Check For Hidden Electricity Guzzlers By Switching Everything Off...

BredonHill

For example, hot water tanks heated by regular gas boilers may have an electric immersion heater as well.  The on/off switch may be hidden in a cupboard and may not be labelled.  Easy to accidentally leave permanently on.  Sounds obvious.  A neighbour and my daughter were caught out by this, the latest just this month.  Old analogue TV equipment in the attic is another potential culprit.

Don’t need a smart meter to do this.   A traditional electromechanical energy meter has a metal disk that rotates at a speed proportional to the power consumed.  Switch off or unplug everything until the disk stops rotating.  Get as close as you can.  Do this in daylight and don’t switch off a fridge/freezer for long.  Useful to get a ‘feel’ for what has most impact on disk speed; switch things off individually.  Switch off the gas boiler and run some hot water.  If immersion heater’s thermostat is working, it should switch on. 

[Deleted User]

A smart meter set up for 30 minute usage makes monitoring rogue appliances lot easier! 

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

However, your advice needs some clarifications in order to be useful.

Most meters are no longer electro-mechnical, so you need to look at the red LED marked 1000 Imp/kWh or similar.  Looking at a disk meter in daylight is often not much use, e.g. if it's hidden away under stairs or in a cellar, but the torch in a mobile phone is the answer.  A simple Meter Sanity Test is always a good idea, especially if your meter is external to the property, e.g. in a shared cupboard or meter room.

It's a good idea to switch off the boiler to check for unintended immersion heater usage, but it might be on an E7 circuit or a local timer so it's only valid if you switch off the boiler for 24 hours and check that the water runs cool or cold.  (Otherwise, how would you know the immersion heater had switched on?)  Best left until summer.

Unless you have an old TV switched on in the attic (!) there's unlikely to be a problem with 'old analogue TV equipment'.  If you are referring to an aerial amplifier, if one was necessary for analogue TV it's likely that it's still working unless the aerial system was replaced, e.g. if some of the digital channels are outside the original aerial's channel group.

FreeBear

Dolor said: A smart meter set up for 30 minute usage makes monitoring rogue appliances lot easier! 

With the IHD, changes in electricity consumption is displayed pretty much instantly.

BredonHill

Always wondered how to do check for usage with modern meters...  And a helpful label for the underlying method - a Meter Sanity Test.  Had never heard it called that.  Labels can be useful, adding clarity.

Yes, it was the old aerial amplifier hidden in the attic that was the problem.  Somehow, it had been overlooked. 

My rogue immersion heater encounters have not involved Economy 7 or local timers.  Just simple on/off switches that seemingly did nothing.  A timer might have indicated the immersion heater's presence.

1. My daughter learnt of her switched on immersion heater from a helpful engineer who was fixing the central heating.
2. My elderly neighbour, on a short-term rental, was worried her hot water had suddenly become blisteringly hot all the time despite her switching off the gas boiler.  Her 'fuse' box had a circuit breaker helpfully labelled 'Immersion Heater'.  We suspect the thermostat failed.  (The letting agent had been totally dismissive of her concerns.)

Twenty years ago, I became responsible for bills in a large, rambling property.  The electricity bill seemed extraordinarily high.  Identified the immersion heater using a Meter Sanity Test.  Have used technique occasionally over the years.  Suggest doing so in daylight simply as it is easier/safer to move round house, finding things to switch off, during the day.

Have no smart meter but I do have a smart plug/power meter.  This measures consumption of individual plug-in appliances.  Have gained energy saving insights that might not have been obvious from the consolidated consumption view of a smart meter.

Ultrasonic

FreeBear said:

Dolor said: A smart meter set up for 30 minute usage makes monitoring rogue appliances lot easier! 

With the IHD, changes in electricity consumption is displayed pretty much instantly.

^This. A quick glance at the instantaneous electricity power usage when nothing is obviously 'on' tells me there are no missed high energy use items in my house. It sits at about 29 W in this state.

Gerry1

BredonHill said:

Suggest doing so in daylight simply as it is easier/safer to move round house, finding things to switch off, during the day.

I suggested late at night so that it's easier to identify your meter flashing merrily away if it's in a shared cupboard or meter room.  If you do this in the day or at a peak time it may not be so easy if you don't have many high power items you can switch on when other flats have people working from home and using panel heaters etc.

Of course, if you have to get the janitor to unlock the cupboard or room then you may not have much choice.

MattMattMattUK

Gerry1 said:

BredonHill said:

Suggest doing so in daylight simply as it is easier/safer to move round house, finding things to switch off, during the day.

I suggested late at night so that it's easier to identify your meter flashing merrily away if it's in a shared cupboard or meter room.  If you do this in the day or at a peak time it may not be so easy if you don't have many high power items you can switch on when other flats have people working from home and using panel heaters etc.

Of course, if you have to get the janitor to unlock the cupboard or room then you may not have much choice.

Pick the lock?

BredonHill

Reckon a steady consumption of 29 W now works out at £70.79 per annum?  Calculation follows. 

• Constant 29 W consumption is equivalent to 29 watt hours in one hour.
• Over a year this is 29 x 24 x 365 = 254040 watt hours per year = 254.04 kWh per year
• From 1st April 2022, British Gas unit rate per kWh is 27.865p = £0.27865 per kWh
• Cost of steady 29 W background consumption  254.04 * 0.27865 = £70.79 per annum.

That said, a smart meter would likely give a better understanding of residual usage than a rotating disk...

Mstty

My wife is a hidden energy guzzler where is her off switch?