My Energy use Diary

A_fiend_for_life

danjackson999 wrote: »

Im not 100% sure whether the oven is Gas but i know the hob is.Does this usually mean the oven is aswell?

I had a gas hob and electric oven in my previous flat.

danjackson999

SuzyWuzy wrote: »

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!

Thanks for taking the time to write your replies everyone. Suzy, i dont see how pressing the boost button can use anymore energy than it coming on normally. Since all its doing is turning on in exactly the same way.

I have been logging down loads of meter readings and doing little experiments but i go through all the hassle and then my washing machine and dishwahser use 6 units just like that and it seems that no one else on this thread is having these problems.

I have just started only doing one dishwasher load every 2 days too!

I cant believe you do 70KWH a week from all of that. How many tv's do you have in the house? I dont have a tv in my room and my housemates doesnt really use his much but we do use the plasma quite alot.

Our household also got the new call of duty game and i have just taken our meter readings compared to when i last took them on friday at 13.43

Fri 13th 13.43 - 6055
Mon 16th 12.23 - 6148
This means i have used 93 units in 3 days.31 a day is just too much considering we have probably had the dishwasher on once and washing machine on once.

danjackson999

SuzyWuzy wrote: »

If you have a combi then you should have a constant supply of hot water anyway. Why would you need to put it on to come on for 2 hours in the morning etc so you have hot water? It sounds to me like your putting a immersion heater on. You asked what a immersion heater was?.. ..It'll be seperate from your combi, normally just a switch which you flick on/off and it then boils up the water in the tank which could be in the loft or a cupboard somewhere...like a big kettle!! Is that what you have ?

Dan also - (sorry to go on) you live with your brother and a friend -I take it that you've raised it with them about the high useage? Maybe they are leaving things switched on / plugged in in their rooms? You also said that your useage came down in the first 6 months of living there . why? What changed?

Sometimes the hot water does run out and i have to press boost on the hot water and wait a little bit for it to heat up.
Im going to take some photos of everything now so you professionals can try to see what sort of system i have got.
Regarding my brother and housemate, they definately are aware of it.They have nothing left on.I spent days drilling it into them and now we have had a pre paid meter put in they can see for themselves how much its costing them.

Yes the usage did go down after the first 6 months of living here but not a single thing has changed.Always been the same amount of people living here using the same equipment.

A_fiend_for_life

SuzyWuzy wrote: »

I got a A+ against all users and a D.

Please -can someone explain to me in plain english (ok im blonde so go easy on me) what these badges mean and if my result is good or not. I don't understand it when I read the explanation. The badges are last weeks results aren't they ?

They are just for last weeks results agains all users and whatever household type you chose in 'user details'.

The ratings are:

A+ = 0 to 20%
A = 20 to 40%
B = 40 to 60%
C = 60 to 80%
D = 80 to 100%
E = 100 to 200%
F = 200 to 300%
G = > 300% or :eek:

They are compared with the average, 100%, in the carbon club.

The UK household averages for 2007 - 2008 (I think the year is correct)

20,500 gas = 4264 kg carbon (20,500 * 0.208 kg CO2 per kWh)
3,300 elec = 1736 kg of carbon (3,300 * 0.526 kg CO2 per kWh)

effectively 6,000 kg of CO2 per household. You could use this against actual bill readings to compare your previous year with the national average.

danjackson999

ktpie wrote: »

Dan - If you've overlooked something it could be hardwired into the house, something that was there already, not on a plug, and would also be different to your previous house.
Do you have electric showers? They normally have a seperate electric cut off switch, sometimes like a light switch, showers use a lot of electricity.
Do you have an electric oven? Do you have any security lights outside the house? What sort of lighting do you have inside the house? If you have a lot of spotlights they can be using lots of electricity.

I think there is some confusion about your heating. As Suzy said if you have a combi you wouldn't need to have the water coming on on a timer. When you turn a hot tap on does it cause your boiler to fire up? That would happen with a combi. Do you have a hot water cylinder? Usually in an airing cupboard and has a lot of insulation around it, you wouldn't normally have one with a combi and that would be where the immersion was if you had one.
This may be a daft question but the heating is definitely gas is it? It's not some new fangled electric thing is it?

Im pretty sure i havent overlooked anything. We have 2 showers in the house. 1 is an electric shower in my en-suite and the other is connected to the taps in the main bathroom which my brother and friend use. I have looked for a switch in my room that may be connected to the shower but there is nothing.

We have no spotlights in the house and no security lights outside.

A_fiend_for_life

The ensuite shower would likely be on its own switch on the consumer board or next to it. I think it's unlikely to be using half the consumption but might have a small load. If it was using half the electricity when switched off it would be warm to the touch.

SuzyWuzy_2

31 a day is very excessive. We re missing something somewhere

I've never known a boost button on a combi.

We have 4 tv's. I don't have the tv on during the day, the 42 inch one, as im watching my usage. I would say that the majority of our usage is tv's and ps3's. theres 7 of us and we're using 70khw pw. The average family seems to use about 40 ish. I do control the amount of time the tv's are on though , if i didnt they would be on 24 hours a day at the weekend.

You shouldn't be running out of hot water if you have a combi.

sorry if answers are short - im feeding the baby!

A friend or life - thank you !

DAN p.s How BIG is this tv of yours? Im imagining some cinema type thing! lol

ktpie

What do the dials say on the oven? If it's gas then it will have gas marks, and if it is electric it will have temperatures. Ours is an electric oven and a gas hob, they are fairly common.
It doesn't really sound like a combi to me, but then I'm no expert! Do you have a hot water cylinder? When you have the hot water switched on without the heating does the gas meter register anything?

danjackson999

Sorry about the massive pictures. The first picture is the boiler(I think haha) which is in one of the kitchen cuboards.

Second picture is a close up of the controls on that boiler.

Third picture is the control unit that is underneath the boiler. This is where i press boost and this is also where i set up the times for heating and hot water to come on.

4th picture is of a control unit in the hallway which i believe is a thermostat. Does this control what temprature the heating comes on at during its cycle?

5th picture is of the tank in the airing cuboard. Is this where the hot water is stored?

Picture 6 is some of the pipes and switches next to it which will probably mean nothing to you but thought i may aswell include the pic.

danjackson999

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

The ensuite shower would likely be on its own switch on the consumer board or next to it. I think it's unlikely to be using half the consumption but might have a small load. If it was using half the electricity when switched off it would be warm to the touch.

You lost me on the last bit :rotfl: