Don't understand my electricity bill!

MusicalLawyer

HappyMJ wrote: »

Turning off the boiler? I thought you had storage heating and an electric fire? If you mean the electric immersion heater you really must get a timer and only heat water at night. That will save you at least 30p per day on your current tariff assuming it takes an hour to boost the water temperature using a 3kw element.

Yeah thats what I meant, the water immersion heater, sorry!
The heater has a timer on it already, but we tend to shower and wash up in the evenings - would the water stay hot enough to do that if i were to put it on at 5 - 6am?

I have done a meter reading and in the last 3 nights i've used 23kWh, and I've used 24kWh in the past 3 days.

We unplugged EVERYTHING for the past 2 days. Usually when I watch TV it is through video's stored on the XBOX - and that is plugged in to an extension lead which also had DVD Player, PS3 and Wii all on standby - I unplugged all the other consoles so we're plugging in just the ONE we're using. Also turned the storage heater down on the input to half way. i can't convince my OH to shut it off completely, as we have no other way of drying our clothes without it taking days.

MusicalLawyer

I've just realised - my storage heater is connected to one of those plug sockets that you can't take out kind of thing - like the one a cooker would be attached to. It comes on automatically at 11:30pm and shuts off at arounnd 7 - 7:30am. If i were to switch it off during the day would that save any electricity? The light is only on during the times stated above - so I assume that is when it is on, and when the light is off the heater is off and not using electricity....right?

I'm sorry for probably annoying you all with my electricity woes!

HappyMJ

KellyKing1987 wrote: »

Yeah thats what I meant, the water immersion heater, sorry!
The heater has a timer on it already, but we tend to shower and wash up in the evenings - would the water stay hot enough to do that if i were to put it on at 5 - 6am?

I have done a meter reading and in the last 3 nights i've used 23kWh, and I've used 24kWh in the past 3 days.

We unplugged EVERYTHING for the past 2 days. Usually when I watch TV it is through video's stored on the XBOX - and that is plugged in to an extension lead which also had DVD Player, PS3 and Wii all on standby - I unplugged all the other consoles so we're plugging in just the ONE we're using. Also turned the storage heater down on the input to half way. i can't convince my OH to shut it off completely, as we have no other way of drying our clothes without it taking days.

If the tank is well lagged then heating for 60 minutes in the morning should give you enough hot water for the evening. If it isn't hot enough you might need to set it for 2 hours 4am to 6am (it won't run the whole time the thermostat will turn it off). You also need to check what the thermostat is set to. It should be 60 or higher. The higher it is the more hot water you will have and when mixed with cold the longer it will last....but the flipside is the higher it is the more heat losses you will have...but then an advantage with that is you can then dry your clothes in the airing cupboard without having to have the storage heater on in the bedroom.

Do you have a thermostatic mixer shower? I would have thought you would have an electric shower which does not need any hot water. The washing machine can heat it's own water so should be used at night anyway. If you want to wash dishes in very hot water then just add a kettle of boiling water for extra hot water. After that you need very little hot water at all. Only enough warm water for washing your hands.

KellyKing1987 wrote: »

I've just realised - my storage heater is connected to one of those plug sockets that you can't take out kind of thing - like the one a cooker would be attached to. It comes on automatically at 11:30pm and shuts off at arounnd 7 - 7:30am. If i were to switch it off during the day would that save any electricity? The light is only on during the times stated above - so I assume that is when it is on, and when the light is off the heater is off and not using electricity....right?

I'm sorry for probably annoying you all with my electricity woes!

Not annoying at all keep the questions coming......

The light means on and using electric so it the light should be off during the day and not using electric.

Switching it off when heat is not required overnight will save electricity. Personally, I'd set the input to minimum and the output to max turning it to minimum when you get up. You should wake up to a mildly warm bedroom and it should run out of heat reasonably quickly. I do admit it can get very cold in my bedroom overnight so I use a mini oil filled radiator overnight which keeps it from being freezing cold. It's only rated at 800W and on average has used 400W per hour to maintain the room at 12 degrees and above. That's warm enough for me when I'm tucked under the blanket with an electric blanket on.

MusicalLawyer

My shower is one of those gadgets that is attached to the taps on the bath, then has a flimsy pipe up to the shower head. So I use the bath taps to use the shower and set the temp of the water etc.

My airing cupboard is very tiny - I'd have to fold clothes to dry them & stack them - would that still dry them? We don't use the washing machine every day as there is only 2 of us and it'd just be a waste doing little bits of washing here and there I think, so they'd be in the cupboard for 2 days roughly to dry.

I'm going to do as you suggested with the water, putting it on 4am - 6am, and changing the input and output on the storage heater.

Where would i be likely to find the thermostat in the airing cupboard? I can't find anything in there, apart from the on/off switch, and the timer :S

I have come to realise just how undomesticated I am! Ha ha!

HappyMJ

KellyKing1987 wrote: »

My shower is one of those gadgets that is attached to the taps on the bath, then has a flimsy pipe up to the shower head. So I use the bath taps to use the shower and set the temp of the water etc.

My airing cupboard is very tiny - I'd have to fold clothes to dry them & stack them - would that still dry them? We don't use the washing machine every day as there is only 2 of us and it'd just be a waste doing little bits of washing here and there I think, so they'd be in the cupboard for 2 days roughly to dry.

I'm going to do as you suggested with the water, putting it on 4am - 6am, and changing the input and output on the storage heater.

Where would i be likely to find the thermostat in the airing cupboard? I can't find anything in there, apart from the on/off switch, and the timer :S

I have come to realise just how undomesticated I am! Ha ha!

It's under the cover of the immersion heater. You need a screwdriver to get to it. You will only need to check it if you are running out of water in the evening. If you aren't running out in the evening you could set it lower but it won't save much.

MusicalLawyer

Checked my meter yesterday morningish the night one was 18442/2.
Check it just now and it's 18442/9.

So I didn't even use 1kWh last night? Is that right?
I did turn off the storage heater and out water on timed for 2 hours.

HappyMJ

KellyKing1987 wrote: »

Checked my meter yesterday morningish the night one was 18442/2.
Check it just now and it's 18442/9.

So I didn't even use 1kWh last night? Is that right?
I did turn off the storage heater and out water on timed for 2 hours.

What's the other register read? There will be two readings on E7.

MusicalLawyer

Yesterday;
85935
18442/2

Today;
85938
18442/9

HappyMJ

KellyKing1987 wrote: »

Yesterday;
85935
18442/2

Today;
85938
18442/9

So you used 3kWh last night and 0.7kWh in the day bit of last night. Makes sense. That's quite normal.

MusicalLawyer

The top one is the day, the bottom is the night.
I only have 2 readings on my meter.