Average nightly kwh usage???

Dr_roxx87

Hey all

I'm new to this so go easy

I live in a one bed flat with my partner, we work and study and are only home in the evenings and couple days in the week.

My question is this; with 3 storage heaters, with nothing else on but the fridge and Internet hub being on (we're very energy conscious) is 45 kwh overnight (12-6) too much? Our storage heaters are set to 8 on input and 1 on output.

A few additional notes:
All electric property
Currently with British Gas but moving to Octopus Energy
Have ah E7 meter.
Flat is quite small.
As I've said, the only thing on is heaters, fridge and hub.

Am I using/paying too much? Is this normal? Is it worth just leaving the big SH on overnight while shutting the others off and leaving doors open to move heat around.

Thank you.

Dr_roxx87

45kwh as in units..my meter went up 45 overnight (20715 to 20760)

[Deleted User]

Hi,

with 3 heaters going plus, probably, water heater that not too bad, though don't know what you have them set at.

Input should be adjusted, depending on weather forecast for next day, and output should be shut, especially at bedtime.

Do you need 3 heaters going in a 1 bed flat, you're not growing 'stuff' are you?

Dr_roxx87

Haha no I'm not growing stuff we have two tarantulas and the convector heater seemed abit much, plus she gets cold easily (rheumatism).

I think it's a case of fiddling, I've turned the outputs to minimum and halved the input; let's see what that does!

Thanks.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

wow, how do you diagnose rheumatism in a tarantula, do you have to walk it round the flat each day to loosen up?

Dr_roxx87

Oh ha ha! :P

I meant my partner has it, tbh if a tarantula had it.. not so fun! The heat it does like though so you never know! haha

footyguy

It depends on the size of the NSHs but typically they are about 3kW each

Plus as frugalmacdugal, you probably/should have a water heater on too, so that's another 3KW.

So 7 hours x 12KW = possible 84kWh (plus whatever else is on such as the fridge etc)

Of course the heaters are thermostatically controlled, and you don't say too much about what the settings you have used, (is 8 maximum?) but you only are using about 50% of what you could possibly be using, so not consuming an unexplainable amount by any means.

footyguy

Dr_roxx87 wrote: »

...

I think it's a case of fiddling, I've turned the outputs to minimum and halved the input; let's see what that does!

Thanks.

Yes, it certainly is a matter of trail and error to get used to NSH controls.

But essentially what you have done now is halved the amount the heaters warm up. This will either mean the property will be cooler, or you will be forced to increase the output as the day wears on ... with the danger the heater may run out of heat before the day is over.

When I had NSHs, I attempted to control the temperature by the input setting only and hoped not to use the output at all, except on really cold nights (which have probably all but passed now for about the next 8-9 months)
- remembering then to turn the output back down before the heater started to recharge.

(I was assuming "1" on output was the minimum setting, but if it wasn't you did the correct thing by turning it down to minimum, which is where is should be before any recharge begins)

DREKLY

Hi Tehran-tulas ! Do you really need the immersion heater on continuously?
I set mine to come on for exactly half an hour, during the off peak time,
and find it heats up enough water for the day,
but it's only me in the house, and a few small house spiders in the bathroom!

footyguy

DREKLY wrote: »

H...
I set mine to come on for exactly half an hour, during the off peak time,
and find it heats up enough water for the day, ...

Be careful!

1.5kW will only heat about 25 litres of water through 50 degrees (e.g. from 10 degrees to 60 degrees C)

A short shower lasting say 5 mins uses about 45litres (not all of which will be hot), or a bath about 80 litres of water.

This does not consider heat loss from the tank itself over a 24 hour period, or from the pipes.

It strikes me that if you are only heating the water for 30mins per day, you are not heating the water enough to stay safe.

CashStrapped

DREKLY wrote: »

Hi Tehran-tulas ! Do you really need the immersion heater on continuously?
I set mine to come on for exactly half an hour, during the off peak time,bathroom!

To add to this....

I recently posted information about immersion heaters.

It is a misconception that you need to manually turn on and off an immersion. Or that leaving an immersion on can cost you a fortune. It has it's own thermostat for that very reason.

If you take the cover off, it has a temperature dial. You just set it to your desired temperature (no lower than 50-55 is recommended).

Once the tank reaches the desired temperature, it turns itself off. As long as the insulation is in good condition, it will not continuously turn off and on. You could combine this with a cheap timer unit. This will ensure it only heats up during e7 hours.