High energy usage with very little on

Jibber123

We've got an Npower energy monitor https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.manualslib.com%2Fmanual%2F738589%2FNpower-Smartpower.html&psig=AOvVaw2Qzory3NbUx0sGYdLrICuA&ust=1637832075066000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCPD89YrWsPQCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD (not a smart meter) by the kettle and while I was waiting for the kettle to boil I noticed it didn't drop below 20p an hour after the kettle switched off. I went around  the house and made sure nothing was left on, and all I found was a night light in the kids bedroom, a 2W LED. So apart from the internet box, a radio in the kitchen and the fridge freezer in the kitchen and freezer in the garage, both of which are less that 3 years old and A+++ rated we still seem to be using over 700w an hour with almost everything turned off? I always thought our baseline energy usage with only the constant 24/7 stuff on was about 3-5p an hour. I have noticed our energy bills seem to be going up the past couple of months but I put it down to rising energy costs not our usage going up that much!
I know 20p an hour doesn't seem like much but over the course of a year thats over £1700, before we start using things like the cooker, washing machine, lights, TV etc. The ok avarage is 3500kWh a year were using 7000kWh just running a couple of appliances! Does anyone have any comparisons on this, how much they use with only the basic 24/7 stuff running?

Shedman

There are various threads on here with regard to similar issues and what steps to take to identify them.  Might be worth you having a look at some them.  Suggestions that immediately spring to mind are things like immersion heater left on, door not shut properly on fridges / freezers, faulty appliance.  If you have a modernish consumer unit with switches then you try isolating parts of the circuit in turn and seeing if the usage drops in which case you have at least narrowed it down to a particular circuit and then you can check whats in that circuit.

As a comparative baseline our 4/5 bed house is about 300-350w p/h (with multiple Alexas, wifi hub and mesh network, 2 fridges, 2 freezers, etc)

Jibber123

I've checked the immersion heater is off and it is cool to touch and  both the fridge and freezer doors are shut. We have a fairly new consumer unit only 3 years old but most of the sockets downstairs are on the same circuit so not much help. I've turned off the upstairs, outside, and both lighting circuits which made no difference so it mush be on the main sockets downstairs which is where most stuff is plugged in but is all turned off. I will go around and unplug stuff and see what difference that makes

MWT

Jibber123 said:

So apart from the internet box, a radio in the kitchen and the fridge freezer in the kitchen and freezer in the garage, both of which are less that 3 years old and A+++ rated we still seem to be using over 700w an hour with almost everything turned off?

I would start by just doing a quick switch off of everything you can, the fridge and freezer can easily be switched off for a while without problems, as can TV's and other related devices on stand-by.

Try and get everything you can switched off and where practical, unplugged, and see where that gets you down to...

If you have a gas central heating system just turn the thermostat down for now and make sure the circulation pump is not still running for hot water (assuming it isn't a combi boiler).

That should help you get a better idea of base load and when you know that you can see if there is still anything significant to chase.

Jibber123

I've found a couple of other small things plugged in, 2 cordless phones and the ipad in the hall we use to control a few bits around the house which are now all unplugged. I've turned off the circuit breaker to the garage, shed and outbuildings, where one on the freezers is. made 1p an hour difference. so it's down to 18-19p an hour.

MWT

Jibber123 said:

I've found a couple of other small things plugged in, 2 cordless phones and the ipad in the hall we use to control a few bits around the house which are now all unplugged. I've turned off the circuit breaker to the garage, shed and outbuildings, where one on the freezers is. made 1p an hour difference. so it's down to 18-19p an hour.

Please use energy values, the monetary amounts are less useful when tracking down problems, how many Watts are you seeing now?

From your manual...

Change the display to kW and see what it says...

Jibber123

Sorry I leave it on £ as its easier for my wife and kids to understand. It was reading 20p an hour which is around 860 -870w. I managed to get it down to 18p which is 780w. I realised the laptop I'm on is plugged in so I unplugged it and it dropped to 15p or 675W. Then while I was going round looking for stuff plugged in, under the worktop in the kitchen I found a 6way extension lead with USB ports on (which I hate as they are always on like the plug sockets) My wife had the fish tank pump and light (we don't use) plugged into. When I unplugged it it dropped to 8p or 375w! the transformer plug was quite warm to touch as was the extension lead. Could this little pump and USB extension lead really be using 300w or £600 a year in electric? I've unplugged the energy monitor and re-set it up in case it was out of sync or something and I've left the fish tank pump and extension lead off and unplugged for now. I'm going to google low energy fish tank pumps, or rehome the fish!

MWT

Fish tanks and garden ponds pumps are often the explanation for 'missing' consumption.

milgo

Glad you were able to track down the culprit(s)

Jibber123

It never even crossed my mind as it was plugged in to a 12v transformer I thought it would only draw a tiny amount of electricity. not 100's of watts. I think the pump might be partly blocked and need cleaning which won't be helping.

MWT

Jibber123 said:

.... I think the pump might be partly blocked and need cleaning which won't be helping.

You get to join the exclusive 'blocked pump' club

It is usually the one in the garden pond, but a blocked motor tends to draw more current to overcome the resistance and up goes your electricity bill...