Moved house, same appliances and electricity usage has gone way up

Talldave

DawnCrush said:

Talldave said:

LED lighting can use as little as 10-20% of the energy consumed by legacy lighting, so if you're got a few halogens knocking around they can really ramp up consumption.  As an example, in the kitchen of the place I'm currently renting, halogen lighting totalled 860W whereas with LED its now 192W and even that's not a straight comparison because I've got more lumens in total with a couple of the fittings now having brighter bulbs.

Also look for any electric underfloor heating, loft lighting left on, halogen security lights staying on all night, etc

860 watts of light just in the kitchen?
And I see elsewhere you claim to use 40,000 kWh of gas per year in this rental property? (the average is 12,000 kWh p.a.). Sounds like you are definitely renting somewhere the size of Buck House.

Indeed, 866.5 to be precise.  The kitchen's over 50m2, so the 16 AR111 fittings don't seem overly excessive and give 9600 lumens from 184W.

I'm not sure how my gas consumption is relevant to this thread? My "claim" is a projected estimate based on having used 30,00kWh in 7 months, but I hope it might be closer to 39,000kWh.  Better than the last rental place (single glazed cottage) that burnt through nearly 55,000kWh in a year.

matelodave

We have 10 downlighters in the kitchen, 5 in the bathroom and 2 in the ute = 850watts when they were equipped with halogens, now only 85watts, thats a 90% saving. Not only that they've all lasted for nearly nine years compare to the halogens which would only last a year, so there's also the saving in replacement costs.

We have 12 bulbs in the lounge/diner, all LEDs, multiple lights in the bedrooms (table lamps and overhead lights), the hall has 3 cfls (as they aren't used all that much). In total I reckon we've got around 55 individual bulbs, all but three are LEDs. Our outside floodlamps are now only20w instead of 300w) and even the shed lights are LEDs.

Obviously they aren't all on at the same time, but those in the kitchen and lounge which are usually used the most also save the most, so change the ones that will have the most impact first.

Talldave

matelodave said:

We have 10 downlighters in the kitchen, 5 in the bathroom and 2 in the ute = 850watts when they were equipped with halogens, now only 85watts, thats a 90% saving. Not only that they've all lasted for nearly nine years compare to the halogens which would only last a year, so there's also the saving in replacement costs.

We have 12 bulbs in the lounge/diner, all LEDs, multiple lights in the bedrooms (table lamps and overhead lights), the hall has 3 cfls (as they aren't used all that much). In total I reckon we've got around 55 individual bulbs, all but three are LEDs. Our outside floodlamps are now only20w instead of 300w) and even the shed lights are LEDs.

Obviously they aren't all on at the same time, but those in the kitchen and lounge which are usually used the most also save the most, so change the ones that will have the most impact first.

LED GU10s are great and give a 90% plus saving. Sadly, AR111s are not so great at under 80%, but still a worthwhile swap.  I avoid cheap bulbs and have stuck to Philips ones, aiming for a CRI of 90 where possible.

JudgeDekker

DawnCrush said:

JudgeDekker said:

Thanks for the advice. I checked the downlighters: 5w LEDs in the old house, 50w halogens in the new one. And there's dozens of those. I reckon there's a few hundred quid right there.

Dozens? Where have you bought? Buck House?

A typical 3 bedroomed house usually only has about 1 dozen lights at most.

As for the earlier user who claimed to have had 800-1000W of light in their kitchen only, I'm not sure what size kitchen they have but that would be like running this:


The heat produced alone, particularly in a kitchen, would make it uncomfortable, let alone the brightness.

Our kitchen, which admitedly is not that big, is more than adequately lit by a single 60w fluorescent tube.
I'd have thought a maximum of 2 of those (120W) would be more than adequate light for  the largest of any domestic kitchen.

That's not how it works nowadays. Many kitchens have downlights in the ceiling. They typically throw light out in a 36 degree cone, (ie not very wide), so you need a load of them to light up a room. It's a bit of a backwards step economywise.

Mister_G

You can get GU10 LEDs with beam widths up to 120 degrees.

JudgeDekker

Mister_G said:

You can get GU10 LEDs with beam widths up to 120 degrees.

Yep, just realised that, thanks. Just the thing I need, I think.

macman

Does your oil boiler also provide the DHW, or is that from another source, such as an immersion heater? If so, that'll be the largest user of power.