Excessive energy bill - e-on (sainbury's fixed tarrif until 2023) - please advise best steps

wakkaday

Ok I turned off my electricity for 15 minutes and the meter stopped turning 

i will check for a long period time over the next week 

also I checked my customer unit and there were some switches on at least 5 that don't seem to be connected to anything when I checked around the house .

for now I will use my gas central heating instead of oil
Heater and I won't charge my car either for a month and take readings everyday and report back 


I have also put a smart plug to turn off my games consoles / av reciever during the night so it won't be on standby 

I do have Dyson heat fans plugged in when not in use not sure if these would take considerable amount of energy when not in use 

thank you for all your help so far 

Krakkkers

is no one going to mention 6 hours usage of a 2.5 kw oil filled radiator?

Robin9

Krakkkers said:

is no one going to mention 6 hours usage of a 2.5 kw oil filled radiator?

My post on page 1 did 

Krakkkers

Your gas usage is too low at around 6500kwh a year and your electricity usage is truly incredible at around 12 times my usage.
As already mentioned, stop using the oil filled radiator, get cold water fish and get rid of a freezer.
Go around your house and un plug anything that is not needed.

Scot_39

wakkaday said:

Scot_39 said:

Your last month and last 16 months data are both high.

The press headline cap EPG £2500 TDCV for 2-3, 2-3 bed home  is 2900 kWh electric and 12000kWh cap.

Scale that to 16m - 4000+16000= 20000kWh.

Your 16m data 8144 kWh gas (ave 509 pm ) + 17049 kWh electric (ave 1065 pm )  = 25200kWh. (ave 1570pm)

So 25% higher but not unbelievably excessive.

And may be due to you running at a higher than average room temperature - or a less efficient / insulated home.

PS Are those gas numbers meter or bill kWh numbers ?(*)  or m3 but including the decimal place.


m3. Not including decimal place 



But the balance is really bad - in £ terms as even on fix your paying 26.54 vs 6.95 - that's nearly 4x as expensive per unit (3.8x price per kWh)


Gas CH is normally cheaper - if used efficiently. With radiator valves used to control heat in unused rooms etc.


Last month you still used 600kWh gas - assuming 14901 m3 again - 20kWh /day  that seems a lot if not heating with it at all (* - m3 meter  or kWh bill?).  Even if a combi or gas hot water boiler - have trouble expecting say 1/3rd of that.

That's more than I used any day last month for heating and many days used no heating at all.


You might want to invest in something like a couple of power switch monitors for the fires. Many here suggest TapoP110s.  But not sure how easy these are to use if your not techy.  Around £10.

As to electric c1050 pm is c35 kWh. 

In theory 2.5kW even if thermostat never throttles use for 6hrs + 1 for 1 hr in another room = 7x2.5 = 17.5kW is only half that.

A large but not american style FF might use 0.5-1kWh per day

My summer loading all electric excl shower - averages 5-6kWh inc say 2-3kWh for hot water immersion.



Are there any other abnormal loads - ponds, even small  fish aquariums etc are often  surprisingly high loads that people forget to mention.


(I have biorb 60lt aquarium tropical tank on 24-7, also my wife has a hybrid car she charges maybe twice a week, but that's only has a 14 mile range (I get around 9miles) , the car battery has a nominal rating of 7.7 kWh and I'm charging over 3pin , The 10.8kWh battery allows for 14-miles of EV-) 




A smart meter isn't a magical fix,but a working ihd would tell you your current kWh usage and via app your 1/2 hourly stats that might help you track the nature of ghe drain.

But nothing that couldn't be achieved with pen and paper with a bit of effort.

Ps is your hw gas or electric.  If gas tank / boiler - or combi (heat on flow demand ) ?

combi boiler and heat on demand . I don't use the electric shower anymore which I have 

Answered some of above thanks 

The 60l BiOrb - if like this (my friend has 2 large - c1500l+ cabinet stlye tanks inside and a pond with heater and air - his pool / water feature pumps - both 50W -  use 2.4kWh daily - hence the question - he couldn't tell me the acquarium's draws - or the pond heater rating in winter)

https://www.pond-planet.co.uk/aquarium-c4/fish-tanks-aquariums-c20/biorb-cube-60-aquarium-mcr-led-white-p2893/s4775

Uses a tiny amount of power - 4W - x 24 = 96Wh = c0.1 kWh - 1/10th meter unit - per day - so we can forget about that.

The Hybrid - although confused why you quote 7.7 and 10.8 kWh - one is c 2kW per day on average and the other c3kW - if only 2x per week.

So we still have to track down what is using the rest of 30kW+  - and I don't think it's the two heaters alone.

Game consoles have been known to consume 20+W - some upto 50W aparantly - on active standy -  - desktop computers similar 10-20W etc - as although not on - the motherboard and LAN card are active - for a network wake on LAN signal - normally enabled by default etc.

Older Smart TV's can be the same on standby. Wireless cards, waiting for voice command etc.  Some allow these to be disabled i standy - but as a rule - switch off at mains easiest if reachable.

In fact anything with an external AC to DC powerpack still sucks energy (some old transformer / analogue rectifiers used to run hotter unloaded than loaded) = the heat you feel when touch the power packs. Another 5-10-20W per device maybe.

But even 4 or 5 at say 25W/20W average max = only another 2.4kWh.

The freezer and fridge / freezer - my 0.5-1kWh was for a modern one.  I upgraded mine recently - the new one - same physical size - as space limited - uses half the power per day.  But even at a stretch - maybe 2-3 kWh each.  Unless something going dodgy - they can get locked into funny auto defrost cycles etc.  Any signs of large ice build ups if auto defrost ?  Or do they need a manual defrost ?

Again an ideal use of something like a Tapo110 - if find excessive standby loading (*)

 

35 kWh electric and 20 kWh gas - still leaves a lot to explain.

Don't know if I'd deprive your wife of the car for a month though - that can easily come out of the days use either side of a charge cycle.

And if using a plug in - either a Tapo - or the cars own status reporting - might give you the energy gained overnight etc.

(*) When you think nothing special is running - what is your average hourly comsumption.

For example - the next time you and your wife going out for a several hours - try to take a reading before and after - might hint at some background load your really not aware of.

Scot_39

Krakkkers said:

is no one going to mention 6 hours usage of a 2.5 kw oil filled radiator?

17.5 kWh max - including the similar 1hr in additional room.

But that assumes never thermostatically limitting - so very unlikely.

And still only covers half the OP's daily average

Krakkkers

But it all adds up and an old freezer can consume a load of power.

theoretica

wakkaday said:

Ok I turned off my electricity for 15 minutes and the meter stopped turning 

i will check for a long period time over the next week 

also I checked my customer unit and there were some switches on at least 5 that don't seem to be connected to anything when I checked around the house .

for now I will use my gas central heating instead of oil
Heater and I won't charge my car either for a month and take readings everyday and report back 


I have also put a smart plug to turn off my games consoles / av reciever during the night so it won't be on standby 

I do have Dyson heat fans plugged in when not in use not sure if these would take considerable amount of energy when not in use 

thank you for all your help so far 

They won't use much when not in use - but this is I think the first time you have mentioned them, and on heat/cool (rather than just fan) they will be using a fair bit.

So - one oil filled radiator, heat fans (plural), a car and a tropical fish tank...

Five unlabelled, unknown consumer unit switches seems excessive...

wakkaday

theoretica said:

wakkaday said:

Ok I turned off my electricity for 15 minutes and the meter stopped turning 

i will check for a long period time over the next week 

also I checked my customer unit and there were some switches on at least 5 that don't seem to be connected to anything when I checked around the house .

for now I will use my gas central heating instead of oil
Heater and I won't charge my car either for a month and take readings everyday and report back 


I have also put a smart plug to turn off my games consoles / av reciever during the night so it won't be on standby 

I do have Dyson heat fans plugged in when not in use not sure if these would take considerable amount of energy when not in use 

thank you for all your help so far 

They won't use much when not in use - but this is I think the first time you have mentioned them, and on heat/cool (rather than just fan) they will be using a fair bit.

So - one oil filled radiator, heat fans (plural), a car and a tropical fish tank...

Five unlabelled, unknown consumer unit switches seems excessive...

I've do have quite a few Kasa smart plugs but will get a few more for some other standby devices and will time a few more devices to go off during the night etc  

I will order a few energy monitoring ones and try monitor different devices too 

Ok it  4 unlabelled / unknown devices at this time. One of the switches was for my oven lol - (just found out ha) as wife said oven wasn't working ... 

coldwater fish is an option I will look into that obviously at the right time, my poor fish 

wakkaday

HOOVER HHCH 152 EL Chest Freezer - White

The additional freezer I have . Energy rated f 
https://www.currys.co.uk/products/hoover-hhch-152-el-chest-freezer-white-10228942.html