About what should be the KwH usage for our all-electric bungalow?

Reed_Richards

k_man said:
The OP did also mention the immersion heater is on a thermostat ...

Yes but heat pumps can also have their own internal heaters, immersion or otherwise.  Indeed some models of ASHP would seem to have a frighteningly high power consumption when in "standby"; 1 kWh per day or more. 

jdal

Thanks for each and every reply, it's all been very helpful. Rather than answer each post, I'll try and put all the information in this one.

The hot water is heated by ASHP plus 1 immersion heater, where needed to bring temp up & do the weekly 60° boost. Immersion thermostat's set at about 45, but goodness knows how accurate that is. AHSP is a Grant Aerona³ - the smallest one I think (one fan). I have checked with a Grant engineer over the phone, settings look OK but didn't do anything to change the ASHP controller.

Electric consumption figures I've given are from the smart meter, so all inclusive.

We have (all quite modern): Modest telly (not plasma), washing machine, wine cooler (came with house!) fridge/freezer, ceramic hob, single fan oven, dishwasher, all LED lighting. 2 desktop computers which spend most of their lives on standby. We have a 900w fan heater which we sometimes use to boost the heat in the living room in the evening, rather than turn the heating up.

We're retired and in most of the day. May be worth noting we're in a Northumberland village, not a southern city, so I expect the average outside temp would be below the national average.

Next door, with identical house & system is using 9000-10,000 KwH pa, but he has a tumble dryer and a 24x7 dehumidifier in the garage, plus he doesn't seem very interested in his consumption. Ours is 8000 KwH pa.

Our heating is at 17°/19°. Was never off (off in summer now!)

Comparison I made with son's house 5 bed Edwardian terrace  (we were dearer): His house is gas/electric, and he hasn't estimated on predicted autumn costs. I did find that our bills when we first moved were pretty much the same as a bigger 3-story 3 bed town house with gas/electric.

That's all I can think at the moment. Looks to me like we aren't all that far off the mark, and it's just belt tightening now - a little here, a little there. 

Just one last thing, like many my age who were in good jobs in the 1980/90s we were encouraged to get a private pension, contract out etc. We then got annuities, which are fixed, not index linked. A fuel rise from the £1100ish we were paying 3 yrs ago to nearly £4000 next year is life changing and will be for hundreds of thousands of people, I wonder how many have checked?

Again, thanks everyone.

.

k_man

To identify if hot water is a significant contributor (if you wanted to), take daily meter readings, and then leave the hot water off for a full 24 hours. What's already in the tank should get you by.
You may find you don't even need to turn it on for few days (apologies to whoever gets the first cold shower).

We then should have daily usage-all, and daily usage-no water.

Out of interest, what is your hot water usage like?
Lots of baths

Long showers

Short showers

Mstty

jdal said:

Thanks for each and every reply, it's all been very helpful. Rather than answer each post, I'll try and put all the information in this one.

The hot water is heated by ASHP plus 1 immersion heater, where needed to bring temp up & do the weekly 60° boost. Immersion thermostat's set at about 45, but goodness knows how accurate that is. AHSP is a Grant Aerona³ - the smallest one I think (one fan). I have checked with a Grant engineer over the phone, settings look OK but didn't do anything to change the ASHP controller.

Electric consumption figures I've given are from the smart meter, so all inclusive.

We have (all quite modern): Modest telly (not plasma), washing machine, wine cooler (came with house!) fridge/freezer, ceramic hob, single fan oven, dishwasher, all LED lighting. 2 desktop computers which spend most of their lives on standby. We have a 900w fan heater which we sometimes use to boost the heat in the living room in the evening, rather than turn the heating up.

We're retired and in most of the day. May be worth noting we're in a Northumberland village, not a southern city, so I expect the average outside temp would be below the national average.

Next door, with identical house & system is using 9000-10,000 KwH pa, but he has a tumble dryer and a 24x7 dehumidifier in the garage, plus he doesn't seem very interested in his consumption. Ours is 8000 KwH pa.

Our heating is at 17°/19°. Was never off (off in summer now!)

Comparison I made with son's house 5 bed Edwardian terrace  (we were dearer): His house is gas/electric, and he hasn't estimated on predicted autumn costs. I did find that our bills when we first moved were pretty much the same as a bigger 3-story 3 bed town house with gas/electric.

That's all I can think at the moment. Looks to me like we aren't all that far off the mark, and it's just belt tightening now - a little here, a little there. 

Just one last thing, like many my age who were in good jobs in the 1980/90s we were encouraged to get a private pension, contract out etc. We then got annuities, which are fixed, not index linked. A fuel rise from the £1100ish we were paying 3 yrs ago to nearly £4000 next year is life changing and will be for hundreds of thousands of people, I wonder how many have checked?

Again, thanks everyone.

.

If you need any more help just shout.

I would look at weather compensation in the manual and make sure you have that setup for this winter as that could save you a lot of money.

You are right the increase in prices is life changing and on here we are seeing the cost of energy jump from 5% of income to 20% plus. That with rent and mortgages and cost of living and running cars. Phew it's tough times ahead for many with few treats.

Stay well 👍

Alnat1

Probably didn't use much electricity but my wine cooler (came with the house) is now turned off, half the shelves removed, and is now just an extra cupboard.

Guess it depends how much wine you need to chill 

jdal

k_man said:

To identify if hot water is a significant contributor (if you wanted to), take daily meter readings, and then leave the hot water off for a full 24 hours. What's already in the tank should get you by.
You may find you don't even need to turn it on for few days (apologies to whoever gets the first cold shower).

We then should have daily usage-all, and daily usage-no water.

Out of interest, what is your hot water usage like?
Lots of baths

Long showers

Short showers

about 6 short showers a week, 1 bath - but I'm giving up on that luxury. 

Reed_Richards

k_man said:

To identify if hot water is a significant contributor (if you wanted to), take daily meter readings, and then leave the hot water off for a full 24 hours. What's already in the tank should get you by.

Better still, there should be an outside switch near your heat pump which will let you turn it off completely.  If you measure the effect of turning that off for 24 hours you will find out if hot water plus any "vampire" standby load drawn by the heat pump makes a significant contribution to your overall electricity usage.    

k_man

jdal said:

k_man said:

To identify if hot water is a significant contributor (if you wanted to), take daily meter readings, and then leave the hot water off for a full 24 hours. What's already in the tank should get you by.
You may find you don't even need to turn it on for few days (apologies to whoever gets the first cold shower).

We then should have daily usage-all, and daily usage-no water.

Out of interest, what is your hot water usage like?
Lots of baths

Long showers

Short showers

about 6 short showers a week, 1 bath - but I'm giving up on that luxury. 

Thanks.
That certainly doesn't look like high water usage, unless by short showers you mean always less than 30 minutes!

markin

The back up heat element is controlled by 2 separate menu options, The legionnaires boost is just 1, The other could be called aux heat but who knows on this system.

jdal

Just an update, I've set the hot water for 1 hour a day, turned temp down by a couple of degrees and lagged all exposed fittings that come out of the  cylinder so it stays hot for longer. Result is, we still have have plenty hot water. Also, the heating is now turned off completely (will look at the climate settings for the ASHP later). Plus a couple of smaller things, eg discovered that the coffee filter machine uses .45kw to keep the jug hot, so we just stick a tea cosy over the jug and microwave if it gets too cold. We're now on an average of 7.5KwH a day from 14KwH. That's 2372.5 KwH per year. BG predicted rate for October onward is about £0.4 per KwH. That's a saving of £964. This is scary stuff. (ps - this is from a baseline of the water being on all day)