Energy monitor shock

ericonabike

After switching suppliers I've been given a free energy monitor. I'm looking at it now, with no lights on, and just the computer switched on. Yet it shows I'm using nearly £30 a month in electricity. First question - is this what others are paying?

I can only assume that the greater part of the usage is down to cooling appliances. We have an integrated fridge/freezer; an old undercounter upright freezer in the garage; and a wine chiller. I can't switch off the fridge/freezer as the socket is hidden behind the appliance :-( The outside freezer reduces the monthly estimate by about £12 when switched off. The wine cooler does not affect it. Second question - is it worth replacing the outside freezer? It is about 10 years old but seems to be working as normal.

Third question - what's the lowest anyone has reduced their consumption to, according to their energy monitor? I guess the ultimate would be to have just the three watts showing that the monitor itself uses!

HappyMJ

£30 a month is about 300kWh per month which is about 3,600kWh a year which is pretty much average.

Buying a new A rated freezer will save you maybe £10 a year. I don't think spending the extra money on a new one is worth it.

rogerblack

ericonabike wrote: »

After switching suppliers I've been given a free energy monitor. I'm looking at it now, with no lights on, and just the computer switched on. Yet it shows I'm using nearly £30 a month in electricity.

These things are somewhat inaccurate to very inaccurate, depending on the loads.
They are useful as an indicator.
First point is that you can't look at it over one point, you need to monitor it over half an hour or so, and see what the minimum load is, to get a better idea of your baseline draw.

This is simply as fridges and freezers turn on and off, and may be an unreliable way of measuring.
In addition, it can be really hard to pin down what's using what.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Energenie-Energy-Saving-Power-Monitor-/320577221009?pt=UK_ConsumerElectronics_PowerAdaptors_SM&hash=item4aa3e43191 - or similar - is ideal for that.
For example, instead of trying to work out what the outside freezer is doing, you simply plug it in, and leave it for a day, and read off the total daily usage.

Some particularly energy hungry PCs may use a large slice of 300W when browsing the web, for example.

The 12 quid a month equates to a value of 150 watts or so - this is about right for a freezer when it's on.
_but_ - most of the time the thermostat turns it off, it will only come on once an hour or so for several minutes, unless it's been opened.
The real value (for a non-malfunctioning freezer) is likely to be well under 4 pounds a month, even for a energy hungry one.

macman

These cheap monitors are simply not accurate, especially at low readings. If you want to know exactly what your usage is, look at the meter.