Running my new 1 bed flat

motinter

I've just moved into a new one bed flat.  There are two of us living together.

Here's a bit of background:

• Fully electric
• Standard tarriff (no E7)
• Electric immersion heater (top and bottom immersion, both with timers), 150 litre tank.

My main questions are:

1. What is the best way to use the immersion heater for the hot water?  How long should I use it each day?  Do I need to use both heaters (top and bottom) as I do not have E7?  
   
   
2. Yesterday the flat used 12kWh of energy, which seems high for this time of year.  We had the oven and hob on for 30 mins.  And then usual usage outside of that (TV, devices charged, fridge etc.).  Does that seem right?  If it is normal, ignore.  If it is high, all I can think of is a phantom energy draining device or the immersion was using a lot of energy (the timer was on some odd settings).  

Gerry1

You haven't mentioned the room heating.  What type is it, and is it left switched off for the summer?

motinter

Electric panel heaters.  All are off.  The flat is fully electric.

Robin9

motinter sai

1. 
   
2. Yesterday the flat used 12kWh of energy, which seems high for this time of year.  We had the oven and hob on for 30 mins.  And then usual usage outside of that (TV, devices charged, fridge etc.).  Does that seem right?  If it is normal, ignore.  If it is high, all I can think of is a phantom energy draining device or the immersion was using a lot of energy (the timer was on some odd settings).  

How many showers did you have and for how long ?

motinter

2 showers, a few minutes, tops. 

Plus some washing up in the sink.

Gerry1

Oh dear, that's bad news.

Those heaters will bankrupt you next winter.  Nothing is more expensive.

If you have a smart meter, ignore the portable IHD and read the meter on the wall.

Also do the Meter Sanity Test.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78850409/#Comment_78850409

markin

Bath or shower?

controling the top eliment for 20-30 min before use may work fine.

Is it a new build or have a good Epc rating?

Robin9

2 10kW showers 15 mins each = 5 kWh.

Immersion has 3 kW for 2 hours = 6 kWh   (as you don't have E7 switch off the bottom element)

motinter

markin said:

Bath or shower?

controling the top eliment for 20-30 min before use may work fine.

Is it a new build or have a good Epc rating?

It's a bath shower, but we only have showers.

 About 20 years old.  EPC C.

matelodave

How much hot water do you use. Does your shower come from the tank or do you have an electric shower If you both shower twice a day and spend a long time then you'll use a lot more than one quick shower every morning each. Do you fill a bath up to your neck etc.

Our shower is from the tank and we can get away with just heating our tank for an hour in the morning just before we get up. That gives us more than enough hot water for a 2-3 minute shower each and our washing up etc. right through to the next morning. (although we do have a dishwasher). In fact we can just about get away with heating the tank for just over an hour every two days, and even the second shower on the second day is acceptable

Try just using the top heater to see whether you run out of hot water and if you do then just use the bottom heater for an hour a day to see how you get on. Its a bit of trial and error to optimise the heating time to make sure that you've got enough but do you really need hot water at 2am

Another way to save hot water is to only wash up once a day, dont use hot water to rinse stuff, even your hands, as every time you turn on the tap to run the hot water you leave some sitting in the pipework to get cold.

To check your base level consumption, read the meter before you go to bed and then again in the morning before you use any energy - that will give you an idea of what is using stuff over night.

If you've got a smart meter you can get an idea of how much you are using when the oven or cooker is on and even better you can get a half hourly record of your consumption form apps like Bright (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.hildebrand.brightionic) which will help you identify what stuff uses and when.

motinter

Robin9 said:

2 10kW showers 15 mins each = 5 kWh.

Immersion has 3 kW for 2 hours = 6 kWh   (as you don't have E7 switch off the bottom element)

I think the bottom element is 2.7kW and the top is 3kW.

So only use the top one?