massive electric usage!!!

yvonne13_2

OP check your meter then plug out your TV and check the meter again it could be that not sure but just going for the obvious.

chris1973

Large Screen TV's can consume upto 500 watts if they are the Plasma type, or 200+ watts for other types. This means that they consume one unit for every 2 (500w) to 5 hours (200w) that they are on. So yes, an average weekend viewing can add up with a Plasma type TV

What about other TV's (Kids)

Depending on its spec and age, an X-Box will use between 100w and 180w

Media Centre is PC motherboard based, and so will equal the cost of running another full sized PC, so 100w

Lighting? - Are you using Energy Saving lighting throughout the house?, and avoiding the use of any of those nasty guzzling recessed halogen spotlights (6x GU10 spotlights lamps in a Kitchen / Hall will use 300w!) if fitted

Any outside halogen floodlights going on / off all night with the wind or passing cats?

Immersion Heater?

Showers for 4 people (a 9.5kw shower will use 1 unit for every 6 - 7 minutes of operation)

On the surface of it, if your kids are playing X-box on large screen TV's every night and 10+ hours at the weekend, The 42" TV is running day and night, the Media Centre is running 24/7 and various non energy saving lights are left burning throughout the house, then along with domestic uses for Washing Clothes, Cooking, Hot Water, Showers your energy usage for a family of 4 who don't turn things off, would be about right!.

Also note, that this time of year with limited daylight, foggy days, and little if any strength in the Sun the solar panels will be as much use to you as a glass buttock. Thats the perverse thing about Solar Panels, the time that you need them, such as in the dead of winter they are doing nothing!. Like all other households you are also paying £100 a year more on your bills to fund your panels.

Also bear in mind that Electricity has gone up 38% in the last 18 months on Average across the main suppliers, so effectively you are 38% worse off when comparing bills from the last few years.

rogerblack

chris1973 wrote: »

Like all other households you are also paying £100 a year more on your bills to fund your panels.

More like 6 or 7 quid.

flubrush

chris1973 wrote: »

Also note, that this time of year with limited daylight, foggy days, and little if any strength in the Sun the solar panels will be as much use to you as a glass buttock. Thats the perverse thing about Solar Panels, the time that you need them, such as in the dead of winter they are doing nothing!.

That's not correct. My installation is a fairly small one - ten panels with a 2.25Kw/hr max output, and I am getting an average of about 4.5 Kw per day over the last two months. Yesterday was 7Kw off the roof. The worst day was in November with 0.7Kw. For a well insulated house with a single occupant, that's a significant help with my electricity bill.

Jim.

Cardew

flubrush wrote: »

That's not correct. My installation is a fairly small one - ten panels with a 2.25Kw/hr max output, and I am getting an average of about 4.5 Kw per day over the last two months. Yesterday was 7Kw off the roof. The worst day was in November with 0.7Kw. For a well insulated house with a single occupant, that's a significant help with my electricity bill.

Jim.

Welcome to the forum.

Presumably that is what you are generating?

How much of that are you using in the house?

HappyMJ

flubrush wrote: »

That's not correct. My installation is a fairly small one - ten panels with a 2.25Kw/hr max output, and I am getting an average of about 4.5 Kw per day over the last two months. Yesterday was 7Kw off the roof. The worst day was in November with 0.7Kw. For a well insulated house with a single occupant, that's a significant help with my electricity bill.

Jim.

Well...in my area of the UK the sun doesn't rise until 8:15am and sets at 3:50pm. As the panels don't generate anything until there is sufficient light then they can only generate electricity for about 7.5 hours per day. My house uses about 100W per hour during the day when no one is home and only the fridge and a few things such as timers, chargers and the router are on so if I had panels installed then I would have saved 0.75kWh on a day like today. That would be about 22.5kWh for December and my bill savings would be about £3 @ 13p/kWh. It's not a significant help for me. I need energy in the evening when it's dark so I can turn the lights on, turn the telly on, do some cooking etc... and no solar system can give me that free power.

flubrush

Cardew wrote: »

Welcome to the forum.

Presumably that is what you are generating?

How much of that are you using in the house?

As much as I can.. I am retired and home most of the time so I can schedule usage during the day to make use of what's generated - like view TV programmes time shifted on my PVR, etc. The house is gas central heated and hob cooking is by gas, so most usage is quite low and the only frequent high users are the kettle and a dew point heater in an outside workshop during winter.

You need to keep an eye on the weather and schedule your usage to suit if you want to make the best of it.

Jim.

flubrush

HappyMJ wrote: »

Well...in my area of the UK the sun doesn't rise until 8:15am and sets at 3:50pm. As the panels don't generate anything until there is sufficient light then they can only generate electricity for about 7.5 hours per day. My house uses about 100W per hour during the day when no one is home and only the fridge and a few things such as timers, chargers and the router are on so if I had panels installed then I would have saved 0.75kWh on a day like today. That would be about 22.5kWh for December and my bill savings would be about £3 @ 13p/kWh. It's not a significant help for me. I need energy in the evening when it's dark so I can turn the lights on, turn the telly on, do some cooking etc... and no solar system can give me that free power.

I'm at home most of the time and can make use of what's generated - like I'm watching a long NFL game on the TV this morning, time shifted on a PVR. I also have workshops with machinery and tend to use them when the sun is shining. It takes a bit of scheduling but it can be worth it at the price of electricity these days.

Jim.

cossie

its taken a while but ive done my calculations on energy use and here goes
3.22kwh a day tv
2.1kwh pc a day
0.84kwh laptop
0.259kwh sky box
0.54kwh xbox
2.8kwh total washing machine week
0.84kwh fridge day
0.9kwh kettle
0.198kwh bulbs
2.25kwh shower
218kWh freezer year
2.1kwh day oven
13.5 water heating per week

some calculations are per year and bear in mind i have 12 pv panels.

my rates are standing charge 16.990 day rate 17.860 night rate 6.980

hope thats more info

victor2

Those figures you've provided add up to 15.9 kWh per day, which is about 5,800 kWh per year. That doesn't take into account your PV panels though, unless you've already allowed for what they provide.
Your 2.25 kWh per day for the shower seems very low. Based on your usage for hot water, the shower is cold water fed. I don't see how four people can shower daily for that usage - do you allocate a shower day each?