High Usage why?

Alnat1

An oven that's heated up 3 times a day for 30 minutes will use more energy than being heated up once for 90 minutes. Once the oven is up to temperature, it cycles on and off but it's the getting up to 180C that uses the most power.

The thing with fridges and freezers is they switch on and off, so checking them at one moment in time doesn't really give an accurate usage.

Maybe spend £10 or so on an energy monitor, I use a Tapo P110 which doubles up as a smart plug. You can test appliances for say 24 or 48 hours and it shows energy used over time. You can then start checking all the other appliances and work out which of your daughters is mining bitcoin

theoretica

Deeping_Dave said:

k_man said:

Do you have an electric shower(s), or are they fed from hot water?
Does anyone in the house take frequent long showers?

Also, what do you consider a lot:
as the dishwasher and washing machine plus tumble dryer are on a lot

And how often/long is the oven on for each day?
cook and do stuff at different times

And as above, seeing usage during the day can help pinpoint. Does the Octopus website show your hourly or 30min usage?

Finally, the tariff/cost showing incorrectly on the in home display is not normally related to actual billing.

No electric showers all LPG
Dishwasher twice a day I reckon
Oven/Hob used 2/3 times day probably no more than 90 minutes in total
Washing Machine probably once a day
Tumble dryer at night for an hour or so
The website only shows daily at present I'm trying to find an hourly option but no luck so far.

Apparently an app called 'Bright' may help with revealing the half hourly readings.

Deeping_Dave

frugalmacdugal said:

Deeping_Dave said:

 are they right to charge for the metre to be tested even when it's been set up wrong on the display unit for a year?

Hi,

yes if you asked for it they can charge for a meter test, though if meter found to be faulty you don't pay.

The IHD is a freebie, your bill is based on the actual meter readings, is supplier receiving smart readings?

No they lost connection back in April. They estimated my bill under what my actual metre shows in the garden. That's what brought it to my attention as I then checked the metre. I think looking into our usage more that it's probably correct as I have people cooking at all different times in our house I need to put a stop to it!

MWT

Deeping_Dave said:

...The metre goes up in 1kwh units so unless it's using more than that an hour it wouldn't show.

That doesn't sound right, can you post a photo showing your current meter reading, and tell us what you believe that reading to be?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

be best to supply monthly readings then, to avoid estimates.

EssexHebridean

On the cooking thing, have a think about whether you're thinking of "three 30 minute coking periods" without remembering the heating up time...and very possibly also the times when it's put on to heat up and then someone forgets to return to it for an hour to actually put the food in to cook... Your 90 minutes could very easily actually be well over 2 hours... 

Also do you REALLY need to run the dishwasher twice a day? Even with the number of people you have in the house that sounds excessive! 

Alnat1

Could there be tongs/straighteners left on for ages?
Computers left idling?
Skybox type appliances left on 24/7? 

There's probably a combination of things that's making you high users. Have a family chat and make it a challenge to see "how low can we go".

Give the Bright app a go, there's a good chance they might be able to show that data your energy company can't get. Nothing to lose by trying, it's free.

Mstty

Lots of good advice here and it seems that all the people in the house don't eat together which means they probably do everything else seperately like kettle boiling, desktop PC use maybe and lots of TV's and added boxes maybe gaming???

An energy monitor may well be your friend

youravinalarrrf

Your outside security lighting if you have any particularly if they have high power halogen bulbs in may also be worth checking. Out of sight out of mind.

chris_n

400/500W when nothing is going on is high, that's 10-12KWh alone! If that is your base reading with nothing in particular switched on you probably have a fridge freezer on the way out.
 It's a meter by the way, a metre is a unit of measure.