strugging to lower my electric usage.

sniggings

is 9 units of electric a lot for 24 hours? I'm trying to get my costs down but apart from sitting in the dark I can't seen to lower my useage lower than 9 units.

No heating, cooker on for an hour, TV for 4 hours, fridge, pc, 1 light 17w and freesat, I just can not see how that is 9 units in 24 hours?

good_advice

Hiya, 9 units is not a lot per day. Here we use 10/11 units per day.
It does not matter if for 1 person or 4, we still use the cooker, washing machine, tv etc....

JSR

A PC left on can consume quite a bit especially if it's old. How long is it on for?

sniggings

JSR wrote: »

A PC left on can consume quite a bit especially if it's old. How long is it on for?

it's on for quite a bit maybe 8 hours a day, I have started to unplug it at night though but it's only a small laptop so I can't see it using that much?

JSR

No a laptop on for 8 hours won't use that much. Maybe 0.1 to 0.2 units tops. It's hard to see where 9 units would go with just the usage listed. I'm much the same as you and average 5 to 6 units per day. Is the TV old and consuming a lot of power in standby? Is the fridge old? If you can beg/borrow an energy monitor (maybe your supplier will send you one for free) it should be possible check all your appliances and see where the energy is going.

matelodave

Go round and make a list of stuff and what it consumes - my laptop takes a bout 60watts = 500watts in 8 hours, a Sky-box can be consuming 40 watts or more. An old TV or a big plasma can be up to 200watts, even an LED TV is about 60-100watts depending on its size and how bright you have the screen.
Routers, printers, X-boxes and even some appliances will all consume power unless they are unplugged or turned off properly.
We've got electric recliner chairs and they take 16watts each, just by being plugged in, that's 280kw a year, so they get turned off (we use remote controlled mains sockets). The cooker, microwave and other stuff gets turned off unless it's in use.


Try reading your meter daily (ideally at the same time) for a couple of weeks or so and turn off as much as you can, you can then check what's using the power - you might be surprised at what is using it all.


An easier way is to get an energy monitor and you can then check what's being inadvertently being left on - a quick check before you go out or go to bed can ensure that stuff is switched off or unplugged - our library (Cambridgeshire) will loan you one for up to two weeks.

sniggings

JSR wrote: »

No a laptop on for 8 hours won't use that much. Maybe 0.1 to 0.2 units tops. It's hard to see where 9 units would go with just the usage listed. I'm much the same as you and average 5 to 6 units per day. Is the TV old and consuming a lot of power in standby? Is the fridge old? If you can beg/borrow an energy monitor (maybe your supplier will send you one for free) it should be possible check all your appliances and see where the energy is going.

the TV is new and a Plasma but it's not on a lot and I do turn it off when not watching, does standby cost a lot? some say yes sme say no, it's on standby during the day but not at night?

Yes the fridge/freezer is very old but I can not replace it, I guess I need to check what it is using, will be hard though with other things on?

sniggings

matelodave wrote: »

Go round and make a list of stuff and what it consumes - my laptop takes a bout 60watts = 500watts in 8 hours, a Sky-box can be consuming 40 watts or more. An old TV or a big plasma can be up to 200watts, even an LED TV is about 60-100watts depending on its size and how bright you have the screen.
Routers, printers, X-boxes and even some appliances will all consume power unless they are unplugged or turned off properly.
We've got electric recliner chairs and they take 16watts each, just by being plugged in, that's 280kw a year, so they get turned off (we use remote controlled mains sockets). The cooker, microwave and other stuff gets turned off unless it's in use.


Try reading your meter daily (ideally at the same time) for a couple of weeks or so and turn off as much as you can, you can then check what's using the power - you might be surprised at what is using it all.


An easier way is to get an energy monitor and you can then check what's being inadvertently being left on - a quick check before you go out or go to bed can ensure that stuff is switched off or unplugged - our library (Cambridgeshire) will loan you one for up to two weeks.

thanks for that, I got a free one when I switched suppliers once but as my meter is not in the flat and the box that is in my flat is incased in a plastic cover I couldn't use it as I couldn't get to the main wire thing they say it needs to be fitted to.

I've been keeping a check for the last 3 days and each day it's 9 units, I dread to think what it will be when the washing machine goes on it a day or two.

Andy_WSM

sniggings wrote: »

I've been keeping a check for the last 3 days and each day it's 9 units, I dread to think what it will be when the washing machine goes on it a day or two.

Let's keep it in perspective here. 9 units a day is WAY below the national average and a little over a £1 a day + standing charge in monetary terms.

A load of washing can use as little as 1kW, more if you use hotter & longer washes.

Your cooker for an hour, no one has mentioned, but is one of the biggest consumers on your list and possibly accounts for as much as 2kWh on it's own.

-Also, what do you do for hot water? You must wash?

[Deleted User]

sniggings wrote: »

the TV is new and a Plasma but it's not on a lot and I do turn it off when not watching, does standby cost a lot? some say yes sme say no, it's on standby during the day but not at night?

Yes the fridge/freezer is very old but I can not replace it, I guess I need to check what it is using, will be hard though with other things on?

You can afford a new plasma telly yet worry about 9 units a day...?

Other issues going on here...

Confused.com

reeac

sniggings wrote: »

is 9 units of electric a lot for 24 hours? I'm trying to get my costs down but apart from sitting in the dark I can't seen to lower my useage lower than 9 units.

No heating, cooker on for an hour, TV for 4 hours, fridge, pc, 1 light 17w and freesat, I just can not see how that is 9 units in 24 hours?

Not a big consumption. We use 9-10 units per day and that includes cooking [conventional, we don't own a microwave]. When we're away it's just 2 fridges and 2 freezers running and they consume 3 units per day.


I doubt if you can reduce your consumption by much.