What next? High electricity usage.

Debdon

@JGB1955 both pumps are new bought last year. The high usage predates the ponds but I expect they will contribute to further increase. I think one keeps blocking though. 

@Robin9 yes it is a Samsung American style bought about 3 years ago. Tested this with a plug in tester with very little being used . 

@S@Scot_39 they refused to install it to begin with. They were very keen to replace it but didn’t want that until we knew exactly what the problem was. I even said that I would pay for it…we haven’t been billed for it…yet! 

Petriix

A blocked pump becomes an electric heater. That will be part of your issue. The fridge freezer will not continuously use much power but will cycle between states including running the compressor about half the time and a series of defrost cycles which all add up. Electric cooking and regular use of the tumble dryer will add up too.

You've probably got an extra 200W of base load running constantly. If it was me I'd go around turning things off while watching the smart meter display (Octopus show this in the app). I identified an old TV and printer that used a non-negligible amount on standby so these were unplugged. I would suspect your Virgin boxes might be quite power hungry. 

WiserMiser

Buy one or more Tapo P110 plugs and check the daily energy consumption of various appliances, especially the American fridge and the pond pumps.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76497486/#Comment_76497486

Hoenir

When were you away? Has been exceptionally hot in the UK recently. Your fridge freezer would have been running more often if the air temperature in the house rose.  With no doors or windows being opened their would have been little opportunity for the air to cool. Even at night. 

Robin9

A couple of tests for you_

Read that meter then switch off those pond pumps for a few hours and read that meter again

ditto with that American Freezer

FreeBear

QrizB said:

Debdon said:

 The Efergy meter is showing between 6 and 8.2kwh daily. For example 15th July online usage recorded by EDF for that day was 13.72kwh but the Efergy meter says 8.27kwh.

That's a bigger discrepancy than I'd expect. Can you share a photo of your meter, consumer unit (fuse box, any associated electrical gubbins) and exactly where the Efergy is attached?

Efergy meters only measure current (at least the models I looked at). So at best, they can only give an estimation of power consumed.

If you have any hopes of getting semi-accurate readings, you need a device that monitors both voltage and current.

For comparison - 3 bed semi, just me and the cat. Average consumption 0.09-0.10kWh or ~1700kWh per year. Even when there was 2 of us, annual consumption was around 2000kWh.

Scot_39

Robin9 said:

A couple of tests for you_

Read that meter then switch off those pond pumps for a few hours and read that meter again

ditto with that American Freezer

Id like to see the 1/2 hourly without the pond pumps too,  but not sure how safe that wo7ld be for the fish ???

My friend has one proper pump, one waterfall feature in occassional use and two aquariums that are hotter than ambient - he spends around 4kWh a day on his pet fish.

He used to use a 300W pond heater in winter too, that was another 2kWh plus on coldest days.

Debdon

Pond pumps are switched off. I have also switched of appliances in kitchen in standby at the wall overnight. 

Efergy meter currently 0.259kwh with the tv on.

with the pond pump plugged in my Efergy meter shows 2.462kwh with a tv switched on. Update just seen that the washing machine is also on.

WiserMiser

FreeBear said:

QrizB said:

Debdon said:

 The Efergy meter is showing between 6 and 8.2kwh daily. For example 15th July online usage recorded by EDF for that day was 13.72kwh but the Efergy meter says 8.27kwh.

That's a bigger discrepancy than I'd expect. Can you share a photo of your meter, consumer unit (fuse box, any associated electrical gubbins) and exactly where the Efergy is attached?

Average consumption 0.09-0.10kWh or ~1700kWh per year.

Nope, unfortunately there seem to be two clangers.

Explanation: Background is when you're not actively using anything, i.e. stuff that runs 24/7 whether you're at home or away.  It's power, so it's measured in plain W or kW.

Annual will be much higher because it'll include the washing machine, kettle. hob, oven, tumble dryer etc.  It's energy, so it's measured in Wh or kWh.

Background consumption 90 - 100W.  Annual consumption ~1700kWh.

FTFY !

WiserMiser

Debdon said:

Pond pumps are switched off. I have also switched of appliances in kitchen in standby at the wall overnight. 

Efergy meter currently 0.259kwh with the tv on.

with the pond pump plugged in my Efergy meter shows 2.462kwh with a tv switched on. Update just seen that the washing machine is also on.

As in my previous post, you seem to be confusing energy (cf. bucketfuls) with power (cf. snapshot).