Octopus Energy Hike in bills.

skycatcher

The type of pond pumps will make a big difference! If you are using sump pumps (the type with float switches) they could easily be 500w. Using "proper" pumps by manufactureres such as OASE which are designed to do the job of pumpin pond water to filters, UVs etc wil be rated around a 100-125w! Also, what size of UV are you running cause on that size of pond it is peobably at least 110w!

MWT

Given the pond, with 3 pumps running 24/7 at the moment, 17kWh doesn't seem at all unreasonable.

Nothing appear to be wrong, just the reality of running a large Koi pond...

Just-asking_4

Sea_Shell said:

I don't understand this bit.

Why can't the pond be decommissioned?   How big is it?  What do you keep in it?   If fish, can they be re-homed?

Why can't you just pump out the pond and leave it dry, or let nature re-wild it?

If it's a "hobby pond" then you need to weigh up how much £££ your prepared to splash on your hobby.



ETA, sorry just noticed this bit...

The only out of the ordinary I have is the Pond, it is massive, I built it 10 years ago, and at this time of year it has 3 pumps running, I have to do that as I have very large koi and sturgeon, so the water has to be pristine, and very well oxygenated or they die. It is 21,000 litres and built up out of the ground so getting rid of it isn't possible as it would cost a lot to dismantle, remove, fill the area etc

Why dismantle it?  Just leave it empty.   

The pond was a huge wildlife pond for around 4 years then I changed and it's had fish for the last 10 years, that is where it started costing money. For me the cost of the pond isn't the issue, my main focus of the thread was to find out if my consumption for 2 adults in a 2 bed was normal or not that's all, I felt it wasn't based on other families I know which are a lot larger and pay a lot less. The pond takes up 1/6th of my garden which is professionally landscaped, the pond being a part of the landscaping. If emptied, it would fill with rainwater eventually and start to stink due to it being stagnant. It would be a smelly stinky eyesore.

It is a hobby pond and I wouldn't close it down and rehome my fish so I can suck up the cost of that because it brings me a lot of joy, I do understand your point though. 

Sea_Shell

Fair enough.   

Once you know what something is costing to run, then you can make informed decisions around what stays and what goes.

Just-asking_4

Thanks again everyone. I will continue to monitor my usage and try to find out if there are less energy consuming pumps, or a way of using less to keep the pond going. I will also take a look around the house and see what is and what isn't necessary. I do not really have an issue with paying my bill, I suppose I am just amazed at the costs these days, and being offered a fix term tariff of over £9000 per year with Octopus was a bit shocking. I won't be taking them up on the offer as my actual consumption, although it seems high in my mind, it is nowhere near what they are suggesting.

BooJewels

I think the single most important thing you can do to help yourself is to keep on top of it.  Keep taking - and submitting - meter readings and be aware of what you use.  Do as I suggested and learn which items use what sort of electricity, so that you're informed about how you choose to use things.

If you enjoy your pond and fish - then continue doing so - just be mindful of the cost of doing so and factor it into your deliberations and calculations.

I enjoy gardening programmes and see that they often put in solar powered water features, where there isn't an outside power supply to hand.  Is this something that's available for the kind of pond pumps/filters you need?  A quick search showed up some solar powered pumps starting from about 100 pounds - but I suspect yours might be more sophisticated than that.   But it might be worth the capital outlay for the longer term electricity saving - if it's already costing you £500 per year.

Mister_G

OP - I totally sympathise with you.  I have a large Koi pond and it does use a continous load of 125W for the pump and the UV.

I just accept that it currently costs £250 pa to run and will be costing me a lot more when my fix at 28p runs out next May.

I do have 3kWp of solar, which helps when the sun shines.

Hobbies can be expensive!