Massive Electric Bills

rogerblack

shemwhistler wrote: »

T
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.

If you were starting from a baseline of a third of where you are, then yes, looking at these might be productive.
As is, they will use perhaps 200W - tops - in standby - 5 or so units a day.

If she's always cold, the right way to do this is to work out some sort of oil-fired way to get her warm. This may be a couple of extra radiators, draughtproofing, ...

Or alternative cheap methods, such as an electric throw or blanket on the sofa.

grahamc2003

shemwhistler wrote: »

- 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?

To answer that specific point - of course its (easily) possible. Last Christmas week for example, we used 564Kwh, and the normal winter weekly use was around 450kWh. We have several storage heaters, set to the minimum to keep the place cool rather than cold, but certainly not warm or hot. We also have a stove, so don't have the heaters on in the main room at all.

If she doesn't have electric heating, then she's using a lot of electricity - what heating does she have? Other uses are minor compared to heating.

If she has electric heating and isn't on economy 7, then her costs could be very high indeed, especially if she likes it around 24C all the time.

Edit - Just seen you think she has oil heating. Then things don't add up, unless she also uses pretty heavily the electric heaters she (plus her kids?) has.

Really, as several have pointed out and you seem to ignore, looking at any other devices is pointless compared to any electrical heating. You can leave all the non-heating devices you mentioned in your list on 24/7 and you wouldn't use anywhere near the quoted usage. Either she's running 3 or 4 electric heaters much of the day (and night?), or there's a problem with the meter, the latter being very unlikely.

What is her oil bill like? (My guess is very low!).

shemwhistler

Thanks again everyone, more food for thought.

In response to the accusation of ignoring you fine folks, I'd like to say that I value very much the information and advice you are giving, however sat at my desk very little I can do to action/address some of the points raised.

What I've taken away from all of your comments is this;

- Heating is the main culprit, but given that she has oil heating her electric usage would appear to be unusually high.

- Even the, what appears to me, massive list of appliances shouldn't equate to the kind of numbers I'm seeing. Therefore the finger of blame is pointed squarely at additional electrical heating devices.

- This is a little difficult as my aunt is pretty evasive/defensive when I question her on their usage.

- There's little point suggesting that there's an issue with the electric company end given the amount of steps/checks that have been carried out on that front.

- The amount of usage I'd detailed is not beyond the realms of possibility, much to my disappointment

- It looks like the next step now is to get her and hers energy usage habits sorted out.

Does this seem about right?

I hope this conveys in some small way that I have been listening to feedback, and not in fact ignoring those that have taken the time to give me their values opinion and advice.

Thanks again
Matt

macman

Are you sure she has had the immersion heater removed/disconnected? When people with central heating present unduly high electrcity bills on here, almost the first question that gets asked is whether they have left an immersion switched on 24/7? Many houses with gas CH still have them as a back up.
Numerous though the various 'devices' may be, they don't add up to this kind of usage. It has to be heating or hot water-hence my query above.
Other than that,the only way to do it is to get a monitor and go through switching on/off circuit by circuit to track down the source.

shemwhistler

Thanks, I'll definitely check that with her.

This is the difficulty here, I'm not in possession of all the facts, so I appreciate the help given it's trickier than it needs to be.

shemwhistler

On the topic of monitors, could anyone point me in the direction of a 'good' one. Or possibly a good resource for reading up on them.

Thanks
Matt

shemwhistler

Update:

I've just been told that there's definitely no immersion heater and the electric heaters get used for a maximum of 3 hours per day. All heating is oil fired.

Now from what I've gleaned from this thread, that amount of usage definitely wouldn't equate to the bills I'm seeing.

I'm really struggling now, can anyone advise what my next best move might be?

macman

Site inspection.I wouldn't take anything that you've been told for granted.

shemwhistler

macman wrote: »

Site inspection.I wouldn't take anything that you've been told for granted.

From an independent electrician?

She had one done before the rewire, he couldn't identify anything specific that would be causing excessive use, he did suggest the rewire though as the condition of the wiring was well below current spec 40 - 50 year old.

For full disclosure, he didn't do the rewire, so I don't think he was flannelling.

Would you say it's worth getting another inspection done now?

macman

I was suggesting that you go around yourself and check circuit by circuit. Turn everything off and see if the meter stops.