how much electricity?

mr_mitch

matelodave wrote: »

The only way to reduce your consumption is to turn stuff off or use it less. Try reading your meter yourself every day for a couple of weeks to find out what you are actually using and see what is using it all.

The guide from Hengus shows what stuff uses so make sure heavy users like washing machines, dryers, dishwashers etc are only used with full loads. Make sure the immersion heater isn't switched on if you've got a gas boiler.

Electric showers use lots so reduce the amount of time you use them a 5 minute shower uses half the energy and water as a 10 minute one.

Turn stuff off at the wall when it's not in use especially stuff like computers, TVs, Playstations, printers and all the other stuff that has a standby button.

Clocks on cookers, microwave ovens etc all use a few watts continuously so if you don't need them switch them off at the wall, likewise phone chargers etc. Only fill the kettle with as much water as you need.

Turn lights off and as suggested replace the heavy use lights with LEDs. My kitchen had 10 x 50watt halogens = 500wats, it's now 10x4 watt LEDs = 40watts x 2 hrs/day, saving a kwh a day. The lounge had about 300watts of tungsten lighting which is now down to 20 watts of LED saving 280w x 4hrs/day = another 1kwh/day.

Our summer average electric use is about 8-9kwh a day and that includes heating our hot water and all our cooking, 2-3 computers on most days, TV, Sky box, surround sound, washing machine, tumbledryer and dishwasher etc.

It's a lot more in the winter as we are all electric (heating as well) and we are at home all day - our total energy use in in 2014 was 5599kwh £693 but it was a very mild - our average is 7500-8000kwh/year, still only about £900 a year and that's for a fairly large (140sq.m) detached bungalow out in the Cambridgeshire fens.

Ive been reading the meter a few times a week since 21/11/14 and an app I use shows a daily average of 14.61kwh.

We have an immersion heater but it is physically disconnected. And try to be careful with the washer, etc. Dishwasher gets put on overnight when the electric is cheap, if there is enough to warrant it.

We do have a massive fridge and freezer, which are fairly modern. But not a lot I can do about that. They're often full to the brim.

We unplug as much stuff as possible to keep it off standby. I even recharge my gadgets like tablets, laptops and phones after midnight when it's cheaper. I even have power down adaptors to turn off all accessories when the PC and TV are turned off..

Our shower runs from the hot water tank (gas heated) but does have an electric pump... So I keep them short.

Most of our lights are led or energy savers. We only use lights for the rooms we are using (except 2 LED lamps) And we have worked out exactly where to fill the kettle to for 1 mug, 2mugs, or 3 mugs!

polymaff wrote: »

Our profile is very similar to yours - gas for CH and DHW, electricity for cooking, detached house. The wife feels the cold and so uses, I reckon, about 1500kWh per annum of local electric heating.

With this, our annual electricity consumption is just under 6,000kWh per annum, so your 50% higher figure suggests that you need to validate that 8492 figure and to work through Hengus' list.

Thanks for that. I don't know how your get it that low. We had used over 8kwh when I got home today (midnight to 17.30) but that includes the dishwasher being on after 12.

Norman_Castle wrote: »

These appear to be maximums provided to prevent socket overloading. My 120 watt fridge uses between £45 and £65 per year whereas my washing machine, max 2200 watts, used about 75 times per year, costs around £12.50 annually.

Unexpectedly expensive items to run include the fridge, Kettle at £22 per year and vacuum at 1p per 5 minutes, £22 annually.
Old style, non low energy lighting is expensive and long showers are likely to be expensive.

Thanks. Will try to minimise use of these even more!

mr_mitch

saveallmymoney wrote: »

23 kWh a day is a LOT, that what we use on washing day when there are multiple loads through the tumble dryer.

could you have a faulty fridge or freezer with the compressor stuck on all time?

I don't think so because just before I go to bed and have turned as much stuff off as I can, my owl monitor only shows 200 - 300 watts, varying when the fridge and freezer comes on and off...

r2015

Why do you think your electricity is cheaper during the night?


Do you have economy 7 with gas heating?

my owl monitor only shows 200 - 300 watts

When I had one, mine used to show 70 - 80 watts when I went to my bed and 45 watts of that was the Sky box

prosaver

Maybe your reading the meter wrong or its knacked

prosaver

This might help...https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2962750

polymaff

mr_mitch wrote: »

I don't think so because just before I go to bed and have turned as much stuff off as I can, my owl monitor only shows 200 - 300 watts, varying when the fridge and freezer comes on and off...

Monitors which clamp over one of the power cables are very inaccurate when the power is below about 500W. There are three factors involved in working out the power, and this type of monitor measures one only and has to make assumptions (spelled G U E S S E S) about the other two.

The best / simplest monitors are those which work with electricity meters containing a flashing LED. No assumptions, therefore really accurate results.

polymaff

mr_mitch wrote: »

Thanks for that. I don't know how your get it that low. We had used over 8kwh when I got home today (midnight to 17.30) but that includes the dishwasher being on after 12. !

Dishwasher? That's me!

mr_mitch

r2015 wrote: »

Why do you think your electricity is cheaper during the night?


Do you have economy 7 with gas heating?


When I had one, mine used to show 70 - 80 watts when I went to my bed and 45 watts of that was the Sky box

Yeah its definitely cheaper at night, were on the economy 7 meter.

70 to 80 watts?! Is that about average consumption when "everything" is off?

Even taking account of the inaccuracy of the metre... 300watts at night seems like a lot.

Thinking what it could be...Or fridge and freezer are massive. And we have a second freezer that is full of fish. We have a garden pond with a pump and a UV filter thingy.
A few things in the house that we keep on 24/7 like separate modem and router... Cordless phones (4), answer phone, digital free view recorder, bedside clocks, central heating timer.... Dustbuster, burglar and fire alarm...

Could all that be adding up to 300 watts? I suppose it could

mr_mitch

polymaff wrote: »

Monitors which clamp over one of the power cables are very inaccurate when the power is below about 500W. There are three factors involved in working out the power, and this type of monitor measures one only and has to make assumptions (spelled G U E S S E S) about the other two.

The best / simplest monitors are those which work with electricity meters containing a flashing LED. No assumptions, therefore really accurate results.

Yeah I hear they are inaccurate. But at the end of the day the average daily usage roughly tallies with the one I worked out by taking the readings straight from the metre. So it's probably a good enough indication.

We do have the type of metre with the flashing led... Do that sounds interesting... Where can you get this type of energy monitor? And are they very expensive?

mr_mitch

prosaver wrote: »

This might help...https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2962750

Thanks for that. I've read through and it seems to be talking about the possibility of the metre being faulty?

I don't really think this is the case... (Especially as the actual metre and the owl monitor pretty much agree) .... I think we just have too much stuff plugged in (despite my supposed efforts to remove as much as possible)