My Energy use Diary

THRIFTY_GIRL

setmefree2 wrote: »

My gas and electricity accounts were updated at end of December and have only just looked at them. Good news mostly :T

GAS
Down on all previous December Quarters - 2006, 2007 & 2008 by between 22% and 26%. :T

ELECTRICITY
Down on 2006 & 2007 by just 1%:T but up on 2008 by 18%:o

Well done on the improvements SMF:j

THRIFTY_GIRL

Happy New year to all fellow energy savers.

We have been on I-measure for a month now. I am pleasantly surprised at how well we are doing on the electricity usage front at the moment. We have budgeted £40 per month but with our new tariff soon we should be paying less than £25:j

Hopefully we will have similar results with the gas meter...this will surely relegate me to mid-table but at ;east the family is now electricity saving!!

Thrifty

A_fiend_for_life

Last weeks readings were unusual as I'd been away for two weeks with the heating on low so badges are 2 B's.

This week: Gas 330 kWh elec 20 kWh carbon 79 kg. Total cost £14.90.

I'm 9th on the list week I suspect I'll be 9th from the bottom next week.

Hopefully we're through the worst of it. It's certainly getting dark later anyway.

cw18

Last weeks readings (just realised hadn't yet reported them) showed electricity exactly the same for the 3rd week in a row, but gas soared again - up to a staggering 456kWh :eek:

Checking back through my spreadsheet, it hasn't been that high since the same week of last year (readings taken on 6th Jan 2009), when it was 497kWh.


With elder DS still being home on leave (so headcount of 3 instead of 2) I've slipped from a 'B' to a (still acceptable, and 'B' side of) 'C' against all houses - but have amazingly (by the skin of my teeth) retained my 'B' against similar properties

Tomorrows readings (which will be last until Easter with the higher headcount) will be used to generate a new bill from my supplier, so looks like a heap of my credit balance is going to be swallowed up

cw18

Meter readings from yesterday in the process of being entered to i-measure and my provider ATM.

Not happy with elder son -- he messed up his travel arrangements, so I'm stuck with for another week! -- as I came home in my lunch break yesterday to find the house like a sauna. I'd been out for 6 hours by then, and at some point in that time he'd turned the thermostat on the heating up from 17 degrees to 22 degrees :mad:

Gas is showing an increase on last week of 45kWh - and his doing this is the only thing I can think of to have caused an increase...... so he's cost me over £2 in fuel :eek: (He's also had a stern lecture about having done this)

Electricity is also showing an increase (6kWh) which is (at least in part) due to him being around my house instead of off out with mates -- he's always falling asleep with his light on, and laptop plugged in, top open, and running !!!!

oldMcDonald

For week ending 10th January, 2010 your household spent £24.09 in total.
Gas meter (cubic metres): £10.72 - Main electricity meter: £13.37


Gas - 238 kWh (up 54 kWh compared to last week)

Electricity - 81 kwh (up 7 kWh compared to last week)

Total carbon - 91 kg (up 14 kg on last week)

Badges - A+ / A+ (A / A+ last week)

3/ 50 on the MSE list.

I can't work out what is going on with our electricity usage. The gas has gone up due to the CH being on quite as its been so very cold but - on the face of it - there is nothing being used more than usual that should make the electricity go up.

mr_mitch

Hi

I've had a quick flick through your thread, (I haven't had time to read all 93 pages ) but I'd just like to tell you all I've started to try and get our electricity usage down.

I bought an electricity monitor on monday... and it seems that we're using almost 20 kwh hours per day! (and thats on a weekday)

We are a family of 4 adults, in a detached house.

So far I have:
- switched everything off at the plug that we do not regularly use (some things have plugs behind cupboards, or under worktop units - not always possible)
- installed "power down" units - so when we switch our TV or PC off - most of the peripheral devices are not left on standby (I've had to leave the wifi router, and freeview plus boxes permanently plugged in)
- changed to energy saving bulbs wherever possible - (not so easy, most of our bulbs are spotlights - gu10 type. I think you can get LED ones, but they're very expensive at the moment.

The most difficult is pursuading other family members not to leave things switched on un-necessarily. my mums quite good, dad's not great - but my brother leaves all lights on - he'll switch his xbox off but just leave his TV on, which is a 28" CRT - obviously draws quite a lot of power.

I'm not sure what else I can do. heating / central heating is gas, so thats not a worry.

Even our "standing" energy consumption is about 0.300 watts. thats with no lighting, no TVs or anything on at all.

we've got 2 fridges and 3 freezers - which Im sure we don't need all switched on! 5 TV's in the house, 3 computers, 2 printers, 2 games consoles, coffee maker and microwave (both of which have inacessible plug sockets)
even the hob and oven draw power when switched off (clock, etc) so Ive started turning that off after use (you need to make sure its finnished its cooling process) but I seem to be the only one who bothers!

setmefree2

Good Luck with reducing your ebnergy use Mr Mitch.




I have not been very good lately. I am so snowed under with work that I have been using by DW way too much

Things might look bad soon, so I must try harder.:D

A_fiend_for_life

mr mitch,

you can post your weekly consumption figures on https://www.imeasure.org.uk

and join the MoneySaving Carbon Club. Hopefully the householders are happy with that.

My fridge freezer uses around 5 or 6 kWh per week in summer it is a 5 ft model. Works out around £30 a year. Do any need defrosting?

Water heating and space heating are the ones to watch first.

I only plug the printer in when I need it. I haven't used it for over two years though I'm sure if I sell it....

Do you have an economy wash at 30 C for clothes?

mr_mitch

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

mr mitch,

you can post your weekly consumption figures on

and join the MoneySaving Carbon Club. Hopefully the householders are happy with that.

My fridge freezer uses around 5 or 6 kWh per week in summer it is a 5 ft model. Works out around £30 a year. Do any need defrosting?

Water heating and space heating are the ones to watch first.

I only plug the printer in when I need it. I haven't used it for over two years though I'm sure if I sell it....

Do you have an economy wash at 30 C for clothes?

Hi - ive joined the imeasure thing... still getting to grips with the site tho.

I've had a look at the fridges and freezers. A couple of them were on MAX, so Ive turned them down abit. Thought I might be able to switch one of the freezers off... but they're actually all full of stuff!

both our printers are on power-down devices, so are only plugged in when the pc is switched on.

Not sure about economy wash... (mum does all the washing, and I have
no idea about mashing machines whatsoever)

All our heating and hot water is by gas, (Im only worrying about electricity at the moment)

Ive noticed the power hungry appliances are things like... kettle, hairdryer, microwave, oven and hob, power shower, toaster, hoover, etc.

There are 4 or us living in the house, and my brothers gf spends quite a lot of time here, so it's like 4.5. so its difficult keeping tabs on who's left whatever switched on for too long, etc.

yesterday for example, the meter reads 21.67 kwh........ and today its 18.40kwh so far.... and theres an hour and 3 quaters to go!