Concerned over electricity usage

footyguy

CloughiesBrewerArmy wrote: »

....
I live alone in a two bedroom maisonette and when I go to work I come home and over £2 has been used each day. ....

CloughiesBrewerArmy wrote: »

So I turned on the immersion for just over an hour in the evening and it cost approx 70p.

...

Where are you getting your costs from?

£180+ per quarter without using any heating does not sound right to me

An immersion heater is 3kW. If that really is costing you 70p for 1 hour, I suggest you start hitting the comparison websites - you can do a lot better than that!

Edit: I just saw you say you pay 14.09p/kWh, so the above costs does sound wrong

CloughiesBrewerArmy

Hengus wrote: »

By heating your water just before you use it, you will save a few watts of energy as all cylinders lose heat with the passage of time. The major driver of the cost you incur is therefore the cost of re-heating your cylinder each time that you draw a bath. It's basic physics. Here is a guide to the cost:

https://www.sust-it.net/immersion-heater-energy-calculator.php

Thanks - will read what's in your link.

I turned it off after running my bath just to see what my meter says when I get home this evening.

Going to play around for a week to see what the best way is.

CloughiesBrewerArmy

footyguy wrote: »

Where are you getting your costs from?

£180+ per quarter without using any heating does not sound right to me

An immersion heater is 3kW. If that really is costing you 70p for 1 hour, I suggest you start hitting the comparison websites - you can do a lot better than that!

Edit: I just saw you say you pay 14.09p/kWh, so the above costs does sound wrong

Just my pre-pay electric reading.

I had my PC and 1 light on as well, but don't think that takes up too much energy?

So it was 70p to heat up immersion from cold plus my PC and light (low energy bulb), so it wasn't all immersion heater, but I imagine it was the majority of the 70p.

matelodave

You really need to check actually how much your leccy is costing you.Dont forget there'll also be a dailing standing cahrge of around 20-30p depending on what tariff you are on.

As Footyguy says, an immersion heater is 3kw so for one hour you should use 3kwh times 14.09 = around 43p. so you really need to check if theres a debt on the meter that you are paying off.
A PC will cost you around 50-100w depending on what sort it is. Even if you have it on for 10 hours you wont use much more than 14p. A Sky box will take around 14p a day unless it's an up do date one which are a bit more energy efficient.

An average hot water tank will take around 6-7kwh to heat it from stone cold but unless you are swilling away a whole tank full every time there's usually some warm water left so it should be costing you less than 70-80p to reheat it.

We can get away with heating our tank once a day for about an hour and a half and that gives us enough hot water for both of us to shower in the mornings and all our washing up and there's still enough hot water left to have another two showers if we wanted either in the evening or next day.

I'd suggest that you use the showers at the gym and get your moneys worth out of the membership fees and save energy at home.

CloughiesBrewerArmy

Weekly standing charge is £2.01 - no debt on the machine - i've checked through the screens on the meter.

Strangely, I had it on all night - 84p, had a bath and that was the lot this time - no extra for washing up this evening.

Out at work today, 14p used, so it's saved a lot. Maybe I can not have a second bath today.

I don't know if 2 or 3 baths a day is too much, but I don't use the gym showers as i'm OCD about hygiene and worry about catching something/previous person peeing in the shower - plus when I go the gym, I want to workout and get out of there ASAP.

Norman_Castle

If you have 2-3 baths per day find out the cost of installing a shower which may pay for itself very quickly.

CloughiesBrewerArmy

Norman_Castle wrote: »

If you have 2-3 baths per day find out the cost of installing a shower which may pay for itself very quickly.

Thanks for the suggestion but due to health conditions sitting down in the bath is more beneficial to me than a shower, or i'd look into one.

Saved at least £1.50 yesterday by having one bath. Today one bath again, but re-heated water for 45 minutes so I can wash up. So far i've spent about £1.60 less, with around 4-4.5 hours to go until bed.

Tomorrow I must have two baths - one before and one after gym.

I'll keep trying different combinations throughout the week and look at the results. If any do save an amount of money whilst not making things tough for myself and/or make me worry about hygiene, than i'll make a new routine.

matelodave

Not sure why you need a bath before going to the gym - afterwards seems more sensible but that's just my opinion.

However that said, at least you know how to save electricity even if you aren't happy about doing it

CloughiesBrewerArmy

Just to smell fresh at the gym - I know I will sweat anyway, but don't want to arrive smelling - maybe I won't smell, but it's just a fear of mine.

I gym early in the morning, any time from 6am -9am, so it's my usual morning bath anyway.

DELLBOY_2

turn the thermostat down on the imersion maybe ,
fit an electric shower just to heat the water going into the bath maybe .