Gas and electric help please

Bounty1

QrizB said:

Bounty1 said:

Gerry1 said:

Come on, do the sums, it's not difficult !

You need hard facts, not vague statements such as 'flash often' and 'using a lot'.

Switch off and unplug absolutely everything apart from one suspect item, count the flashes and work put its exact consumption.  The red LED is your friend, just find out how any times it flashes per minute then go on to the next suspect item.  Take daily meter readings as well for the time being.

No need to be rude! I’m only asking for a little bit of advice.

Sometimes we get a bit carried away. sorry if it seems rude.

Bounty1 said:

So I’ve actually reduced my electric usage Looking at my bill from last year, in this period aug-feb last year we used 6692kwh and aug-feb this year is 4846kwh. 

I’m taking daily readings and will try what someone else suggested by tuning fridge freezer off for 3 hours. I also plan on replacing the plasma tvs and changing the electric shower. 

That's good. If you have a mixer shower (that uses water from your hot tank or combi boiler) then use that instead. I'm still puzzled by what it was that used 9kWh during the day when the house was empty!

Bounty1 said:

Also any advice on staying on a standard tariff or what I should change to? Currently with British Gas on a standard tariff 

Right at the moment there's nothing on offer that's better than the standard variable. The April Ofgem cap will be announced next week and after that there might be more clarity on the longer term.

Today in the same time we used the 9 kWh we have used 7kwh. on both of these days we were home for lunch and used the oven buts that’s all, I have disconnected the lights on the arena but nothing else has changed that I can think of. 

I will update if my fridge freezer makes a big difference 

theoretica

Bounty1 said:

QrizB said:

Bounty1 said:

Old fuse box 

Thank you again! That confirms that your house used to have storage heaters, which explains the old dual-rate meter.

If it's old, and definitely does nothing, could you turn the switch OFF and leave it there?

Could you take the cover off the good fuse box and take a photo of the fuse labels, just like you did with the old one?

One socket is used from this fuse box

Cooker, shower and stables/menage/LH fireplace all have 30A fuses, as do kitchen sockets.  Large fuses indicate potential large draw and to be investigated.  What - other than lights - is fed by the stables etc circuit?  Any potential for things built in you never knew about?

Bounty1

theoretica said:

Bounty1 said:

QrizB said:

Bounty1 said:

Old fuse box 

Thank you again! That confirms that your house used to have storage heaters, which explains the old dual-rate meter.

If it's old, and definitely does nothing, could you turn the switch OFF and leave it there?

Could you take the cover off the good fuse box and take a photo of the fuse labels, just like you did with the old one?

One socket is used from this fuse box

Cooker, shower and stables/menage/LH fireplace all have 30A fuses, as do kitchen sockets.  Large fuses indicate potential large draw and to be investigated.  What - other than lights - is fed by the stables etc circuit?  Any potential for things built in you never knew about?

These have been like this since we moved here, the stables just have lights and the arena has lights but we never use them. Had been talking of getting this fuse box replaced 

Gerry1

Bounty1 said:

Also any advice on staying on a standard tariff or what I should change to? Currently with British Gas on a standard tariff 

You could consider switching this week to the best fixed tariff you can find.  The new cap will be announced next Monday so you'd be within the 14-day cooling off period if a better tariff then appears.  But bear in mind that whatever you do (or don't do) is a bit of a gamble, there are no right or wrong answers at this stage because there are so many variables.

Also watch out for high exit fees.

northernsoul

Just a bit of encouragement on what you can do.
I have briefly looked through the pages but not seen anyone recommend the following, only counting the flashes.
I have turned everything off at the fuse box apart from the circuit the appliance is on i want to test. (in your case pull out the fuses).
I appreciate that you might not be able to turn everything off but most households i think can .
I have taken readings before and after and extrapolated them to a days use and to a years use.
For example, I have only left the kitchen socket circuit on, and i have unplugged everything (or off at socket switch) apart from the 1 appliance i want to test.
Edit - I also turn off the appliance on test to make sure nothing in on and using electricity.
I do this overnight from midnight to 8am for items that are usually on all the time. Does not have to be 8 hours but i would suggest at least 4 hours to get a reliable reading (you can set your phone alarm for 4am   ) .
From doing this i found the freezer used £18 a year (i appreciate it will be slightly more in practice due to opening and closing). 
Another night i just left the fridge on. i found it used £16 a year (there is no problem the freezer being off for 8 hours)
I did the same for some appliances on the lounge socket circuit. i found my router was using £28 a year.
By turning off everything else when using my washing machine (at different temperatures) , my dishwasher (at different temperatures) etc , i found how much it costs to run items.
You can do this to find out what is using electricity. It just takes effort.

Gerry1

northernsoul said:

From doing this i found the freezer used £18 a year (i appreciate it will be slightly more in practice due to opening and closing).

Unlikely to be accurate because the ambient temperature in the summer is likely to be higher than in winter, especially in the daytime, so the freezer will have to work harder to maintain the desired temperature.

northernsoul

yes, but its the best that can be reasonable done and during the winter normally the heating is on so not a vast difference in this country. (between in house temperature in winter and summer)
Everything else apart from fridge and freezer should be okay.
Nothing is perfect and you could do it in summer (or every 3 months) as well to see the difference. Its just a guide. Surely this is better than doing nothing at all
Anyway, my freezer are in the cellar and does not vary much in temperature . I realise most will have them in the kitchen or larder.
Water temperature may also make a difference in summer to the dishwasher , washer , electric shower.
Edit   for information most are an average of several readings (some readings just in winter, some in summer also). Fridge (just in the winter in kitchen) is of 3 readings £0.002170/hr , £0.001404/hr and £0.001705/hr. will do some more during the different seasons

Bounty1

Gerry1 said:

Bounty1 said:

Also any advice on staying on a standard tariff or what I should change to? Currently with British Gas on a standard tariff 

You could consider switching this week to the best fixed tariff you can find.  The new cap will be announced next Monday so you'd be within the 14-day cooling off period if a better tariff then appears.  But bear in mind that whatever you do (or don't do) is a bit of a gamble, there are no right or wrong answers at this stage because there are so many variables.

Also watch out for high exit fees.

Thank you, will have a look at fixed tariffs