Massive Electric Bills

shemwhistler

Hi folks, first time poster here and am looking for some advice on helping my Aunt with her electric company, NIE Energy, now PowerNI

The short back history is this;

She had a run of 4 estimated quarterly bills and when the actual meter reading caught up they showed a quarterly usage of 28 thousand kwh's.

Obviously this was an incredible amount and has led to the following taking place;

1) An inspection by NIE
2) An independent inspection report
3) A check meter being installed
4) A full rewire of the house.

NIE have always maintained there's nothing worng with the system and she owes what she owes.

The rewire has been completed a month and she's asked me to have a look at all the bills and readings and see how it's looking.

- All of the 2011 readings are actuals i.e. no estimates
- Based on actuals up until 25th November 2011 her annual usage for the year will be 16,345 kwh's
- Since the rewire I'm actually seeing an increase in usage of about 30%, though I appreciate it has been colder and more electric may have been used because of that.
- The meter was read by the electric company on the 25th November, and checking the meter exactly a week later I'm seeing a uasge of 329 kwh, this is post rewire figures.

So they way I'm seeing it now is that either there is something really crazy going on, or she is actually consuming that level of electricity. Which leads to the crux of my question here, is it even possible to be using that kind of electric? I've looked at the national averages and she's operating at 5 - 6 times that figure. I know in average statistics there are outliers, but this does seem excessive.

She lives in a 3 bed semi with an occupancy of 2 adults and 2 teenage children, they do have plenty of gadgets; computers, xbox's, iphones between them, would that be enough to push the usage this high.

Short of conducting a full appliance audit and calculating usage amounts I've run out of ideas, I'd greatly appreciate any help you folks can offer here.

Thanks
Matt

jalexa

shemwhistler wrote: »

She lives in a 3 bed semi with an occupancy of 2 adults and 2 teenage children, they do have plenty of gadgets; computers, xbox's, iphones between them...

The most energy intensive gadget used by teenagers is called a teeshirt.

Seriously, almost certainly the bulk of the consumption is heating load. To get meaningful help you need to say something about the heating installation, which I presume being NI is all-electric, and insulation standards.

The annual, weekly (and therefore daily) consumption quoted is entirely possible. About "average" kWhrs were it a gas heated house.

good_advice

Hiya, that electric bill is way higher than mine. Saying that is not helping though! 3 bed semi and same people.
Has the house got any insulation? How much is the CH on? Tumble dryer used? All types of heat up appliances cost the most.
Try looking at the tariff they are on and can they move to a cheaper one?
Kind of you to help your family.

shemwhistler

Thanks for your feedback folks.

I'm starting to get the sinking feeling that they might actually be using this amount of electric.

Working on that assumption can anyone suggest the best method of monitoring/testing to identify the culprits?

Also, is there any value in conducting a full usage audit? In case they're not using this amount?

Thanks again
Matt

duchy

There's various gadgets out there to measure individual appliance usage-or the old fashioned method of switch abso lutely everything off and turn things on one at a time and watch the meter move and how fast it increases. PCs/Laptops , TVs etc should all be turned off and not left on standby-may be worth checking if she has an immersion heater that is actually heating water 24/7 and not just as needed too

jalexa

shemwhistler wrote: »

Also, is there any value in conducting a full usage audit? In case they're not using this amount?

Only if you have no confidence in all of the measures...

1) An inspection by NIE
2) An independent inspection report
3) A check meter being installed

Still no mention of the heating system. *That*, not standby, is the first thing to look at.

victor2

shemwhistler wrote: »

Thanks for your feedback folks.

I'm starting to get the sinking feeling that they might actually be using this amount of electric.

Working on that assumption can anyone suggest the best method of monitoring/testing to identify the culprits?

Also, is there any value in conducting a full usage audit? In case they're not using this amount?

Thanks again
Matt

You haven't confirmed that it is electric heating, but with that kind of usage it almost certainly is.
In which case, that is your heavy user. Is she on Economy 7 with storage heaters? Look at how the heating is set and used.

Maysie

Our local council let you borrow a gadget (just pay a deposit) that lets you see what usage on different appliances. Does her local council do the same?

This is for west oxfordshire but gives you an idea what to search for.
Energy monitors to loan

Find out which household appliances are using more energy and therefore more money by borrowing one of our energy monitors.
Drop into our Town Centre Shop on Welch Way, Witney to borrow a monitor for up to two weeks for a £10 refundable deposit. Alternatively call 01993 861000 for more details.

macman

See post 2. Until you describe how the house is heated and hot watered, no one can really help, other than speculate.
Also we need to know what current tariff and if E7 or not. If E7, what is the % spliit between the two rates?
17-28,000kWh is perfectly possible if all electric. But if gas CH or other, it's crazy.

shemwhistler

Thanks everyone, apologies for not having more details to hand, I've left her electric bills at home.

Off the top of my head she is using oil for her heating, which is fairly common to NI. She says that she has had her electric immersion removed, this is running off the oil system also.

The niggle at the back of my mind regarding heating is this; she's one of those 'always cold' types and she has a couple of electric heaters in her front room (as well as the oil radiator) one of those halogen standup heaters and one of the wee radiator on wheels thingies. She gets a bit evasive when I ask how much she has those on, but I'm starting to consider they might be the culprits.

I think what I was hoping (for her sake) to hear here was "that's crazy, there's no way anybody could ever use that amount of electricity" however I'm really starting to get the sense that she might be.

The offending items I could see would be;
- The heating
- All the gadgets on standby all the time, her kids are terrible at that sort of thing and pretty much leave everything at their !!!! (please excuse the local phraseology)

Gadget wise I would estimate the following;

- 4 x games consoles
- 3 x iphones
- 2 x ipads
- 2 x PC's
- 3 x sky boxes
- 4 x TV's

These would all be in use daily, and left on standby when not in use. I've never observed anything turned off.

So taking heating out of the equation, would that kind of usage detailed in the OP be possible on appliances alone?

Oh, just one thought, I know tumble dryers are big culprits, but she doesn't have one.

Thanks again
Matt

daveyjp

The figure works out at 44kwh per day. If she has a couple of electric heaters rated at 1-3kw each and all the gadgets you list it doesn't take you long to get to 44.