What is the average electricity units per day?

GetRealBabe

Hi

I use 6.8 units a day - PC on most of the time, induction hob electric cooker, internet and digital radios on about 10 hours a day plus the usual fridge/freezer, low energy light bulbs, microwave and combi boiler.

tim9966

I use between 5 and 10 a day, but that includes using an immersion heater which uses 3 units. I turn it on to heat the water every other day in the summer, and every day in the winter.

According to my energy monitor I used 165 units in the past 30 days.

ani_26

Over an 36 hour trial period, so far, i have used a total of 4 daytime units and 4 nightime units of electricity. I have no other form of energy.

The only " item " which is continously switched on is the fridge, ( no freezer ).

Maybe my sums are incorrect, but at a cost of 14.15p per daytime unit and 4.98p per night time unit, i estimate the total spend so far to be 76.36p? Maybe i'm missing something somewhere, or maybe i'm an inept mathematician? My "alleged "daily usage is 44 daytime units and 3 night time units.

Lets assume i push the boat out and spend £1 a day on energy. Times by 365 = £365 per year. Add on the cost of a couple of months of nightime heating? This i will " test " tomorrow morning

Maybe a representative from Southern Electric could miraculously appear and give a coherent explanation as to how this comes to a cost of £2000 pa?

HOPHOP_2

We purchased a property and went with B.G for the electricity on a Standard Tariff, as the gas was with them and we thought this would be more convenient.
At the time, from April 5th right up to the end of July we were having the whole property refurbished: so there was no C.H or any other form of electrical heating.
The kitchen was stripped; so no electrical appliances etc.
The whole electrical system/circuit was for the most completely disabled as we were having it rewired.
We were not living in the property until the end of July.
The readings at the start (5th April) and up to the 25th August when the bill was produced, were given to B.G by ourselves and were correct as far as we could see.
We have recently received a bill for £944.48!!!!!!

I have worked out the kWh to be 9354kWh over a period of 143 days...with only 25 of those days with the property being occupied..(only 2 of us!)...that's 65kWh per day in and empty property!?

Surely, this can't be right?

I've phoned B.G several times and they say that if the readings were correct then we have to pay that amount.
I burst into tears yesterday in frustration and fear at having to pay this bill and I don't know which way to turn.

I have explained the full situation to them and they are trying to say that it's down to us...I don't know what to do as I'm getting different answers every time I phone them.

One girl said we would need to get our old style meter checked and B.G are the only ones that can do it and it will cost £65!!!!

Another suggested that our electricians must have used that much electricity!!!!!

Does anyone have any knowledge on how much is the norm for a property (albeit this one was empty for most of the time).
Also, any suggestions on how I can sort this out ..PLEASE

rogerblack

HOPHOP wrote: »

Also, any suggestions on how I can sort this out ..PLEASE

Quite simply.
Look at your meter. It will either have a flashing light, or a spinning disc indicating power use.
For example, on mine, the disk spins once every 1/166th of a kWh.
Or about .06 pence a spin.

Now, turn _EVERYTHING_ off and unplug it all, switch off immersion, ...
Including freezers and such.

See if the meter still spins/flashes.
If it doesn't - then great - your meter isn't reading false electricity when there is none.
Next step is to plug things in/switch things on that you think use no power.
Repeat until you find the culprit that causes the disk to start spinning.

One of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PLUG-ENERGY-MONITOR-SAVING-ELECTRICITY-USAGE-METER-/280741526666?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item415d7fbc8a and one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Owl-USB-CM160-Electricity-Energy-Monitor-meter-/120781944517?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item1c1f2a36c5 would also be a good idea.

The first lets you plug in an appliance - say the TV - and get a measurement of how much it's using active and in standby.
You go over all the electrical appliances in your home, and consider replacing them.
If an item is using 10W standby, and you replace it with one using 1W, you save around 9 quid a year.

The second measures your instantaneous power use by clipping over a wire in the meter cupboard. (quite safe and easy to do) and has a convenient readout you can look at from anywhere.

jalexa

HOPHOP wrote: »

The readings at the start (5th April) and up to the 25th August when the bill was produced, were given to B.G by ourselves and were correct as far as we could see.
We have recently received a bill for £944.48!!!!!!

Are you saying the £944 bill is for electricity only or electricity and gas (yes I know you said the house was stripped)?

Is (are) the most recent reading(s) shown on the bill close to the readings shown on the meter(s) today? Is the (5th April) reading(s) shown on the bill the reading(s) you passed to British Gas? A difficult question unless you wrote it(them) down. Why not post the readings as shown on your bill?

Forget a meter test (for the moment). Get a handle on your current consumption by taking daily readings for a week and then weekly readings for a month. Post the first readings after a few days.

Cardew

HOPHOP wrote: »

when the bill was produced, were given to B.G by ourselves and were correct as far as we could see.
We have recently received a bill for £944.48!!!!!!

As it is being rewired it is presumably an old property.

Does it have a dial meter with pointers? If so they are very easy to misread as the pointers rotate clockwise and anti-clockwise on alternate dials. If you are not aware you can give a reading that is incorrect by thousands of kWh.

Reading a dial meter
If the pointer falls between two numbers, always read the lower number – in Fig A you would write down the number 4.
If the pointer is directly over a number always record it – in Fig B you would write down the number 5.
If the pointer on a dial falls between 9 and 0, reduce the reading already taken for the dial on the left by one – for example, if your original recorded 5, reduce this to 4.
Following these instructions, the correct meter reading for the dial in the diagram will be 44928.

HOPHOP_2

Hi Jalexa....already done a 7 day period reading and it's a consumption of 100...so that's a little over 14 per day in the property NOW OCCUPIED!

Hank_Marvin

50 units electricity a month
8 units gas since last bill [june 30th]

jalexa

HOPHOP wrote: »

so that's a little over 14 per day in the property NOW OCCUPIED!

In that case *probably* the meter is not grossly inaccurate. But you still haven't said whether the billing (i.e. the £944) affected electricity, gas or both.