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Does my energy usage seem high?
Parsimonia
Posts: 255 Forumite
Our house is a small, Victorian, brick-built end of terrace, that's heated by night storage heaters that work off a cheaper nighttime tariff. The loft is insulated. Gas is not available, so we're 100% electricity.
Only me and my husband live in the house.
We have double glazed UPVC doors and windows.
We have one large (1 metre in length) storage heater downstairs and one small (half a metre in length) storage heater upstairs which are not on their highest setting. We only run the storage heaters from mid-December to mid-March. If we have a warm spell, we switch the heaters off.
Our house is freezing during the whole winter, and we regularly watch TV in 4 layers of clothing, as well as hats, scarves and gloves and snuggled under blankets.
We don't have anything like heated blankets or greenhouses that drain electricity...
We switch our water heater (which supplies hot water to the upstairs and downstairs sinks) for just 1 hour a day (at 6am) so it allegedly comes off the cheaper night tariff.
We have a modern oven, but we don't cook every day. The hob is an induction hob. We do run one small fridge and a large fridge-freezer, but we don't have a dishwasher, and we only do one load of washing each week.
We have 6 quick showers (using a power shower) each week between the 2 of us....the rest of the time we have a thorough strip-wash.
We have an iMac which is on pretty much from 8am until bedtime... We have a laptop that we charge a couple of times a week, and we both have smartphones that need charging every day. We have a Freesat box and one TV.
During the summer our average usage is about 424 kWh per month (average cost £55 per month) , but in the Winter (Dec to the end of March) it rises to an average of 1,532 kWh per month (£238 average per month).
Given the fact that the fridges, computers, TV, Freesat etc run 365 days a year, the only major difference between winter and summer is the fact that we put on our storage heaters (and maybe do a little bit more cooking). On the other hand, we probably have a few more showers in the summer.
Does it really cost about £182 per month to run 1 large and 1 small storage heater (almost £6 a day????)
I wouldn't mind so much but the house is still freezing! It's not uncommon for us to see our breath indoors, so I'm not exaggerating!!!
To get to the bottom of this I've taken our meter readings every Sunday for the past 5 weeks:
Your insights and advice will be greatly appreciated!!
Only me and my husband live in the house.
We have double glazed UPVC doors and windows.
We have one large (1 metre in length) storage heater downstairs and one small (half a metre in length) storage heater upstairs which are not on their highest setting. We only run the storage heaters from mid-December to mid-March. If we have a warm spell, we switch the heaters off.
Our house is freezing during the whole winter, and we regularly watch TV in 4 layers of clothing, as well as hats, scarves and gloves and snuggled under blankets.
We don't have anything like heated blankets or greenhouses that drain electricity...
We switch our water heater (which supplies hot water to the upstairs and downstairs sinks) for just 1 hour a day (at 6am) so it allegedly comes off the cheaper night tariff.
We have a modern oven, but we don't cook every day. The hob is an induction hob. We do run one small fridge and a large fridge-freezer, but we don't have a dishwasher, and we only do one load of washing each week.
We have 6 quick showers (using a power shower) each week between the 2 of us....the rest of the time we have a thorough strip-wash.
We have an iMac which is on pretty much from 8am until bedtime... We have a laptop that we charge a couple of times a week, and we both have smartphones that need charging every day. We have a Freesat box and one TV.
During the summer our average usage is about 424 kWh per month (average cost £55 per month) , but in the Winter (Dec to the end of March) it rises to an average of 1,532 kWh per month (£238 average per month).
Given the fact that the fridges, computers, TV, Freesat etc run 365 days a year, the only major difference between winter and summer is the fact that we put on our storage heaters (and maybe do a little bit more cooking). On the other hand, we probably have a few more showers in the summer.
Does it really cost about £182 per month to run 1 large and 1 small storage heater (almost £6 a day????)
I wouldn't mind so much but the house is still freezing! It's not uncommon for us to see our breath indoors, so I'm not exaggerating!!!
To get to the bottom of this I've taken our meter readings every Sunday for the past 5 weeks:
- W/E 19/1: Night time usage : 160 units / Standard usage 58 units
- W/E 26/1: Night time usage : 215 units / Standard usage 47 units
- W/E 2/2 : Night time usage : 312 units / Standard usage 42 units
- W/E 9/2 : Night time usage : 232 units / Standard usage 51 units
- W/E 16/2 : Night time usage : 235 units / Standard usage 60 units
Your insights and advice will be greatly appreciated!!
Save £12k in 2014 - No. 153 - £1900/£9000
January NSD Challenge - 19/21 under target
February NSD Challenge - 22/20 - over target
March NSD Challenge - 19/14 - over target
April NSD Challenge - 0/16
YTD NSDs = 60
January NSD Challenge - 19/21 under target
February NSD Challenge - 22/20 - over target
March NSD Challenge - 19/14 - over target
April NSD Challenge - 0/16
YTD NSDs = 60
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Comments
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No this sounds totally accurate.0
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Couple of assumptions here as you only give length for SH's.
1off 3.4kW SH x 7h = 23.8kWh
1off 2.5kW SH x 7h = 17.5kWh
So maximum usage if both take a full charge is 41.3kWh.
How is your water heated?
Your daytime usage is also massive!
Just to compare with us, we have 1off 3.4kW SH, 2off 2.5kW SH's, 1off 1.7kW SH, and a 90l hot water tank. We are also using an oil heater during the day at the moment, and a tumble drier and dehumidifier at night.
We are using ~29 units/night and 9 units/day.0 -
Couple of assumptions here as you only give length for SH's.
1off 3.4kW SH x 7h = 23.8kWh
1off 2.5kW SH x 7h = 17.5kWh
So maximum usage if both take a full charge is 41.3kWh.
How is your water heated?
Your daytime usage is also massive!
Just to compare with us, we have 1off 3.4kW SH, 2off 2.5kW SH's, 1off 1.7kW SH, and a 90l hot water tank. We are also using an oil heater during the day at the moment, and a tumble drier and dehumidifier at night.
We are using ~29 units/night and 9 units/day.
I'm not sure of the wattage of our SHs...not sure how I'd find out....
Per my recent meter readings, over the past 5 weeks we've used between 6 and 9 units a day which doesn't sound massive compared to your usage - unless I'm misunderstanding something???
Our nighttime usage over the same period has ranged from 23 to 45 units...the higher figure might correspond with one week when we ran a dehumidifier overnight for 2 nights. Does that seem exceptionally high for one large and one small SH?
Our SH were there when we bought the house in 1992 so they're pretty old...
As for heating our water, we have an average size water tank (insulated) in the loft that comes on once a day for an hour at 6am...Save £12k in 2014 - No. 153 - £1900/£9000
January NSD Challenge - 19/21 under target
February NSD Challenge - 22/20 - over target
March NSD Challenge - 19/14 - over target
April NSD Challenge - 0/16
YTD NSDs = 600 -
They are pretty much all the same. They have 850W elements, and the number of elements can usually be determined by size. The range is 850W, 1.7kW, 2.55kW, and 3.4kW. 3.4kW is as big as they get.Parsimonia wrote: »I'm not sure of the wattage of our SHs...not sure how I'd find out....
Yeah sorry, I misread your figures.Parsimonia wrote: »Per my recent meter readings, over the past 5 weeks we've used between 6 and 9 units a day which doesn't sound massive compared to your usage - unless I'm misunderstanding something???
So it could be within the limits of the SH then.Parsimonia wrote: »Our nighttime usage over the same period has ranged from 23 rto 45 units...the higher figure might correspond with one week when we ran a dehumidifier overnight for 2 nights.
It should be switched automatically along with the NSH's. How well insulated is it? It won't hurt to throw another jacket or two on it.Parsimonia wrote: »As for heating our water, we have an average size water tank (insulated) in the loft that comes on once a day for an hour at 6am...
Sounds like your NSH's are running flat out because they are not sufficient to heat the space. You need to insulate as much as possible to stop the heat from escaping. Stop any draughts, cover up windows and doors, and sort out some form of insulation.
If you can't keep the heat in, then yes, your bill is totally believable.0 -
Sounds like you are on a pretty expensive tariff too.
I used over 1000kWh in November, and it only cost me £110.0 -
I'm sorry to be so dense, but there are a few things I don't understand...
How can they be running flat out even though they're not on maximum input?
I thought the input determined the cost...so I could understand higher usage if we were on an input of 7 (cold weather).
However, the large one is on an input of 5/7 (cool weather) and the small one is on an input of 3/7 (mild weather).
They don't have thermostats, so they don't chuck out more heat the colder or draughtier it gets - the house just gets colder and we chuck on another blanket! We don't raise the input to reflect colder snaps...
Have I been misunderstanding how they work all these years?Save £12k in 2014 - No. 153 - £1900/£9000
January NSD Challenge - 19/21 under target
February NSD Challenge - 22/20 - over target
March NSD Challenge - 19/14 - over target
April NSD Challenge - 0/16
YTD NSDs = 600 -
Sounds like you are on a pretty expensive tariff too.
I used over 1000kWh in November, and it only cost me £110.
We used 1095 kWh in December at a cost of £159...is that high?
Perhaps we need to compare suppliers and tariffs...we're with British Gas at the moment.Save £12k in 2014 - No. 153 - £1900/£9000
January NSD Challenge - 19/21 under target
February NSD Challenge - 22/20 - over target
March NSD Challenge - 19/14 - over target
April NSD Challenge - 0/16
YTD NSDs = 600 -
They don't have thermostats? They must be very old then, can you find a part number or brand on them anywhere?Parsimonia wrote: »I'm sorry to be so dense, but there are a few things I don't understand...
How can they be running flat out even though they're not on maximum input?
I thought the input determined the cost...so I could understand higher usage if we were on an input of 7 (cold weather).
However, the large one is on an input of 5/7 (cool weather) and the small one is on an input of 3/7 (mild weather).
They don't have thermostats, so they don't chuck out more heat the colder or draughtier it gets - the house just gets colder and we chuck on another blanket! We don't raise the input to reflect colder snaps...
Have I been misunderstanding how they work all these years?
If they are manual, then they will take a set amount of charge based on the input.
I suggest you invest in some automatic storage heaters as they will take the strain of constant adjustment off of you, and will save you money by only charging by what is needed.
You really need to sort out your insulation though, if you don't bother, you might as well mount those heaters on the outside of your house because that is where the heat is going.0 -
What are the particulars of your tariff? Do you know what you pay for night/day units and what your standard charge is?Parsimonia wrote: »We used 1095 kWh in December at a cost of £159...is that high?
I used 1092kWh in March last year and it cost £113.48
Yes, you should do this.Parsimonia wrote: »Perhaps we need to compare suppliers and tariffs...we're with British Gas at the moment.0 -
Compare with my usage and see how it looks.
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