Domestic Electricity Use 8000-10,000kWh pa

MoreApples

I managed to get a "kind of" before and after reading of 3kWh used with 3 showers but this time frame also included, breakfast (kettle and toaster) and the kids having the telly and PS4 on for a bit. 

I've ordered a shower timer. I think quick showers in the summer are easier. I think winter showers will cost more - the temperature dial needs to be much further round to get warm water and persuading oneself out of a cosy shower to a cold bathroom takes effort. It will be cheaper, probably, to make the bathroom warmer.

Once again, this thread has been really helpful for me to consider and act on potential cause so thank you for all the input.

QrizB

MoreApples said:

I've ordered a shower timer. I think quick showers in the summer are easier. I think winter showers will cost more - the temperature dial needs to be much further round to get warm water and persuading oneself out of a cosy shower to a cold bathroom takes effort.

With an instantaneous electric shower - which I think is what you've got - the power input is constant (although you usually get two choices, "high" or "low", plus "cold" where there's no heating at all). Turning the temperature knob just changes the water flow rate.

EssexHebridean

MoreApples said:

I'll try and get a shower measurement at a time when other things aren't running as well and we're not all in and rush to get out to school and work. At this stage I probably need to multiply it by 2 but that will change as the kids move from preferring baths to showers. The shower running from the boiler has been quite alien to me - I can't work out if that is a quirk of my life or an England/Scotland thing where fewer areas up here had mains gas as I was growing up.

I'd love to redo the bathrooms but that's not top priority for limited funds just now, unfortunately.

Overnight use the last 2 nights is 2kWh.

Fridge freezer is not excelling itself, currently averaging 1.92kWh in 24hr.

I'm guessing that is very much it. Although I've come across a tiny handful of properties in the islands with "central heating" (oil fired, across there) they've still ALL had electric showers of some sort or another - whereas in England it's far more common to find showers that are fed either via a mixer tap or via a direct feed, but still from the main boiler. 

BUFF

Once you get outside the major cities/towns here it's not uncommon for there to be no mains gas due to the economics (1/3 of the land area but 9% of the population, 70% of whom live urban). Historically "the Hydro"* was very strong from ~Perth north. 
As well as oil-fired boilers there is also a fair amount of lpg usage too.

*North of Scotland Hydro-electricity Board

[Deleted User]

Has anyone pointed you to the actual "typical values" and the guide to how they vary by region?





They're a little old (2020) but you can see how 7,100 plus the additional Northern Scotland relative weighting can get you close to the numbers you report.

I'd agree with everyone else though - knowing what's typical for an assumed user isn't actually that useful a guide.

MoreApples

Those are useful, SparkyGrad, thank you. It's the first time I've seen those. We'd be Southern Scotland I think - we're on the same latitude at Edinburgh. Do you have a link or source for these?

newbieFTB

MoreApples said:

The shower running from the boiler has been quite alien to me - I can't work out if that is a quirk of my life or an England/Scotland thing where fewer areas up here had mains gas as I was growing up.

I'd love to redo the bathrooms but that's not top priority for limited funds just now, unfortunately.

I had a new combi boiler put in and then bought a thermostatic mixer tap for £60 from Amazon, this allows you to attach a shower hose (plus you'd need the riser bar to attach to the wall to hold the shwer head) so probably £85 all in. You can also get wall mounted ones if your current bath taps are wall mounted. The mixer tap is like a hotel shower in that you set the temperature and when you turn the tap on it heats up to that exact temperature - you don't have to adjust hot/cold.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermostatic-Tap，Chrome-Valve，Hot-Constant-Temperature/dp/B07YKW45YF/ref=sr_1_10?crid=3MM6KIJIZW23W&keywords=thermostatic+mixer+tap&qid=1661031288&sprefix=thermostatic+mixer+tap,aps,92&sr=8-10&th=1

MoreApples

newbieFTB said: I had a new combi boiler put in and then bought a thermostatic mixer tap for £60 from Amazon, this allows you to attach a shower hose (plus you'd need the riser bar to attach to the wall to hold the shwer head) so probably £85 all in. You can also get wall mounted ones if your current bath taps are wall mounted. The mixer tap is like a hotel shower in that you set the temperature and when you turn the tap on it heats up to that exact temperature - you don't have to adjust hot/cold.

Frustratingly, it's not that simple (it's in a post further back). One bath is free-standing so no wall for attachment and in a low-ceiling room so an adult could not stand up in it. The other bath leaks. It was a spa bath and the holes for the jet nozzles leak and are not easily plugged, with replacement nozzles no longer on the market. 

MoreApples

In other news, the fridge freezer has completed its week's assessment and used 12.6kWh so 1.8kWh/day or 657 a year. Newer models use ~350kWh year. that's a difference of >300kWh, so almost a summer month's use of electricity. 

I reviewed meter readings from last year looking at 31 May- 31 July. At that point we used an average of 15kWh/day so we have cut down. My guess is the insulation has reduced the use of supplementary heaters.

The shower timer has arrived to keep tabs on shower use. 

I'm eagerly waiting to hear back from solar companies with quotes.

MariaH's thread has also been helpful.

k_man

MoreApples said:

In other news, the fridge freezer has completed its week's assessment and used 12.6kWh so 1.8kWh/day or 657 a year. Newer models use ~350kWh year. that's a difference of >300kWh, so almost a summer month's use of electricity. 

I reviewed meter readings from last year looking at 31 May- 31 July. At that point we used an average of 15kWh/day so we have cut down. My guess is the insulation has reduced the use of supplementary heaters.

The shower timer has arrived to keep tabs on shower use. 

I'm eagerly waiting to hear back from solar companies with quotes.

MariaH's thread has also been helpful.

Be careful comparing measured usage over a short period, with manufacturers rated usage.

The last week has been warm, so FF will have been working harder than normal (so not necessarily a typical week).

Manufacturers don't know how you use your FF (how full it is, how often you open the door, how often you put new things in it, how warm the room is etc), so are typical ratings.
And we know how typical/average figures are not always representative.

Not that there won't be savings with a new one, just they may not be as high as predicted.