:eek: :eek:

I rang back and the next guy said all I do is multiply the no. of units used by my cost per unit. This worked out to about 2p :eek: :eek: One is higher than I would have thought and the other is much lower.

Can anyone help with exactly how I work it out.

The washing machine used 0.3 kw/h units.
The price I pay for my electricity on an off peak meter (between 1 and 4 in the aft) is 5.46p per unit.

Can anyone save me another call to NPower.

:beer:

espresso

sickofhavingnomoney wrote:

I phone N power who have given me a really complicated calculation to do which is : Cost per unit x 2.83, multiply by 1.02264, multiply by 40.5, divide by 3.6 and the multiply by the number of units shown on the display. This worked out to over 50p for a quick wash on the lowest heat.:eek: :eek:

That formula is for your gas! Look at you electricity bill to see exactly how much you are paying per kWh unit.

domestic_goddess

I don't even have gas................ I think they were just trying to confuse me. I have my price per unit. is each unit 1kw/h?

espresso

sickofhavingnomoney wrote:

I don't even have gas................ I think they were just trying to confuse me. I have my price per unit. is each unit 1kw/h?

Yes each unit is one kWh and you may have to at the VAT if it has not been included. This calculator may be helpful.

domestic_goddess

So at my off peak rate of 5.46 p a 0.3 reading on the monitor would mean I had used about 2p on a quickwash. Does this sound like it could be right.

espresso

sickofhavingnomoney wrote:

So at my off peak rate of 5.46 p a 0.3 reading on the monitor would mean I had used about 2p on a quickwash. Does this sound like it could be right.

Yes that sounds about right. Not sure about the Maplin meter but the one that Lidl sell allows you to program in the cost per kWh for both day and night unit prices, so an actual cost reading is displayed. Not bad for £4.99!

Woby_Tide

sickofhavingnomoney wrote:

I have just bought one of those plug in power meters from maplin that tells you how much power your appliances are using. To test it I did a quick wash on my washing machine and the display shows that in kw/h I used 0.3.

How do I translate this to cost in ££££'s

I phone N power who have given me a really complicated calculation to do which is : Cost per unit x 2.83, multiply by 1.02264, multiply by 40.5, divide by 3.6 and the multiply by the number of units shown on the display. This worked out to over 50p for a quick wash on the lowest heat.:eek: :eek:

hehe

sorry to laugh but that is priceless work by the call centre. Those infamous plug in power meters for your gas appliances.....***BOOOOOMMMM***

Cardew

Do you have a hot and cold fill washing machine? Most newer machines are cold fill I believe.

0.3kWh is much lower than most cold fill washing machines. The lowest on mine( a modern Bosch) is 0.6kWh.

sorry to laugh but that is priceless work by the call centre. Those infamous plug in power meters for your gas appliances.....***BOOOOOMMMM***

Actually I did hear that someone used one of the Lidl meters on a Gas cooker(that had timers, lights etc) and concluded that a fraction of a penny was pretty cheap to cook all the meals!

domestic_goddess

I think it is a cold fill and I put in on the quick thirty degree wash.... Do you think it should me more than 0.3 then?

Cardew

sickofhavingnomoney wrote:

I think it is a cold fill and I put in on the quick thirty degree wash.... Do you think it should me more than 0.3 then?

No not at all - I am just surprised it is that low.

So by putting it on at night you are only saving about 2p.