High KW usage and how to reduce it.

Cardew

SpotlandRules wrote: »

Shower is also an eater, I have noticed a massive drop since limiting myself to 5 min showers.

As mentioned electric showers can use a surprising amount, especially if you spend 10-15minute a go in there.

From the OP: Sorry should add that heating and cooker hob are gas, shower is combi boiler.

The OP doesn't have an electric shower. The Combi boiler is not electric as the light on meter doesn't flash as fast as a kettle.

System

Spend £200 on a Smappee Energy monitor and 4 Smappee smart plugs and the OP might find her OH begging to spend £100 on LED bulbs. This clever device listens for appliances being switched on/off and it can show how much energy is being used at any given time by device.

Alternatively, just turn things off before going to bed. I found, for example, that my Sky Box was using 36W in standby. Turning it off for 10 hours a night saves about £14 per year.

http://www.smappee.com/uk/energy-monitor-home

teddysmum

We are two in a 3 bedroomed semi and I am home all day.


We have a combi boiler and gas fire , but everything else is electric. The tv is on during the day (Sky box always on), with two on some evenings and my laptop is online all day (husband's all evening).


We have a fridge freezer besides an upright freezer in the garage and dishes are done by hand (so use gas) as the dishwasher is broken and not worth replacing until the kitchen is refitted. The washing machine is used about 4 times a week but the tumbler drier is used less frequently. I often put the fan assisted oven on to heat up and forget to use it until well after it is ready.


The 90cm fish tank only has the filter and heater running.
I have lots of gadgets, such as a bread maker, toastie maker, portable grill etc.


Our usage is fairly constant throughout the year from 7kwh per day in summer to still below 8kwh in winter.

jetplane

teddysmum based on the similarities I have with you I cant imagine what we must be doing I'm wondering whether the street lamp at the bottom of our drive is hooked up to us

edit - I've just checked my meter. Today the heating has been on low, we have had one shower, computer has been switched on all day and husband has had lights on in one room working with the radio on. We have boiled the kettle a few times and used the microwave once. We have not used the TV, cooker, dishwasher, dryer or washing machine and have used 8kw so far? All the plugs have been switched off at the wall, apart from freezer, fridge, fish tank and microwave as the plug is in a cupboard.

CashStrapped

As matelodave has said

Start taking meter readings daily (at the same time each day). You need a reference for normal use. Do this for a week to get a good picture.

Also, when was the last time you compared tariff? Reducing cost via being more efficient can reduce cost. However, you can often reduce the cost a lot more by being on a competitive tariff.

As per above, it is a case excluding of each electrical item. Swapping more efficient bulbs where appropriate...and so on.

*Be aware, low voltage incandescent light-fittings cannot just have their bulbs swapped for LED equivalents. The transformer for incandescent bulbs is not normally appropriate for LEDs. You would need to replace the transformer with an LED driver, which is a bit more involved.

Anything powered directly from the mains, can be swapped without issue.

Old fridge/freezers can be very in-efficient. How old is the model you have?

jetplane

I definitely will be buying monitors and bulbs and will be taking meter readings and being much more aware of what is switched on. I switch every year and looked at this again two weeks ago which is why I knew my meter read and KW usage. I have never thought to compare KW with anyone else though.

My large appliances are around 8 years old, apart from washer and dyer, which were new last year.

teddysmum

jetplane wrote: »

teddysmum based on the similarities I have with you I cant imagine what we must be doing I'm wondering whether the street lamp at the bottom of our drive is hooked up to us

edit - I've just checked my meter. Today the heating has been on low, we have had one shower, computer has been switched on all day and husband has had lights on in one room working with the radio on. We have boiled the kettle a few times and used the microwave once. We have not used the TV, cooker, dishwasher, dryer or washing machine and have used 8kw so far? All the plugs have been switched off at the wall, apart from freezer, fridge, fish tank and microwave as the plug is in a cupboard.

That is high for what appliances you are using. One very slight difference is that our microwave is not left on standby, as the cooker shows the time in the kitchen.


Some years ago, a work colleague found that her bill was high (don't know figures) because they had three 6 foot fish tanks (with oscars) and cutting down to one with just 'Oscar' made a difference.


Another colleague had high bills after his wife gave birth and he admitted to high usage of their tumbler dryer, which was on of the less efficient small capacity models.


Neither of these applies to you though.


I assume that there are no suspicious wires attached to your meter, as found on tv programmes , where power was being stolen by neighbours.

matelodave

You only need one plug-in type of energy monitor and move it around the appliances - stuff like the fridge or freezer need to be plugged in for about 24 hours to check their daily consumption, likewise the fish tank (make sure you are monitoring all the pumps, heaters, aireators and filters to get an accurate estimate)

Washing machines, dishwashers and dryers you can just measure a complete cycle to find out how much they use .

An easier way is to get a whole house monitor like the OWL (http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/owl-micro-wless-enrgy-monitor?istCompanyId=bf3344d9-83f5-4abd-b69a-da131f7567d1&istItemId=wpaiqwiqp&istBid=tztx&gclid=COacvrG9v9ICFUEz0wod42wAXA ) which clips onto the red cable between your leccy meter and fuse box They just clip on the outside of the cable, you dont need an electrictian.

The monitor can then be taken around the house and you can see what happens when you turn stuff on & off. Leave it in a prominent position and you'll soon get an idea of what's going on

Some libraries would lend you one for a couple of weeks to try them out - have a word with yours to see if they still do it.

We can get our daily consumption down to around 3.5kwh when we go on holiday but that's with everything off including the fridge but not the freezer, Sky & Humax box plus the broadband router and couple of other computer related things that stay on permanently.

Mostly its around 7-8 if we dont use any appliances except the fridge and freezer but watch a bit of TV, we both have a several of cups of coffee each (using a Bosch coffee machine). There are two computers and 22" monitor together with a printer on nearly all day and the study lights which were 200 watts are now only 20 since we fitted LED bulbs.

My laptop uses about 10 watts when it's charged but around 40 when it's charging. Just one 100watt lightbulb will use 1kwh in 10 hours.

Our TV takes about 100watts that, together with the surround sound system and the Sky box probably uses another kwh most evenings. So it's not hard to ramp up several extra kwh a day without realising where its all going.

jetplane

matelodave Thank you so much for your advice, we've ordered an OWL monitor and are going to replace the main halogens first to try the different light.

System

jetplane wrote: »

Sorry should add that heating and cooker hob are gas, shower is combi boiler. I know that when the boiler kicks in the electricity meter flashes faster.
We have electric oven, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, freezer, fridge TV's etc. And most of our lights are multiple ie. spotlights or chandelier type fittings.

We are a family of three living in a three bedroom house. I work but my wife stays at home so there's people in during the day. We also have gas hob, electric cooker, combi-boiler but we have an electric shower. Our annual usage is 3800kWh.

Where we differ is we don't have a dishwasher or tumble drier, instead washing pots by hand and air drying clothes on an outside clothesline or clothes horse near a radiator. Our lights are energy saving and we don't leave the house lit up like Blackpool Illuminations.

Everyone I know with dishwashers and/or tumble driers have high electric bills.