My Energy use Diary

belfastgirl23

nykmedia wrote: »

:beer: Well done, Belfastgirl.

I'm just off the phone to someone near Belfast and they were saying that the gardens in their area are flooded because of the amount of rain that's fallen recently! :eek: I'd best stop grumbling about how miserable the weather has been here as I'm really fortunate to be somewhere that isn't prone to flooding. Far better to learn to control expenditure on expensive electricity than have to worry about replacing belongings lost to flood damage, I am sure. I hope you aren't in one of the areas affected.

We're on a bit of a slope which is good so no real problems here. But there was water lying everywhere last night and all roads into belfast were impassable at a time. Even on the city roads there was a lot of surface water. Starting to feel a bit biblical at times, kept expecting noah to float past Still it did give me the boot I needed to go out and clear our drains this morning....

setmefree2

Hi :hello:

Well done everyone:T The weather seems to be trying to thwart all our efforts but we will win:rotfl:Had a good day yesterday 10 kwh even though I used my washing machine 3 times....

Good Luck

SMF2

mama67

I have just read my meter and entered in the figures, my usage for the week equals 121kwh (17.28 p/d) which is £14.52 for the week as per imeasures figures.

but £11.96 using my electricity company's figures.

Daytime units used 95 = £10.24

Nighttime units used 26 = £1.72

This has been for a week when DH has also been off work doing jobs and the PC/playstation/Wii has been on alot due to the rain and the boys playing games.

The only other thing to put into the equation is my washer has broken so I haven't used it all week, and usually do approx 10 loads per week.

Frugaldom

I'm still quite amazed at what a difference it makes when you are meter watching. I fed my readings into the i-measure site and it reckoned I had spent £6.96 on electricity last week. My actual costs tally up to £7.31 (17kwu cheap rate @ 5.226p, 41kwu daytime @ 12.107p plus 20.81p per day standing charge) less my online paper free billing & prompt payment discounts + tax, so the figure stated is probably about right. I am more than happy with that and everyone is getting used to tipping the remains of the boiled water from the kettle into the big flask that sits beside it so it's there for the dishes. My last house had no bath, only a shower, this one has both, but the bath hardly ever gets used, so I'm thinking that if I ever build my frugal house then I won't be needing to bother picing in a bath at all.

Edited in: I will do a maximum of 4 loads of washing per week - bedding, towels, whites & colours - and I've had to use the tumble drier to keep up with the drying because of the persistently wet weather.

Frugaldom

Just popping on to leave a little bit of info on case it helps:

I'm on Economy 7 with Scottish Power. Overnight, with just the fridge & freezer (separate items) I use about 0.95 of a unit, so I read it as 1kwu.

Last night, I put on a 40 degree wash (bed linen, full load) plus set the timer on the slow cooker to cook bolognese sauce for today's dinner (set on auto for 5 hours). That used just over 2 units overnight, so I'd reckon no more than 15p for all of the above on cheap rate. It's definitely the heating in winter that's the problem and that's the main difference, I would think, between living in Scotland as opposed to 'down south' and it gets worse, the further north you go.

bigpaws23

my readings have gone up a LOT in the past two weeks. I think there is something wrong with the immersion heater, although dh denys it I'm sure that water is coming out heaps hotter than it ever was before. And I'm using 20 kws a week more than I have been for months. The immersion is on for 2 hours a day; if the thermostat has gone would this account for that many extra units a week??

Frugaldom

BigPaws23 could you try dropping back to one hour per day for the hot water and see if it makes any difference? Either that or only switch it on every second day. My tank takes about 6 units to heat it from cold but it stays warm for 24 - 48 hours after that, if nobody runs it all away. (We're doing water watch as well as meter watch.)

Magentasue

bigpaws23 wrote: »

my readings have gone up a LOT in the past two weeks. I think there is something wrong with the immersion heater, although dh denys it I'm sure that water is coming out heaps hotter than it ever was before. And I'm using 20 kws a week more than I have been for months. The immersion is on for 2 hours a day; if the thermostat has gone would this account for that many extra units a week??

Yes.

Well, I don't really know but I know that heat costs. We moved in Feb and the immersion heater was faulty - not sure exactly what but I know it wasn't turning off. Horrendous bill - more than a couple of kwh a day.

greenbee

Sounds too much for it JUST to be the immersion. It's worth checking the the thermostat (unscrew the top of the immersion and there's a dial inside) and making sure it is on something sensible. I did this at my parents' last week - theirs was on 85 degrees and is now on 55, which has made the water a much more comfortable temperature.

Also check whether the timer has been changed...

My usage has gone up in the past fortnight as I've had no choice but to use the TD, as I've hardly managed to get anything on the line. Are you sure there is nothing else that could have increased your usage?

setmefree2

nykmedia wrote: »

It's definitely the heating in winter that's the problem and that's the main difference, I would think, between living in Scotland as opposed to 'down south' and it gets worse, the further north you go.

Hi all:hello:,

Still having a good week to make up for the bad one last week. So I'm still down a third overall on my electricity since the the start of the challenge. Managed to line dry our washing on Wednesday:j.

The heating is going to be a real challenge. I haven't had to use any heating for ages. I read on another thread that other MSEers are aimimg for 1st November to turn on their heating. This seems very ambitious:o....we'll see.:D I live in London so it would appear to be easier for me...

TTFN

SMF2