How much electricity do you use in a day?

A_fiend_for_life

Last week I averaged 4 kWh / day. Wish I could say the same for gas though that was 27 kWh / day.:o

A_fiend_for_life

TITEASCRAMP wrote: »

No its just an old fridge freezer about 5 foot. Only other thing on was an energy light bulb.

Usual usage when we are at home is about 9 a day. How people get by on 5 I really dont know. Any ideas on where I could cut back usage apart from fridge freezer.

Hi TITEASCRAMP,

Sorry I didn't reply I forgot to subscribe to the thread.:o

To test the energy consumption of the fridge try taking a reading just before bed and after waking. There should be very little else on and you should get a reading for a good 8 hours.

My fridge/ freezer is quite old and uses about 0.2 kWh in 6 hours in summer. So upper estimate is about £37 a year.

EDIT: at the risk of stating the obvious anything warm next to the fridge? I have also found in the past that putting bags between the fridge and the wall is bad news. With mine I found it was creating a warm patch next to the hinges of the freezer part and melting the ice near the elements. Presumable the wall dissipates some of the heat around the freezer section and the bags served to insulate it.


Probably the biggest thing that works for me is lower energy cooking and reducing the temperature and duration of the shower.

Batch cooking is another method folk use. Using the top oven rather than the main oven and turning off about 5 minutes before cooking has finished is another.

Washing clothes on 30C.

What devices are you using? Any insulation offers you can take advantage of?

Umski

TITEASCRAMP wrote: »

Is it an old fridge? Mine is an upright fridge freezer. I recken its using about 2.8kWh a day. It's quite old, but still works really well.
I'd priced up to change it and worked out it would take around 3 years to pay for itself. I've decided to keep it.
I think a lot of new electrical goods dont seem to last very long. I may buy one for it to only last about 5 years.

Not particularly - over 3yrs now as I bought it from the previous owner of the house. Similar to yours - upright FF with no frost etc. I've just re-read my post and I meant the majority of the usage is from the FF, so I guess very similar to yours. We were away for 5 days last week and the overall usage was <20kWh so that stacks up pretty well

Must remove the 're-use' bags and other crap from the side as no doubt this warms the Freezer section as A fiend for life says

TITEASCRAMP

Umski - Have you decided to changed ff or stick with it?

I had a really good day yesterday. We only used 6kWh. So I dont think the Ff is using as much as I thought. Must be no more than 2kWh a day.

Umski

Nah, I'm gonna stick with it, as it's doing ok and not worht throwing out a newish item just to save a bit of cash (doesn't really add up) - I think it's B rated and I'm reasonably happy with the consumption. It's the hob/oven that really canes the meter

TITEASCRAMP

Umski wrote: »

Nah, I'm gonna stick with it, as it's doing ok and not worht throwing out a newish item just to save a bit of cash (doesn't really add up) - I think it's B rated and I'm reasonably happy with the consumption. It's the hob/oven that really canes the meter

I keeping mine too. It doesnt add up to change it. Im fine with oven/hob mine are gas.

A_fiend_for_life

@umski

its something thats got me baffled - I'd have thought bags down the side of the freezer would have insulated it. But the tell tale sign was the top 'element' by the hinge had defrosted in the corner. I still haven't got a satisfactory explanation for it though.

icecube2009

I am with e-on and pay £65 dd for gas & electric, well I DID, then I got a call saying I need to out my DD up to £230 a month! nearly fainted! I told them they coukd have contacted me sooner rather than let me get so far in arrears but they said it was my responsibility to keep a check on it not theirs (was very rude in fact) in the end I soke to someone else & she said that as we are coming up to summer my bills would be lower & with a bit of extra energy saving by mtself I should be able to get back in the 'green' by paying £105 a month.
So what I want to know, is what can I do?? I have energy saving bulbs everywhere, dont leave lights on or anything on standby, I actually work full time now (didnt last year) so we have no haeting on during the day & a lot less electricity is used during the day, we have turned the boiler off, so dont have any hot water, nuse the electric shower (sparingly) rathet than have baths & if we need a bit of hot water we boil some.
I do use a tumble dryer, I live by the coast & if I hang washing out it gets 'splatted' by the sea gulls, but am thinking it would be worth having to re wash the occasional item if it meant we would save a lot by hanging washing out. I looked on the e-on site & did the on line energy checker thing & not using the tumble dryer only saved me £8 a year, is this right? really not worth the hassel if it is...any ideas?
Thanks

A_fiend_for_life

Take monthly readings and let them know how much your using I think is the usual advice.

Clothes drying could be done with a sheltered line eg rotary washing line or a drying rack. Freecycle might be worth a try.

You could also make yourself a 'Mull dryer' ideal if you have a wind tunnel past your house. Might need anchoring if the wind is too good.

http://www.tiptheplanet.com/index.php?title=Air_dry_washing

Defrost freezer.
Slow cooker / microwave (freecycle).
Boil water in the kettle rather than on the hob.
Hand wash dishes with cold water.
Wash clothes at 30C or less.
Boil only the water you need and flask the rest.

there's a thread here on energy saving:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=980757