Help with electricity

BeckyC2be

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone could give me some advice, I moved into a two bedroom flat on the 28th of october and I've taken a meter reading today and we've used just over 1500units of electric - costing 16.203p per unit, I've worked this out to be £250 for one and a half months electric. This is more then my parents 4 bed house and more than the in laws 4 bed house. we have an emersion water tank and electric heaters (not storage ones)

What I'm wondering is - is there any way we could have used this much? and if there is - is it the heaters or water tank?

any advice would be greatfully received, thanks

[Deleted User]

Hi,

did you take a proper reading when you moved in, not estimated?

Is the water heater on a timer?

BeckyC2be

yeah i took the reading the day we moved in, kept it written down and gave it to the estate agents. This is going to make me sound stupid, but it 's my first time living without parents and i wasn't really sure what an emersion water tank was, so i'm ashamed to say it's just been switched on since we moved in. so, i don't think its on a timer, there is no timer of any sort on it, just an on/off switch.

victor2

The short answer is yes, you could have used that much in an all electric house, particularly as the weather has got colder and you've probably had the heating on more.
If you want to pin down how much electricity you're using, take a two meter readings an hour apart with the heating on and repeat it with the heating off. You could do a similar thing with the immersion heater. Bear in mind that the heaters will run more initially to get things up to temperature, but will then cycle on and off as their thermostat controls them. It will give you an idea though. Do it on the same day, so that the outside temperature is the same for both timings.
You could also take readings on a daily basis at around the same time each day for a few weeks. Compare periods when the house is occupied, like weekends, to when it's not.
Once you've got an idea what each appliance costs to run, you can look into the settings for it and see how to reduce cost without a any great discomfort.
It's probably worthwhile getting a timer installed for your immersion heater - that will have cost you a lot if you left it permanently on.

BeckyC2be

Thank you Victor2, I didn't even think to do that, then I can see for myself how much everything is! and thank you also for spelling immersion correctly for me! I should have really checked how to spell it before I posted!!

chanz4

my money is on emersion water tank, you only need it on in the morning and evening.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

you could operate the immersion heater manually, maybe on for an hour or so in the morning and a boost later in day, if needed, if tank is well insulated it should hold the heat.

BeckyC2be

thanks frugal, we only use the hot water for washing the pots and washing our hands as we have an electric shower - would it do any damage if i left it off for maybe days at a time and used the kettle instead? As I'm a tenant I don't want to do any damage to pipes or things?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

it'll be fine, as long as house isn't freezing.

Take regular readings to keep an eye on usage.

jalexa

BeckyC2be wrote: »

- would it do any damage if i left it off for maybe days at a time and used the kettle instead?

Won't do any harm, however.... if you are only making limited use of the hot water and the cylinder is well lagged I am not necessarily convinced this is the main culprit. A well lagged cylinder left switched on once heated will only lose losses, which go to heat the house anyway. You need to check the lagging first before you think about timers.

30 mins of water heating per day would give more than enough hot water for hand and dish washing and consume 1 to 2 kWhrs (you have been using about 30) A range of timers are available, though as a tenant that may not be practicable.,

e.g. http://www.screwfix.com/p/horstmann-e15-boost-timeswitch/67063

BeckyC2be

Thanks jalexa. I'll have a look on that website