Energy consumption whilst on holiday

geoffken

Just looking for advice as to whether mine is excessive.
On holiday abroad for 12 days and obviously everything except fridges/freezers were switched off.
No router or phones or telecoms or Tvs on.
All switched of by removing plugs .
We have 1 fridge freezer i,e. half half as well as free standing freezer usual 5 ft high models both less than 10 years old situated in garage which does not get too hot even in our summers so reasonable cooling for these.
In addition we have a built in fridge under a counter worktop which is meant to be cooled by integral fan.
I wonder if this is not working and therefore fridge is running constantly
Bill is for 111 units or £14.33 for the period.
Scottish Power bst fixed tariff.
Thanks for any help from experts as this would mean these are costing us approx £435 per year.

D_M_E

111 units in 12 days is over 9 units a day - did you have an immersion heater turned on as well?

The fridge/freezers need a bit of warmth to operate, if the surrounding temperature drops below a certain level then they don't operate efficiently.

If you have one which never cycles on and off every now and then then this alone would account for 5 or 6 units every 24 hours so the cost of getting it looked at or even the cost of replacement would soon be recovered in savings on your electricity bill.

I recently went away for 14 days and left on a fridge/freezer and various other small stuf such as a router and my meter only recorded one unit a day.

geoffken

Thanks for reply.
I recognise higher running costs/lower efficiency in cold weather but I believe that weather from 28 July until 9 August this year may have been warmer in N east than normal but it does seem high.
Will shut off freezers overnight and see if covered fridge is killing the electric.
Freezers should be perfectly safe for 12 hours if unopened shouldn't they.

geoffken

Sorry no immersion heater as gas combi for heating/'water

[Deleted User]

@geoffken
See if you can loan a energy meter from your local library so you can check each device individually to see how much energy is used.

Robin9

Are these 111 units your own readings or do they include an estimated reading from your supplier ?

How does this compare with an equivalent quarter last summer >?

geoffken

readings are from meter but do not have last years but average weekly electric seems to be approx 60 units by readings taken weekly

matelodave

When we go off on holiday I shut everything down except the tall larder fridge (1700mm), tall freezer (1700mm), router, SKY box, Humax recorder and my online energy monitor which is connected vial a power-line network with 3 nodes (router,TV, Energy monitor).

The consumption works out at 3.5kwh a day, winter or summer. I read the meter every week when we are home or read it when we go away and again when we come back. I'd expect to use around 45 kwh for a 12 day holiday.

When we are home (all day for both of us) with the hot water system on (heatpump) plus a bit of cooking, together with several computers, printers, TV etc our consumption increases to around 7kwh/day.

When we add in washing (washing machine & tumble dryer - my wife seldom hangs out washing), dishwasher and other stuff our summer consumption averages around 10kw/day.

D_M_E

So compared to your average you have used an extra 51 units or about an extra 4 units per 24 hours.

Did you have all the fridges and freezers last year or are some of them recent purchases?

Fridge and or freezer compressors running constantly - never cutting out when the temperature gets cold enough, or because there is a leak in the gas coolant system - could well be the cause of an increase in consumption such as you describe.

Also, you say a covered fridge - if there is no air circulating around it because of the cover this will make the compressor work overtime and increase the appliance's power consumption.

geoffken

Thanks.
Will be experimenting with shutting integral fridge off overnight and also switching off freezers in garage on another day.
Can also get loan of elec meter from council so will be trying that also.
have been reading meters weekly for 18 months so looks like i may have been wasting some electric although dd is covering bills both gas and elecrtic at £90 for 2 bed bungalow in NE .

reeac

We have a fridge and a freezer in the kitchen- both 19 years old - and a fridge and a freezer in a detached garden room - both over 30 years old. When we are away our consumption is 3 kWh of electricity per day. When we are at home it's 9 or 10.