Astronomical electricity!

Char189

Hey everyone!
Been having alot of problems with my electricity! I'll give as much detail as possible and be as accurate as possible to get the best help.
I'll start with our appliance in our 1 bedroom top floor house conversion flat:
Fridge freezer: running on 120W-2.88 kwh used in 24 hours
Kettle: running on 2500-3000W- using 0.5 kwh if boiled for 20 mins in 24 hours
TV: running on 180W- using 1.44kwh if on for 8 hours
Hoover: using 0.42 kwh if used for 30 mins every day
Lights: I added 2kwh a day as we also have a house phone and broadband and I know our lights using next to noting most are now led's to save money.
We have a separate wash room for clothes which is coin operated and hooked up to landladys house. I have compared my usage with hers and they are almost the same, she lives next door, only she is running 4 washing machines, 2 tumble dryers, a storage heater, 2 freezers, a fridge freezer, lights, microwave oven etc.
We had storage heaters when we moved in but NEVER used them as we were already paying over 100 pounds a month for our electricity (that's all as about, I worked it out at nearly 160kwh per month and at nearly 14p per kwh it should have been about 25 pounds)
We have recently had a whole new heating/ hot water eco system put in, electric 9kwh boiler, I cannot work out how much that uses! But we only now use it for 1-2 hours per day.
We currently have a check meter put in after alot of complaining to the electric company. I thought there was a fault on the meter, I'm now realising that both meters are reading the same! It's almost like I'm running my flat and the 2 flats below me! (I know I'm not as we have had an electrician to check)
So firstly how much would it actually be costing me per hour to run my boiler?
And secondly what else could be using so much electricity? We are so careful with our consumption as it is pricey yet when I work everything out the meters are saying I am using 38 kwh per day, I can account for up to 26 if the boiler is on alot....where is my other 12kwhs going?
Previous tenants have complained about the amount this place uses.
The electric company are so helpful yet I feel like I'm pulling teeth everytime I'm phoning them and checking my meter. Any of your ideas are GRATEFULLY appreciated!
Thanks in advance

Gloomendoom

Are you sure that you are only running your flat?

My aunt had a similar problem until she discovered that her meter was shared with a bakery below. One of my neighbours discovered that she was also paying not only for her house but also for the annex next door.

I'd be tempted to turn everything off at a typical peak usage time and see if the meter still moves.

footyguy

Char189 wrote: »

Hey everyone!
Been having alot of problems with my electricity! I'll give as much detail as possible and be as accurate as possible to get the best help.
I'll start with our appliance in our 1 bedroom top floor house conversion flat:
Fridge freezer: running on 120W-2.88 kwh used in 24 hours
Kettle: running on 2500-3000W- using 0.5 kwh if boiled for 20 mins in 24 hours
TV: running on 180W- using 1.44kwh if on for 8 hours
Hoover: using 0.42 kwh if used for 30 mins every day
Lights: I added 2kwh a day as we also have a house phone and broadband and I know our lights using next to noting most are now led's to save money.
We have a separate wash room for clothes which is coin operated and hooked up to landladys house. I have compared my usage with hers and they are almost the same, she lives next door, only she is running 4 washing machines, 2 tumble dryers, a storage heater, 2 freezers, a fridge freezer, lights, microwave oven etc.
We had storage heaters when we moved in but NEVER used them as we were already paying over 100 pounds a month for our electricity (that's all as about, I worked it out at nearly 160kwh per month and at nearly 14p per kwh it should have been about 25 pounds)
We have recently had a whole new heating/ hot water eco system put in, electric 9kwh boiler, I cannot work out how much that uses! But we only now use it for 1-2 hours per day.
We currently have a check meter put in after alot of complaining to the electric company. I thought there was a fault on the meter, I'm now realising that both meters are reading the same! It's almost like I'm running my flat and the 2 flats below me! (I know I'm not as we have had an electrician to check)
So firstly how much would it actually be costing me per hour to run my boiler?
And secondly what else could be using so much electricity? We are so careful with our consumption as it is pricey yet when I work everything out the meters are saying I am using 38 kwh per day, I can account for up to 26 if the boiler is on alot....where is my other 12kwhs going?
Previous tenants have complained about the amount this place uses.
The electric company are so helpful yet I feel like I'm pulling teeth everytime I'm phoning them and checking my meter. Any of your ideas are GRATEFULLY appreciated!
Thanks in advance

I, nor anyone else , can tell you where you are using your electricity as we cannot see your flat or the appliances you have within in

But it should be easy to identify.

Turn off the fridge freezer (keep the door shut, it'll come to no harm for quite a few hours)
Ensure also the kettle, TV , hoover nor any lights are on. Make sure the phone is disconnected from the mains.
Also ensure your electric boiler does not come on.

That covers everything electrical you think you have.

Now go to the meter. See if it is still recording consumption. If it is, then keep searching your property until you find out what else you havbe that consumes electricity.

Turn that appliance off, and repeat as above until the meter stops moving.



Have you really never used any form of space heating in your flat???
How have you calculated your boiler may account for 26kWh per day?

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

If your fridge freezer is using 120watts, and hence 2.88kWh in 24 hours, it is faulty. The thermostat should be switching it on and off. 1kWh would be typical.

Does your 9kW electric boiler just run heating and you have a separate immersion heater for hot water?

What about a cooker?

There is no such thing as an 'eco' heating/hot water system. All electricity is expensive and every 1kWh consumed produces exactly the same amount of heat as any other system.

38kWh in a(February/March) day for heating, hot water, and general electricity consumption is IMO below average.

Char189

Thank you all so much for you replies!
The electrician actually clamped the incoming live wire near the meter to see what was coming in, he said 100amps and we are only using 9 amps with everything bar the boiler system. When it is on we use 30 amps.
The freezer dior is in need of a new seal AND that is currently being fixed but it does not explain how we are using 38kwh a day with only a couple hours using the boiler!
The new heating system has a thermostat for the heating and can heat the hot water, but we don't have to use the boiler to heat the water...I think!
We do have a cooker but I can't see where on it it tells me what wattage it uses, sorry I left that bit off.
I have compared my electricity with my lovely neighbours downstairs. They are full electric too. So I paid 98.67 for my electricity using pretty much nothing the same month they ran their house normal, with ALL their storage heaters on full, they have alot more running than we do and a very old inefficient emersion heater and their bill was 65 pounds for the month, both bills were actual reading aswell so you can see my confusion and frustration. Both flats are EXACTLY the same, just different stuff in them.
My worry is in 9 days when they take the check meter out it will be the same as my old meter and even though they are going to replace the old meter it isn't going to solve my situation. I'm not even sure how this check meter works...any ideas? Does it just run alongside my old one with a more accurate measurements of my consumption?
I really do appreciate all of your replies. Thank you very much everyone

Char189

Also no I did not use any form of any heating at all in December and January because it was way way too expensive as it was to run a few light bulbs and the TV! Nearly 100 pounds a month for nothing, but the neighbours below had their storage heaters on so I kind of benefitted from that :-) I didn't calculate my boiler uses 26kwh a day, just that altogether using the heating and everything else I can account for give or take 26 kwh, the other 12 I have no idea.
I will Deffo turn everything off tonight and see if my meter is still chewing up my money like I'm loaded!
Thanks all for your advice

Cardew

Char189 wrote: »

Thank you all so much for you replies!
The electrician actually clamped the incoming live wire near the meter to see what was coming in, he said 100amps and we are only using 9 amps with everything bar the boiler system. When it is on we use 30 amps.
The freezer dior is in need of a new seal AND that is currently being fixed but it does not explain how we are using 38kwh a day with only a couple hours using the boiler!
The new heating system has a thermostat for the heating and can heat the hot water, but we don't have to use the boiler to heat the water...I think!
We do have a cooker but I can't see where on it it tells me what wattage it uses, sorry I left that bit off.
I have compared my electricity with my lovely neighbours downstairs. They are full electric too. So I paid 98.67 for my electricity using pretty much nothing the same month they ran their house normal, with ALL their storage heaters on full, they have alot more running than we do and a very old inefficient emersion heater and their bill was 65 pounds for the month, both bills were actual reading aswell so you can see my confusion and frustration. Both flats are EXACTLY the same, just different stuff in them.
My worry is in 9 days when they take the check meter out it will be the same as my old meter and even though they are going to replace the old meter it isn't going to solve my situation. I'm not even sure how this check meter works...any ideas? Does it just run alongside my old one with a more accurate measurements of my consumption?
I really do appreciate all of your replies. Thank you very much everyone

Using 9 amps means consumption of 2.25kW, so if it stayed constant at 9 amps it would mean 2.25kWh(units) each hour. However fridge, will not be on 24/7, and the cooker and kettle will be in addition to that consumption.

Switching on the boiler added another 21 amps(30-9) and that would mean consumption of an additional 5.25kW. not 9kW which is the rating of the boiler. From cold the boiler will normally use the full 9kW until the house is at the temperature set by the thermostat.

Art_Deco

When did you move in is this actual usage or estimated ? are you and neighbours with the same utility company? Agree turn everything off again and check the metre it shouldnt register any use then put things back on 1 at a time see which is using the most energy,

Char189

Thank you for your replies guys!
Cardew thank you for your answer, it was incredibly useful to know that about the amps converting to the kwh, I genuinely do believe that for some reason BOTH meters are clicking over faster than I can count when things like the boiler are on, it is certainly using a damn site more than 5.25 kwh, I wish you guys could nip round and see how little I have on and how much I use! I have never seen a little red light blink so fast!
I have turned everything off,all plugs, switches the boiler EVERYTHING. I even went as far as to turn off the mains switch to make sure it didn't still flash at me, it didn't I waited a good 5 mins. I turned everythings back on and it seemed to start off really slow again, for a good 15-20 mins it was what I would actually expect I'd there wasn't a fault then it went into overdrive for some reason and was clicking extra fast again.
I'm starting to wonder if the wiring may have something to do with this? Can that have as much of an impact as it has been?
100% sure my neighbours aren't stealing our energy as we saw their bill!
Guess I'll have to wait for the engineer to come out and take the check meter, replace my old meter and think of other options if it doesn't fix it. Thank you all so much, you have all helped alot

Char189

We moved in in August and it's always been this high. It's all actual usage, none is estimated, I think I could work for an energy company with the information I have got to know with taking meter readings and understanding how my meter works lol

zaax

Turn everthing off, andturn everthing back on one by one - wait 30 mins between each one. Then you will know which one is taking all eletric. Also repeat a few times to confirm it is the sameone.
I am very surprised the eletrican didn't do this.