My Energy use Diary

gull5426

zygurat789 wrote: »

Isn't that rather a lot?

that is per week, not per day

Frugaldom

50kWh sounds a lot even to me, and I'll soon be hitting 30 a day because the electric storage heaters are now all on as well as the hot water for an hour in the mornings. My guess is that the OP has an immersion heater that's been left on for constant hot water. I would be willing to leave mine on for 24 hours just to find out how much it costs, as there are 3 of us in this household, too. But it would mean a massive jump in useage and would really bump up the averages on imeasure, I suspect, and leave me with the worst possible readings on the badges. Would still be interesting though, so please let us know how your house and hot water are heated DanJackson999, thank you

danjackson999

ktpie wrote: »

Are you sure there isn't something else in your house that is using electricity all the time that you have overlooked, an immersion heater or something like that?
Testing your fridge/freezer, washing machine and dishwasher with an electricity monitor would help you determine that they are really using that much.
That's all I can think of, sorry not to be of more help!

What exactly is an immersion heater?
I dont think i have overlooked anything. I have been round the house countless times to make sure that nothing has been left on. I am going to get one of the testers for the fridge/freezer but i cant test the washine machine or the dishwasher because the plugs are behind the units which would mean i would have everything in randon places in the kitchen while i conduct the tests.

danjackson999

cw18 wrote: »

How old is your appliance? And are you sure the seals are sealing properly when you close it? If not, this would also cause a much higher energy consumption (and more of a risk of food spoilage)

The fridge/freezer will be no older than 4 years so i would class that as pretty new.All the seals are fine too.

danjackson999

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

What temperature are you washing at? Most powders will wash adequately at 30C or less. It might be reasonable to expect such usage from a 60C or 90C wash. Does it have a built in dryer?

Same for the dishwasher are you using a low temperature setting for this? (I have never used a dishwasher so 3 units might be reasonable for a high setting.)




If you have tested for 4 to 8 hours with everything switched off including the fridge and still getting the same reading I'd expect:

a) a hidden load(s) or faulty device eg immersion / heated or pump assisted garden pond (?) / instant water heater(?) / fire or security alarm or outdoor security light especiallly a 500 watt tungsten halogen lamp set off by passing cars.

or

b) a fault on the kitchen circuit (or another circuit)

or

c) both meters are consistently over reading or draining (unlikely)


If you're not happy doing this I'd suggest an electrician.


Switching off at the main switch should test the meter is not using energy without a load. (0.5 kWh sounds a lot for a meter imho but might be reasonable - it would be quite warm). It would also make sure no one is tapped into your supply at the time of testing.

Switching off all circuits bar the kitchen / fridge circuit should tell you if the fault is on the fridge circuit / fridge or on another circuit all together. Or possibly the meter if the above test hasn't been performed.

If the meter was giving a consistent over reading dependent on the load you would need to test with a known load. eg a 1 kWh heater on full setting for 1 hour (without a thermostat). I'm not sure what margin of error to expect.


I'm not sure what modern consumer boards look like but I suspect any with flashing LEDs on individual circuits would be very useful and quicker to identify hidden loads / faults on individual circuits.

As CW mentions what kind of heating system do you have?

I do my washes at 40C and i have never done a wash on 60C or 90C. The machine does not have a built in dyer and i hang dry all of my clothes.
I also have the dishwasher set on economy setting which is why it confuses me that its using 3 units.

I am going to do a test tomorrow by turning everything off at the main board and see if anything still registers. I think in general it seems the whole house is using alot of electricity because in my last house we had the exact same equipment and was using half the electric.

Last week i also tested everything off in the house and then pressed boost of my heating controls and had the heating on for one hour and it used 1 unit which also seems rather excessive.

I dont own my home and it is rented so if i can show them the house exceeds what it should be doing then maybe they will send an electrician to come and do some tests.

Thnakyou everyone so much for your help.It is really appreciated.

danjackson999

zygurat789 wrote: »

We use 8.5 - 9 units per 24 hours
For Fridge
Freezer
Washer/Dryer
Dish washer
Microwave
Cooker
Hob
TV
Central heating pump
+ odds & sods

I wish!!!!!!!!!! My tv probably uses that alone.

danjackson999

nykmedia wrote: »

50kWh sounds a lot even to me, and I'll soon be hitting 30 a day because the electric storage heaters are now all on as well as the hot water for an hour in the mornings. My guess is that the OP has an immersion heater that's been left on for constant hot water. I would be willing to leave mine on for 24 hours just to find out how much it costs, as there are 3 of us in this household, too. But it would mean a massive jump in useage and would really bump up the averages on imeasure, I suspect, and leave me with the worst possible readings on the badges. Would still be interesting though, so please let us know how your house and hot water are heated DanJackson999, thank you

Im not exactly sure as im only 25 and not great with this type of stuff. As i said before the house is only 4 years old so it has a pretty decent combi boiler. I have the hot water come on once in the morning for 2 hours and at 5pm for 2 hours. Heating is never on and i just press boost when it gets too cold.

annie123

Dan 2 thoughts
1. have you looked in the loft?

when we moved many years ago, we were shocked to find 2 oil filled elec rads on in the loft 24/7 :eek: only found it when we put packing boxes up there and were surprised at the heat as it was march and the place had no heating except for a gas fire!!

2. My son found out the expensive way that someone else had hooked into his elec supply whilst it was empty, between the previous renters moving out and him moving in. Guess you will know if you turn the mains switch off and the meter is still running, which is what my son did.

Just to give you and idea of younger guys usage, my son pays £40 pm elec, has 5 elec guitars, amps and earphones;), 2 computers and 3 lcd screens, one is BIG!, and one computer is on 24 hours, home projector for watching films on the wall, cooks elec, heated fish tanks, games consoles, mobiles etc, but no TV, (uses the computer) and no iron:rolleyes:
His oven once shorted which ment when he put a hob on the oven would heat up too, other than being dangerous it nearly doubled his elec bill. Do you cook elec, if so check the cooker.

SuzyWuzy_2

Dan, maybe you should stop pressing this boost button! What does it do exactey anyway? Daft question maybe , but does it use more energy boosting it rather than coming on normally ?

Your tv will take alot, we have a 42 inch and when it's on the meter whirls 'round! I panick when it's left on and no one is in the room. A little nagging since recording my results on imeasure has helped people switch it off. Maybe log down on a daily basis what your using and what you do differently.

I read mine every day - obsessive I know but little changes here and there have made a difference to my usage. Like only using the dishwasher every other day rather than the usual daily or twice daily.


O.k theres 7 of us here in this house. 2 adults , 2 teens, 2 under 13's and a baby. 4 tv's , 3 game consoles, combi boiler , (this feels like the generation game listing this !) dishwasher, laptop, sky box, the usual freezer etc, No dryer (got one of those Rotaire dryline airers this year :A ) and we NOW use just under 70KWH a week if we are "good" and about 76 in school holidays etc. :eek:

The Call of Duty game coming out this week won't have helped our usage at all - tomorrow morning when I read the meter will tell all! :eek:



nykmedia - to go off topic - I love your webpage - you are an inspiration! I keep talking about you to my OH - I Want to be like you!

annie123

SuzyWuzy wrote: »

nykmedia - to go off topic - I love your webpage - you are an inspiration! I keep talking about you to my OH - I Want to be like you!

I never knew she had one. it looks fab:D

I want a garden like that, infact I want to be there too.......goes off sulking