Daily Electricity Usage

Claire5567

I have just checked our meter readings against the last set and we are using 36 units per day. Surely this is way too much? Is it worth me having a smart meter fitted?

PennineAcute

I take it your heating is electric.   Just having a smart meter will not reduce your usage.  The In-Home Display Unit will allow you to see how much you are using at a particular point in the day, which will allow you to approximately guage how much each appliance is costing you.

Robin9

Claire - your's is a how long is a piece of string question ?
As Pennine say's  - assume all electric.  But storage, panel heaters, how old is the house, insulation, double glazed, how many people, someone there all day , …...……..  ?
Your are comparing readings against  - last winter, last year …………… ?

Claire5567

House is 1930's semi. Solid walls,  all double glazed, loft insulation. Gas central heating!

Gerry1

Are you referring to gas or electricity usage?  Are you referring to meter readings you have taken yourself, or estimated readings that appear on the bills?  It's all so vague as to be almost meaningless.

MWT

Well, given the title of the thread I'm going to assume that is 36kWh of electricity per day, and no that wouldn't be normal with gas central heating, unless... You have an immersion heater left switched on for example, or you have an electrically heated shower for some reason, or some other form of electrical heating going on... May be time to do a few experiments and see if you can figure out what is drawing the power...

matelodave

If you have gas central heating and hot water then I'd suggest that 36kwh of leccy a day is a bit excessive.

The average leccy consumption for people with gas heating and hot water is around 10kwh a day. However, if you have an electric cooker, have an electric shower and stand under it for a prolonged period of time, use a washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher and a miriad of other electrical items then it's not impossible for some days to get this high but not all of them
You need to do some monitoring of your consumption on a day by day basis - set up a spreadsheet, do daily meter reads and list out what you (and the rest of the family) have plugged in and turned on so you can work out what is using it all.

If you dont monitor it you cant control it.

We have electric heating, hot water and electric everything else and our daily consumption can vary between 7-10kwh/day in the summer, increasing to 20+ on the days we use the washer, dryer and dishwasher and getting up to 50-60kwh/day when its cold in the winter - our annual average is around 19kwh a day

Talldave

Yes the consumption is excessive.  Suggest you get an energy monitor and then start shutting things off until you find out what the big consumer is. Any underfloor heating?

SnowTiger

Claire5567 said:

I have just checked our meter readings against the last set and we are using 36 units per day. Surely this is way too much? Is it worth me having a smart meter fitted?

36kWh a day does seem high for a household that uses gas for heating.

Do you use gas or electricity for hot water?

Switching everything off and checking meter readings as you switch them back on again would probably show where the usage is occurring, however that can be a long and slow process.

Taking regular meter readings, perhaps several times a day, might be useful because they may show during which 'window' most power is being used, then you can think back about what was happening during that time frame.

A smart meter won't directly reduce your power consumption, however the in-home display unit (and online breakdown if available) may suggest when most power is being used.

DawnCrush

Claire5567 said:

I have just checked our meter readings against the last set and we are using 36 units per day. Surely this is way too much? Is it worth me having a smart meter fitted?

If 35kWh/day is your average electricity consumption, then you are using more electricity than the average  family use in gas for heating, cooking, etc.

Surely you know what maybe contributing significantly to this level of electricity usage.
e.g. Electric car?

What tariff are you on? Unless you are on a time of use tariff that allows for low rate electricity, this level of consumption would probably be costing you in excess of £150 per month (and as you say, you have gas for central heating to pay for too).
If you are on a time of use tariff, how much of that daily consumption is at a low rate?

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