What next? High electricity usage.

Debdon

Pond pump wattage is 40w
other one is 140w which we are now going to replace as we hadn’t realised how much wattage needed.
these pumps are normally both on all of the time. 

molerat

Debdon said:

Pond pump wattage is 40w
other one is 140w which we are now going to replace as we hadn’t realised how much wattage needed.
these pumps are normally both on all of the time. 

1577 kWh a year, over half the annual consumption of Mr & Mrs Average 

debitcardmayhem

4.3kWh / day

Debdon

Thought they were both low wattage pumps. Thanks for the suggestion. Already ordered a 40w pump to replace. And the pumps will be switched off during the night too. 

But there has to be something else?

debitcardmayhem

Do you have an electric shower? What about dishwasher, washer tumble dryer. how often do you use the cooker .

edit: saw you answered those earlier, sorry

QrizB

Debdon said:

Thought they were both low wattage pumps. Thanks for the suggestion. Already ordered a 40w pump to replace. And the pumps will be switched off during the night too. 

But there has to be something else?

The pond pumps currently make up roughly half your base load. Swapping the 140w one and switching them off at night will definitely help there.

But yes, there's got to be more going on. Your base load is only 1/3 of your total annual consumption (based on the figures you've promivided so far).

Rather than your estimated annual consumption, let's see what you've actually used in the past year. Look back to your bill from June 2024. What were the meter readings on that bill? And what are the readings on your June 2025 bill?

The difference will be your consumption for the year.

Looking at a much longer-term average, you say your smart meter was installed in 2018? It currently reads about 65000, which is an average of 9300 kWh a year. Do you still have bills from before the smart meter? How much electricity were you using in 2017, for example?

Swipe

I would definitely swap the 140W pump but wouldn't recommend switching the pond pumps off overnight as that is when water oxygen levels are at their lowest.

Debdon

@QrizB
I totalled up for the year April to April and it came to just over 10000 kwh

Found details of following
washing 42kwh
Bosch dryer 4.71kwh full load 
both used approx 2 times per week. Large drums so can fit a lot in. 

I seem to remember that a different provider , NPower? Fitted the smart meter. It must have been fitted for a few years before we switched. The earliest bill with EDF in 2018 . Here are the first 3 bills. We have always felt that it was very high and had made contact with EDF but they said the smart meter was accurate. One pond pump and bathroom underfloor heating. …no longer being used! One person working from home about twice per week using an oil filled radiator to heat a summerhouse/ office when needed. 

March 15 to Aug 30 169 days started with estimate and then their reading. 3654kwh used
aug 31 to Feb 9 163 days estimated reading taken 4077kwh used 
feb10 to May 29 109 days meter reading taken 802 kWh used

QrizB

OK so back in 2018 you were using about 8000 kWh/yr and now it's more like 10000. That's an increase but from a high starting point, and you've now got a plugin hybrid that's probably responsible for half that increase.

Washing machine is 4.2kWh, I hope, not 42? Plus dryer makes about 9kWh per washed-and-dried load, and twice a week gets you to 900kWh a year just for laundry.

debitcardmayhem

That radiator will use a fair bit , how long is it on for. Washing m/c 42kWh too high, check your figures.
Dryer is 9.4kWh / week..