Calculating Energy Usage

Gerry1

MikeJXE said:

A simple answer 

Move 

To dual fuel 

Not so simple if there's no gas in the area.  Even if it's available, the costs of getting a supply laid on plus a new CH system could be prohibitive and would be unrealistic if the property is rented.

If the OP owns the property and lives in London or the Home Counties then being fined a year's salary or more (the Mobility Tax) would massively exceed any energy cost savings. 😟

amanda1024

Gerry1 said:

If the OP owns the property and lives in London or the Home Counties then being fined a year's salary or more (the Mobility Tax) would massively exceed any energy cost savings. 😟

Not wanting to derail the thread (but would agree that majority of electric use will be from heating space, water, oven etc) - but what’s the Mobility tax? I live in London and I don’t think I’ve come across it. Is it the Greater London Authority part of council tax? That’s the only London-specific tax I’m aware of…

Gerry1

Also known as Stamp Duty Land Tax, the most evil tax apart from Inheritance Tax.

MakingLifeMine

MattMattMattUK said:

MakingLifeMine said:

Robin9 said:

How do you cook, heat the property, heat water ?

My home is all electric. I have an electric double oven. I use the oven often, and the microwave is used in the morning. I have a water heater that I turn on in the morning, off for the day, and turn back on in the evening.

I have apparently used 788 Kwh in February and 1126Kwh in January. 

There is your answer, it is not the things you listed in your first post, it is the oven, the heatijg and water heating. 
Electric oven - 2-3kWh per hour
Water heating - 2-3kWh per hour. It will only heat water if needed, but with four people, baths etc. then one would expect a reasonable amount to be needed.
Heating your home - could be anything from 2-10kWh per hour depending on what heating you have. Do you have panel heaters, storage heaters or something else? 
Laundry would be 0.5-1kWh per load depending on temp, age of machine etc at 30.
Tumble dryer could be 1-3kWh per load.
Washing machine around 0.5kWh per cycle.
As a general guide anything that generates heat uses a more power. The fridge and fridge freezer could use 1.5-3kWh between them, everything else probably 1-2kWh depending on specifics.

So I keep the water heater on for 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening for showers, cleaning, etc.

I have storage heaters, so I keep it on in the morning for 3 hours, and it usually keeps the house warm to the point I don't turn it on again.

This is why I wanted to understand what I am doing to make the bill so high vs. why it costs so much that I could see what I can change to help bring the kWh down.

It's just that everyone in my block (6 flats in the building) says their bills are around £250 a month, and 4 flats out of 6 have the same number of people at home.

MakingLifeMine

Robin9 said:

Not forgetting that Electric Shower

I don't have an electric shower :-(

MakingLifeMine

Gerry1 said:

If you use only electric heating and your average use applies to a whole year then 7,716kW is about right for your flat.

What type of electric heaters do you have (e.g. storage heaters, panel heaters, connectors, oil filled radiators) and what is your tariff (e.g. single rate, Economy 7)?

According to my past annual usage, I am using around 11,000 kW a year.

I have storage heaters.

I am currently on a standard variable price with Scottish Power, as for the past 3 months, it has been cheaper than a fixed tariff. I call each month to check.

MakingLifeMine

MikeJXE said:

A simple answer 

Move 

To dual fuel 

The building is all electric so it's not even an option for me :-(

TheElectricCow

MakingLifeMine said:

MattMattMattUK said:

MakingLifeMine said:

Robin9 said:

How do you cook, heat the property, heat water ?

My home is all electric. I have an electric double oven. I use the oven often, and the microwave is used in the morning. I have a water heater that I turn on in the morning, off for the day, and turn back on in the evening.

I have apparently used 788 Kwh in February and 1126Kwh in January. 

There is your answer, it is not the things you listed in your first post, it is the oven, the heatijg and water heating. 
Electric oven - 2-3kWh per hour
Water heating - 2-3kWh per hour. It will only heat water if needed, but with four people, baths etc. then one would expect a reasonable amount to be needed.
Heating your home - could be anything from 2-10kWh per hour depending on what heating you have. Do you have panel heaters, storage heaters or something else? 
Laundry would be 0.5-1kWh per load depending on temp, age of machine etc at 30.
Tumble dryer could be 1-3kWh per load.
Washing machine around 0.5kWh per cycle.
As a general guide anything that generates heat uses a more power. The fridge and fridge freezer could use 1.5-3kWh between them, everything else probably 1-2kWh depending on specifics.

So I keep the water heater on for 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening for showers, cleaning, etc.

I have storage heaters, so I keep it on in the morning for 3 hours, and it usually keeps the house warm to the point I don't turn it on again.

This is why I wanted to understand what I am doing to make the bill so high vs. why it costs so much that I could see what I can change to help bring the kWh down.

It's just that everyone in my block (6 flats in the building) says their bills are around £250 a month, and 4 flats out of 6 have the same number of people at home.

Just to clarify, you have storage heaters, so are on an Economy 7 tariff (or any other tariff with a peak and an off-peak rate)? If so what rates exactly are you currently paying?

If you’re on E7 and have been turning the water heater on in the day this is potentially one of the most expensive mistakes you could be making - in this case you only want your water heating up at night when the energy will be much cheaper.

If you’re not on E7, then with storage heaters and a hot water immersion tank you likely could save quite a bit by moving on to it, at least in the colder months, but you’d need to look at your peak/off-peak energy usage to work it out for sure.

FreeBear

MakingLifeMine said: So I keep the water heater on for 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening for showers, cleaning, etc.

When I had a hot water tank (heated by gas), I would only put it on for bath nights. The rest of the time, electric showers and boiled a kettle for washing up. Saved having the boiler fire up daily just to keep a tank of water hot.

MikeJXE

MakingLifeMine said:

MikeJXE said:

A simple answer 

Move 

To dual fuel 

The building is all electric so it's not even an option for me :-(

My building 4 years ago was all electric so I moved to a 2 bed duel fuel.

 I stayed there for 2 years till a 1 bed came on the market 

I have been in a 1 bed for 13 months and those 3 years my dual fuel bill never went above £1000 per year 

My current years Feb 23 - Feb 24  bill is £736 

So I still say move but to obviously as someone pointed out to where gas is available