help understanding electric usage

sharronej

HI all,

My name is Sharron and I'm new to the forum. I have what is probably a stupid question - I've just had two terrifyingly huge bills (just short of £1200) and I have started to log the amount I use each day. We are being much more careful not using lights until necessary, no drier or dishwasher, ten minute showers making sure everything is unplugged. We are down to a couple of hours tv a day but I don't really understand the electric kwh - okay so here's the stupid question! This morning my meter read 55841 and now it reads 55901, does this mean I've used 70 kwh at roughly 12p each? making my bill for the DAY £7.20, I have used the washer 3 times today (on a 30 degree wash) and my daughter has had a shower but surely that's still a huge amount of electric?

Thanks for any advice
sharron

IvanOpinion

near enough, by my calculation 55901 - 55841 is 60 units which equals £7.20 plus service charge (if applicable) less any discounts plus vat (at 5%). This is high.

Anything you use with a heating element in it will be expensive. It could be your washing machine therefore you could try not using it one day and taking a few readings. Does it really have to be used 3 times a day? Wht is its energy rating? Does it have an economy program (most clothes only need freshened up these days).

There are little gadgets you can get these days that monitor your electricity usage .. you could try one of them.

Ivan

notbritishgas

sharronej wrote: »

HI all,

My name is Sharron and I'm new to the forum. I have what is probably a stupid question - I've just had two terrifyingly huge bills (just short of £1200) and I have started to log the amount I use each day. We are being much more careful not using lights until necessary, no drier or dishwasher, ten minute showers making sure everything is unplugged. We are down to a couple of hours tv a day but I don't really understand the electric kwh - okay so here's the stupid question! This morning my meter read 55841 and now it reads 55901, does this mean I've used 70 kwh at roughly 12p each? making my bill for the DAY £7.20, I have used the washer 3 times today (on a 30 degree wash) and my daughter has had a shower but surely that's still a huge amount of electric?

Thanks for any advice
sharron

Hi Sharron, That usage is very very high, about a weeks worth in just one day, and your TV and lights will not be the culprit.
Are you sure you are reading the meter correctly and the last digit is not a decimal point, making your readings 5584.1 and 5590.1, this would mean a less than average 6 Kwh in a day.
This would not account however for your huge bills, are they both electric, can youpost details of start and end readings and if they were actual or estimated.

sharronej

HI,

Thanks for replying, I've spent this week jotting down the electric meter numbers and I've come to this conclusion, the problem isn't any one thing in particular it's that we treat electric as a free commodity. My usage for the week is 116 units (including the first disasterous day! I have worked out that my top usage for the week can't exceed 75 units.

I have three teenagers so unfortunately my wash load isn't easy to control (although I am now trying). Most of the days I've got down to 10 units but we were away over the weekend and my 18 yr old knocked up 30 units even though he was at work for most of the time!

My only question is how does 10 units over a 24hr period sound? Does it still sound high considering that we don't use any of the lights, don't have the tv or the computers on and basically are trying to actively avoid using electric at all?

Thanks
Sharron

notbritishgas

sharronej wrote: »

HI,

Thanks for replying, I've spent this week jotting down the electric meter numbers and I've come to this conclusion, the problem isn't any one thing in particular it's that we treat electric as a free commodity. My usage for the week is 116 units (including the first disasterous day! I have worked out that my top usage for the week can't exceed 75 units.

I have three teenagers so unfortunately my wash load isn't easy to control (although I am now trying). Most of the days I've got down to 10 units but we were away over the weekend and my 18 yr old knocked up 30 units even though he was at work for most of the time!

My only question is how does 10 units over a 24hr period sound? Does it still sound high considering that we don't use any of the lights, don't have the tv or the computers on and basically are trying to actively avoid using electric at all?

Thanks
Sharron

10kwh per day is about the national average, so you are not too bad at that figure. I use between 60-70 kwh per week, although I do not have 3 teenagers (not now anyway:T ).
But if you say you are actively not using electricity then 10kwh per day is high ( you still have the fridge and freezer going though). You haven't got an immersion heater that has been left on have you?

AnnieLee

sharronej wrote: »

HI,

Thanks for replying, I've spent this week jotting down the electric meter numbers and I've come to this conclusion, the problem isn't any one thing in particular it's that we treat electric as a free commodity. My usage for the week is 116 units (including the first disasterous day! I have worked out that my top usage for the week can't exceed 75 units.

I have three teenagers so unfortunately my wash load isn't easy to control (although I am now trying). Most of the days I've got down to 10 units but we were away over the weekend and my 18 yr old knocked up 30 units even though he was at work for most of the time!

My only question is how does 10 units over a 24hr period sound? Does it still sound high considering that we don't use any of the lights, don't have the tv or the computers on and basically are trying to actively avoid using electric at all?

Thanks
Sharron

I would say that 10 units over 24 hours is high - considering you don`t have the tv or computers on - my consumption is 3kwh a day in summer - obviously no lights on this time of year but fridge/freezer (energy efficient), TV on most of the day as I am at home a lot, likewise the computer, don`t have a shower so bath every day, but washing machine only used once a week and my cooker is electric but have a gas combi boiler for heating/water. I have a halogen heater in the lounge for chilly summer evenings (very cheap to run..............around 3p an hour).

moonrakerz

AnnieLee wrote: »

I have a halogen heater in the lounge for chilly summer evenings (very cheap to run..............around 3p an hour).

If it's "very cheap to run" - it isn't giving out much heat !

Cardew

Sharron,
Is your shower an electric shower? You mentioned in the first post about using a shower.(if it isn't an electric shower it will have no effect on your electricity consumption)

Electric showers are the heaviest rated electrical items in a house(apart from an electric cooker with everything working)

The are normally 8.5kW to 10.5kW.

This means that the shower uses approx 1kWh every 6 minutes.

So Electric shower + 3 teenagers = high consumption

AnnieLee

moonrakerz wrote: »

If it's "very cheap to run" - it isn't giving out much heat !

More than enough for a lounge to take the chill off summer evenings !