Our electric consumption is 3 x higher than the adver

andy_d2110

I have similar problem - electricity use is much higher than average. In conjunction with our smart meter, I have been trying to work out why. Our background energy consumption is approx 300W/hr, and I can't seem to get it below this. My understanding is that this level of baseline consumption is higher than average, what do other think?

ElephantBoy57

andy_d2110 said:

I have similar problem - electricity use is much higher than average.

The average family have 1.96 children, they live in a well-insulated semi-detached. What are your circumstances?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

it's pointless comparing against 'the average'.

Take daily meter readings and try to identify any spike in usage.

Robin9

@andy_d2110 Read your actual meter (not the IHD) every day for a week or so and give your kWh consumption. 

matelodave

Try reading your meter night and morning for a week to see when you are using electricity.and how much - hopefully it shouldn't be a great deal over night - if there its then investigate. Any big floodlights outside either left on or being triggered by animals.

Turn stuff off at the wall when it's not being used - don't leave it on standby. Check what is being left on all the time, fridge, freezer, SKY box, DVD, router, chargers, computers, printers, lights etc. Even smart speakers.  Anything with touch switches will draw power even when they are off so shut them off at the wall.
What sort of light bulbs have you got, LED's use 90% less energy than incandescent - our kitchen had 10 x 50 Halogens = 500watts, they are now 4 watt LED's = 40watts.
How do you heat your water - even with gas the boiler will use electricty to power the fan, pump and controls. Do you use an electric shower - they use lots of leccy when being used (a 10 minute shower will use 1.6kwh)

You need to check everything if you want to reduce your energy consumption, but as Robin says dont't rely on the IHD read your meter (although if your IHD is accurately displaying the actual meter readings then you can do it remotely)

Talldave

andy_d2110 said:

I have similar problem - electricity use is much higher than average. In conjunction with our smart meter, I have been trying to work out why. Our background energy consumption is approx 300W/hr, and I can't seem to get it below this. My understanding is that this level of baseline consumption is higher than average, what do other think?

That seems a bit high if nothing significant is on at the time.  If that's a live value from your IHD, you need to experiment - start shutting off circuits on the consumer unit to see which circuit seems to be contributing the most to the 300W and then go hunting on that circuit for the individual culprit.  It's often things you don't "see", like an incandescent lightbulb or two left on in the loft, or a clapped out freezer in the garage running 24/7.  Gas central heating uses a reasonable amount when it's on because of the pump; make sure that's off before you go hunting.

silverwhistle

Talldave said:

That seems a bit high if nothing significant is on at the time. 

Yes, as a comparison my baseload (router, answerphone, etc.) is 54 watts before refrigeration kicks in. I do tend to switch things off at the wall plug though.

Talldave

To put things in perspective, each 1W of the baseload costs about £1 a year to run.  So modern TVs in standby are negligible (mine's around 0.1W in standby so 10p a year), wireless routers and powerline adaptors are in the 6W/7W range.  Anything above that 24/7 is getting greedy.  I've found that older monitors and PCs aren't so efficient in standby, so I kill the power to my computer desk when nothing's in use.

I like my TP-Link Powerline adaptors as they drop to 0.5W when there's no network activity. I had to tweak a network option on the TV though to stop it pinging the network even when in standby.

andy_d2110

Thanks for all the replies folks! I hadn't considered the idea that the IHD wasn't fully accurate, so I will have a go at daily meter readings as suggested. Also, I will try and isolate the various circuits on the consumer unit and see if I can track down the culprit(s)! 

andy_d2110

ElephantBoy57 said:

andy_d2110 said:

I have similar problem - electricity use is much higher than average.

The average family have 1.96 children, they live in a well-insulated semi-detached. What are your circumstances?

Two adults, one child, well insulated 5 bedroom detached house < 20 years old, gas central heating. We cook using electric, and also have electric underfloor heating in our ensuite bathroom. I appreciate that these factors will contribute to an above average total consumption, but it is our background consumption when all of the above is switched off that is frustrating me!