High electricity usage - could there be a mistake?

born_again

prettyandfluffy said:

No to leaving stuff on standby, turn it off at the wall.  And a big no to the tumble dryer, too - give washing an extra spin, it can still be line dried in winter as long as it isn't actually raining or snowing; even if it's still damp when you bring it in, stick it on an airer and it will be dry in the morning.  Only wash when you have a full load or use a colour catcher sheet and combine loads. I've cleared my airing cupboard of towels and bedding (now in under bed storage) and put in a small airer with 2 telescopic shower rails in the top so I can hang washing in there to dry.

M-I-L used to do this with every electric appliance. Used to go through more appliances than anyone I have ever known. Not uncommon for her to need 2 new kettles a year...

deano2099

Does the water run hot and cold on your taps or just on the shower? If the former, I'd suggest getting your boiler looked at. Remember the boiler is running the heating too so if it's running hot and cold on that it's going to be really inefficient.
If it's just the shower then you just need a new shower valve or shower. They're cheap and easy to fit.
The advice around turning stuff off at the wall and so on is good if you're trying to save every single penny, but I'm assuming from your post being "is this a bit high?" rather than "help, I can't afford this" that you're more interested in saving 1000s kWhs, not 10s. 
In addition to the above, as others have said: tumble dryer, electric shower, fridge freezers, oven are the only thing that will make a big difference (unless something is faulty). Get plugs that measure consumption for your fridge-freezers and tumble dryer. (Well one plug, you can move it around). Getting the other shower working would save money but you may not want to. 

Qyburn

prettyandfluffy said:

No to leaving stuff on standby, turn it off at the wall.  

I really wouldn't be too sweeping on that. It depends on the device, how much it draws and whether you lose any function by switching off.

For example our TV uses less than 0.5W in standby, which is around 88p for a year. Its plug is inconvenient to reach and it doesn't have a hard off switch on the set. So we live with that 88p per year even though it serves no purpose being standby.

Our PVR takes 4W on standby, but if it's off it doesnt record, so again we live with that.

Some posters report their TVs use 30W or more on standby, but that's because they've enabled a bunch of functions that run all the time. So their sets aren't really in standby anyway, they're doing something.

On the other hand I set my desktop PC to hibernate, and once hibernate it gets switched off at the wall even though it would only be drawing 5W.

markin

If the boiler has a pre heated tank, the shower could go from hot to cold as the water from the tank runs out.

EssexHebridean

Our shower runs to cold after a period of time if we use the overhead rainfall style head, but not on the handheld attachment - I'd assumed it was water pressure related as the trick to get the water running hot again is to reach out and flip the tap on the sink to run hot! 

QrizB

All this talk about "switching things off from standby" isn't really going to make a dent in the OP's problem.

They're using 10,000 kWh/yr when the average household uses less than 3,000. That's 27kWh/day, roughly 20kWh/day more than the average.

Unless the "thing left on" is a 1kW electric heater ...

I'd start by switching everything off at the consumer unit for an hour, and seeing if the meter moves. Then switch circuits back on, one by one, starting with the kitchen (so you get the fridge/freezer back) and time the spinning disc.

From the OP:

Enigma80 said:

With no nothing major running like the dryer, dishwasher, shower or oven etc, just the work laptops and TV stuff it takes around 40seconds for the metre disc to make a single revolution

The photo says it's a 200 revs per kWh meter, so one rev every 40 secs is 90 revs/hr, 450 watts. That's 3-4x what I'd expect for a typical house, but even bringing it down to one rev every 2 minutes, 150 watts, will only save 5kWh/day.

Where are the other 15kWh/day going? Is it all down the drain with the shower (which would be 2 hrs of a 7.2kW shower a day)?

ArbitraryRandom

QrizB said:

All this talk about "switching things off from standby" isn't really going to make a dent in the OP's problem.

Cryptomining

I agree, but the OP seems remarkably reluctant to actually turn anything off to test... or at least to confirm to us that they have done so and tell us the results. 

akwexavante

What the family think is normal to them may not be to others. Two adults working from home...... They could be snacking more than they would do if they went out to work maybe, reaching for the toaster and kettle frequently maybe. Opening the fridge far more than normal. With breathing issues are they using air-conditioning, humidifiers or dehumidifiers.

A smart meter ASAP to get started would rule out a failing, faulty meter. 

Spoonie_Turtle

QrizB said:

Enigma80 said:

With no nothing major running like the dryer, dishwasher, shower or oven etc, just the work laptops and TV stuff it takes around 40seconds for the metre disc to make a single revolution

The photo says it's a 200 revs per kWh meter, so one rev every 40 secs is 90 revs/hr, 450 watts. That's 3-4x what I'd expect for a typical house …

That's about our baseload in summer (yes, I know it's horrendously high) and tallies with the overall usage.
For us the main culprit for that is multiple old freezers.  Since it's been colder the baseload is c.350W.  So even if OP's baseload is in, say, the 300s, with laptops plugged and TV etc. that could easily account for the extra 100W.


Honestly an audit room by room (and outside, garage, garden features, whatever) identifying every single electrical item is the only way to find out what to cut down.  I think the meter being faulty is unlikely, and if so then getting a smart meter would only help identify the high usage things - like the tumble dryer, shower, oven, which have all already been said - and to get the baseload down still requires a full audit and turning stuff off/unplugging it.  Which you can do without needing to wait for a smart meter.

akwexavante

When you have a smart meter and you start going around the house switching things off you can visually see a benefit on the meter as you go. This is encouraging. With the existing meter how can you instantly gain encouragement and the satisfaction that your making a difference. 

I honestly believe that when they have smart meter they'll be horrified with just how much background energy they're consuming.

It'll make them think about just how often they boil the kettle, use the toaster, have a shower etc.