Trying to fathom out our electric usage - help required please

sam1974_2

Further to a previous post where I said our electric usage was 5505 kwh for the last year, for 2 people, which I’ve been told is well above average so I’ve plugged back in the monitor part of the smart meter. 

Over the last few days the day time display shows 160 ish watts - 210 ish watts - that’s just me home with essentials on like fridge freezer, fish tank, alexa’s, etc. 

In the evening it ranges from 290 watts - 310 watts with tv on, lamps, laptop charger etc. 

Obviously this increases with dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer, shower. Also every half an hour approx it increases to 650 ish watts for 2 minutes which I think is the heater in the fish tank. 

What I’m trying to figure out is would these figures be about right? 

When the display monitor increases when washing machine etc on - how do i then work out the cost per cycle? 

I’m trying to wrap my head around it all but think I’m confusing myself! 

Yesterday total = 10.53 kWh 
10/10 = 10.85 kWh 
9/10 = 14.03 kWh (more laundry!) 
8/10 = 10.26 kWh 
7/10 = 10.98 kWh 
6/10 = 12.16 kWh 
5/10 = 18.33 kWh (laundry day!) 

Electric usage does increase more in winter months as we have frost heaters in cellar and greenhouse, pls I cook more and tumble dry more. 

Any help or guidance would be appreciated 🙂

Shedman

Your 'base' load of around 300 watts looks not unreasonable (ours is between 300-350 watts in 4 bed 2 people 3 fridge & freezers, loads of Alexas and smart home stuff 😅) so if that is pretty constant throughout 24 hours that would be 7kwh per day alone.  Throw in a couple of 10 min showers using 9kw electric shower, cooking, lights in the evening, fish tank heater kicking in occasionally etc then getting to 10-11 kwh a day would seem fair.  Extra 4-6 kwh on laundry days if tumble dryer is used again seems sensible.  

Overall 5,500 kwh a year is a bit on the highish side (we're around 4,500-4,700 kwh) but then you are using a few more heavy usage electrical items (electric shower, fish tanks, greenhouse heaters,tumble dryer) so not way out of kilter in my view.   Certainly a lot better than the nearly 12,000 kwh you posted about back in 2017.

sam1974_2

Shedman said:

Your 'base' load of around 300 watts looks not unreasonable (ours is between 300-350 watts in 4 bed 2 people 3 fridge & freezers, loads of Alexas and smart home stuff 😅) so if that is pretty constant throughout 24 hours that would be 7kwh per day alone.  Throw in a couple of 10 min showers using 9kw electric shower, cooking, lights in the evening, fish tank heater kicking in occasionally etc then getting to 10-11 kwh a day would seem fair.  Extra 4-6 kwh on laundry days if tumble dryer is used again seems sensible.  

Overall 5,500 kwh a year is a bit on the highish side (we're around 4,500-4,700 kwh) but then you are using a few more heavy usage electrical items (electric shower, fish tanks, greenhouse heaters,tumble dryer) so not way out of kilter in my view.   Certainly a lot better than the nearly 12,000 kwh you posted about back in 2017.

Thanks, it’s good to hear it sounds about normal as people keep telling me it’s too high but we’ve done everything we can to lower it - led lights, replacement more economical white goods etc. 

Aware the electric shower is more costly but reluctant to give it up as we once had a broken boiler which we had to wait 6 weeks without any hot water awaiting the part from Germany so don’t want to live through that again! It’s a 10.5 kw but 5 mins each per day is usually about right and combi boiler so not wasting gas on heating water we aren’t using. 

And although I use the tumble dryer regularly, it does do a full load in 65 mins and I iron nothing! So saves on ironing time and cost 😜 

Yes 12,000 kWh when the kids were living at home - I don’t miss those days for sure 😂 ….  funny how they turn their tv’s, light etc off now in their own homes 🤔

QrizB

does the in-home display for your smart meter give you an hour-by-hour chart of your electricity use?

Something like this (my IHD is like this):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xj8ERSCdYo

[Deleted User]

5505kWhs a year is well above average for 2 people. Electric showers are very power hungry as is the tumble dryer. Just because it takes just 65 minutes to dry a full load doesn’t suggest to me that it is very efficienct. For example, some tumble dryers might use instaneous power of 2 to 3kWs whereas a heat pump dryer might be rated at 600 watts. 

For what it is worth, my wife and I are retired and at home all day and we use less than 4000kWhs/year and that includes charging an EV.

jimjames

As above looks about right, very similar to our usage.

It might be worth taking actual readings rather than just the use each day which could make it easier to get the total you're using

sam1974_2

QrizB said:

does the in-home display for your smart meter give you an hour-by-hour chart of your electricity use?

Something like this (my IHD is like this):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xj8ERSCdYo

No chart no, it’s a E.on Chameleon SMETS2 so shows these screens …. Although the prices haven’t yet been updated as came off fixed tariff 2nd October but prices on display haven’t changed yet. 

 

wittynamegoeshere

I'd bet that the greenhouse heater is responsible for a major chunk of it.  You're heating something that has approximately no insulation at all, it's almost the same as putting a heater in the garden and blowing the heat into the sky.  It would be worth checking your daily total on a frosty day when it's been on.

Would a cellar be at risk of freezing?  We had one once, I just ensured that the pipes were well lagged then didn't worry about it, certainly never heated it.  I'd assume that having living space above it should ensure it stays above freezing just from the heat leaking through from above.

sam1974_2

[Deleted User] said:

5505kWhs a year is well above average for 2 people. Electric showers are very power hungry as is the tumble dryer. Just because it takes just 65 minutes to dry a full load doesn’t suggest to me that it is very efficienct. For example, some tumble dryers might use instaneous power of 2 to 3kWs whereas a heat pump dryer might be rated at 600 watts. 

For what it is worth, my wife and I are retired and at home all day and we use less than 4000kWhs/year and that includes charging an EV.

That’s the thing I’m struggling with - I’m not sure how to work out cost per cycle 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s a zanussi condenser dryer which I think are slightly more efficient than a vented dryer, unless I’ve completely misunderstood that.

jimjames said:

As above looks about right, very similar to our usage.

It might be worth taking actual readings rather than just the use each day which could make it easier to get the total you're using

Can I ask, how many people live in your household? 

Not recently, but I did previously do a spreadsheet and the usage was 100% correct. It was when the kids lived at home and the supplier even fitted a secondary meter as they couldn’t fathom out the 12,000 usage - but then they’d never met our wasteful teenagers 🙄 as each (now adult) child moved out, the usage dropped thankfully! 

sam1974_2

wittynamegoeshere said:

I'd bet that the greenhouse heater is responsible for a major chunk of it.  You're heating something that has approximately no insulation at all, it's almost the same as putting a heater in the garden and blowing the heat into the sky.  It would be worth checking your daily total on a frosty day when it's been on.

Would a cellar be at risk of freezing?  We had one once, I just ensured that the pipes were well lagged then didn't worry about it, certainly never heated it.  I'd assume that having living space above it should ensure it stays above freezing just from the heat leaking through from above.

I agree the heaters do add up over the winter but by how much I’m not really very sure tbh. 

The greenhouse heater is set to only come on in very cold weather, i.e. minus temps.  It’s a tube heater which from memory was either 80w or 100w and clicks in and out for anything below zero - purposely set that low as plants are wrapped to cover between zero and frost. Admittedly though I’ve never worked out the costs, but then buying new plants every year is costly too and I do get lots of enjoyment out of it. 

The one in the cellar is again a tube heater, 100w which is on a few hours early morning dec, jan, feb (before the house is heated) not to keep the frost out, but to help with damp. I know when we had the dehumidifier down there, it ran all day and all night so think the heater works out cheaper and is keeping our wood/coal moisture content low which is what the issue was, as we live in a smoke free zone so have to keep an eye on moisture levels of what we are burning so damp wood is a no-no. 

Deffo not kept warm down there - I don’t like warm wine 🙂

Shedman

Condenser tumble dryers are usually more energy hungry than vented as you are converting warm air to water rather than just doing away with the warm air.  Even a newish B rated one like our Beko can use over 3kw over a cycle especially if its very damp towels (hence we always give towels a second spin which helps).  

Something I use to monitor usage, particularly of the greenhouse heater but also other appliances if I want to check their consumption, is a TP-Link Kasa HS110 smart plug as that has energy monitoring (not the HS100 by the way as that doesnt).  Can pick them up for about £20. Also useful as you can remotely switch the greenhouse heater on or off using the app (or Alexa) or set a schedule up (or even in my case using a wi-fi thermometer linked to control the smart plug so that the heater in greenhouse is switched on if temp drops below  3° and off when it gets to 5° just to keep frost off...still used £40 of electric last winter though )