HELP - where am I "leaking" electricity?

merchcon55

Doing a quick google search I came across the following:

Current consumption

Panel 110 mA (normal) 190 mA (alarm)
LCD keypad 40 mA (normal) 50 mA (alarm)
On normal (standby), it all adds up to 150mA (110+40), which at 240V is 36Watts.

But when alarmed it adds up to 240mA (190+50), which at 240V is 58Watts.

So something I have never ever thought about: How much power does my alarm system use?

If we assume the above figures are correct, an ARMED alarm for 4 days:

58 watts x 24 hrs x 4 = 5.57 KWH


Given I had calculated the refrigerators were using 4.44 KWh + 5.57 KWH for the alarm = 10.01 KWH

My meter recorded I had used 9 KWH (I have no way of knowing decimal values as my meter - not smart - only shows me whole digits), it would appear that the Home Alarm is "the leak".


Interesting, even on "standby" at 36W, that's 315 KWh/year. At a projected 2023 rate of 70p, that's £220/year, just for having an alarm. Then add to that the extra power for when the alarm will be "armed", that will take the annual cost to above £300/year.

Quite "alarming" for a background item.

Coffeekup

merchcon55 said:

Doing a quick google search I came across the following:

Current consumption

Panel 110 mA (normal) 190 mA (alarm)
LCD keypad 40 mA (normal) 50 mA (alarm)
On normal (standby), it all adds up to 150mA (110+40), which at 240V is 36Watts.

But when alarmed it adds up to 240mA (190+50), which at 240V is 58Watts.

So something I have never ever thought about: How much power does my alarm system use?

If we assume the above figures are correct, an ARMED alarm for 4 days:

58 watts x 24 hrs x 4 = 5.57 KWH


Given I had calculated the refrigerators were using 4.44 KWh + 5.57 KWH for the alarm = 10.01 KWH

My meter recorded I had used 9 KWH (I have no way of knowing decimal values as my meter - not smart - only shows me whole digits), it would appear that the Home Alarm is "the leak".


Interesting, even on "standby" at 36W, that's 315 KWh/year. At a projected 2023 rate of 70p, that's £220/year, just for having an alarm. Then add to that the extra power for when the alarm will be "armed", that will take the annual cost to above £300/year.

Quite "alarming" for a background item.

Yes but £300 to have an alarm go off in the event of someone breaking in might be worth it if you have valuables in the house.
I guess you may have cheaper house insurance too, having the alarm.

merchcon55

I have totally no intent at all of giving up my alarm - it's just a new reality. An item that used to have a running cost of £50 will now cost £300 - while some may decide that is no longer an acceptable cost - I will most certainly be keeping my alarm system.

It's just I had no idea at all that an Alarm uses over 1KWH per day when armed.

Krakkkers

Solar panels are part of the answer.

pcgtron

1.8 kwh per day for 1 of my fridge freezers. We have 2 of them! Eeek

[Deleted User]

£200-£300 per year for a burglar alarm (plus initial investment) isn't worth it. A dummy box outside will provide the same effect in terms of a deterrent, after that, if burglars head inside despite an alarm box they clearly don't care about the alarm going off.

Why would they care, after all, most burglaries are completed in less than 10 mins, and police will never turn up in that time even if called, 70% of people ignore a house alarm anyway so unlikely to be reported. 

You will see alarm companies claiming that 70% of burglaries occur in houses without an alarm to sell one to you, without mentioning that less than 30% of houses have a working burglar alarm, and even fewer are switched on at the time of the break-in suggesting they actually increase the risk slightly.

Some studies show an increased risk of burglaries with alarms.

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1456429/1/cpcs201417a.pdf

Put the £200-£300 per year into upgrading door and window locks, powering indoor/outdoor lights and even CCTV which are all more effective.

maxmycardagain

Did next door plug an extension lead in and steal a few units?

lohr500

[Deleted User] said:

£200-£300 per year for a burglar alarm (plus initial investment) isn't worth it. A dummy box outside will provide the same effect in terms of a deterrent, after that, if burglars head inside despite an alarm box they clearly don't care about the alarm going off.

Why would they care, after all, most burglaries are completed in less than 10 mins, and police will never turn up in that time even if called, 70% of people ignore a house alarm anyway so unlikely to be reported. 

You will see alarm companies claiming that 70% of burglaries occur in houses without an alarm to sell one to you, without mentioning that less than 30% of houses have a working burglar alarm, and even fewer are switched on at the time of the break-in suggesting they actually increase the risk slightly.

Some studies show an increased risk of burglaries with alarms.

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1456429/1/cpcs201417a.pdf

Put the £200-£300 per year into upgrading door and window locks, powering indoor/outdoor lights and even CCTV which are all more effective.

I disagree.
In the early hours on a winter Sunday, four scrotes tried to break into our detached garage this year. (I captured the whole event on our CCTV, but despite clear images, the police weren't interested).
The external motion sensor lighting kicked in, but they weren't phased by this.
After they cut through two additional hasps/padlocks I had fitted on either side of the up and over door, they then had a go at forcing the central door handle/lock by drilling the lock. 
When that attempt failed, three of them then tried brute force to open the door. At that point the magnetic door sensor on the alarm system detected an attempted intrusion and set off the alarm.
As soon as the external alarm went off they scarpered across the fields. If we hadn't had an alarm system they would have been in the garage and stolen whatever they could carry away.
In our case a working alarm system avoided a significant insurance claim, increased renewal premiums and the hassle of having to replace stolen items. Total cost to sort out was less than £30.
Perhaps we were the exception, but I won't be switching my alarm off anytime soon either. 

TheGardener

An acquaintance of mine is a Police Officer. He said the more locks, bolts and obvious alarms there were - the more the 'scrotes' believed there was something worth nicking. The officer also had an allotment and said he never bothered to put a lock on his shed - just a brick propped against the door to keep it closed. The site was targeted by 'scrotes' several times during his time as a plot holder and his was the only shed that wasn't broken into. This meant he didn't have to keep replacing a broken door and the most valuable thing he ever lost was a jar of good coffee (but he was fairly convinced that another plot holder 'borrowed' that anyway  )
However, if you do have valuable machinery etc in your garage or shed, I'm sure an alarm system is beneficial and the costs of running it are obviously less than the cost of excess payments, replacing stuff and rises in premiums.  

Grumpy_chap

merchcon55 said:

I trust the knowledgeable members on here can help me out. My wife and I went on a 4 day holiday to North Wales last week - very lucky with the weather - an incredibly beautiful part of the UK. 

Before leaving, I disconnected many electrical items. The only appliances I left on were our Fridge/Freezer and a smaller fridge we have. I know from past monitoring, between the 2, the usage is just under 1KWH per day, but let's say 1KWH per day. So that would account for 4KWH usage.

When we got back home, the actual usage was 9KWH. So I am trying to figure out where the other 5KWH were used.

I asked a similar question in another thread only yesterday.
In summary, while away consumption was 4.75 kWh per day.
The responses were that was "typical" but could be bettered.  My consumption equivalent to 200 W and a good target would be 100 W.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79458911#Comment_79458911

You have used 9 kWh in 4 days, that equals 2.25 kWh per day and, on the metric in the comments to my query, that would be good result.