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Faulty appliance causing huge electric bills?
Comments
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Not sure if this is relevant, but i have noticed that very often various bulbs throughout the house just keep blowing and trip the mains. I am getting an electrician to check this..CakeCrusader wrote: »Are your lights on all the time, is your microwave plugged in all the time (they eat electricity, try unplugging it and see if that helps). Do you have storage heaters?0 -
I'm in a 2 bed terraced, and my elecy is £36 a month (that's my usage). If you keep blowing bulbs there could be a surge somewhere, so it's wise to get that checked. You can use energy saving lightbulbs (but not if you have dimmer switches). Turn lights off if you're not in the room, unplug your microwave, don't leave your TV on standby, unplug appliances if you're not using them and see what happens. If you want to test each socket/appliance/light you can do this individually (you can buy a gadget to do this but it's easy to do without, just watch the numbers on the meter change as they are left switched on, then switch the appliances/lights off one by one and look at the difference.
Storage heaters are an absolute nightmare and they drain electricity.0 -
find a torch. Switch everything off. See if the meter is still increasing its reading. Turn things on one at a time and see when the meter starts racing. That's when you find out what to use sparingly.Signature removed for peace of mind0
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i will get the wiring checked out.. Thanks so much..CakeCrusader wrote: »I'm in a 2 bed terraced, and my elecy is £36 a month (that's my usage). If you keep blowing bulbs there could be a surge somewhere, so it's wise to get that checked. You can use energy saving lightbulbs (but not if you have dimmer switches). Turn lights off if you're not in the room, unplug your microwave, don't leave your TV on standby, unplug appliances if you're not using them and see what happens. If you want to test each socket/appliance/light you can do this individually (you can buy a gadget to do this but it's easy to do without, just watch the numbers on the meter change as they are left switched on, then switch the appliances/lights off one by one and look at the difference.
Storage heaters are an absolute nightmare and they drain electricity.
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Good advice about the halogen bulbs. They use either 35 or 50 watts and seem to constantly blow. I have switched all mine now to 5 watt Led s. Available now at pretty low prices. even the pound shop ones I ve tried have nt blown yet in over a year.
Biggest wattage appliance is the electric shower at around 8000 watts an hour. My latest trick for economy is just to switch shower on for around 50 seconds for a good wetting, then switch it off at both the shower and pull plug, do the business for a relaxed 10 minute scrub/shampoo , then simply switch back on again for a final rinse. shower is on for only 1 minute 30 seconds and uses far less water too.
Dish washers use far to much electricity and for one or two people they don`t make sense both for speed and costs.
You are still using far too much electricity IMO so should be looking to minimise it and track down the high using appliances. No one should be using tumble dryers in this heat for a few minutes pegging out0 -
agreed. i need to look at my energy consumption. i definitely need to change the bulbs. i do use the dishwasher around once a day. i will start tracking all of these..Good advice about the halogen bulbs. They use either 35 or 50 watts and seem to constantly blow. I have switched all mine now to 5 watt Led s. Available now at pretty low prices. even the pound shop ones I ve tried have nt blown yet in over a year.
Biggest wattage appliance is the electric shower at around 8000 watts an hour. My latest trick for economy is just to switch shower on for around 50 seconds for a good wetting, then switch it off at both the shower and pull plug, do the business for a relaxed 10 minute scrub/shampoo , then simply switch back on again for a final rinse. shower is on for only 1 minute 30 seconds and uses far less water too.
Dish washers use far to much electricity and for one or two people they don`t make sense both for speed and costs.
You are still using far too much electricity IMO so should be looking to minimise it and track down the high using appliances. No one should be using tumble dryers in this heat for a few minutes pegging out 0 -
Dish washers use far to much electricity and for one or two people they don`t make sense both for speed and costs.
IMO that is incorrect advice.
There are plenty of articles that state a fully filled dishwasher is cheaper than washing by hand.
Indeed for one or two people it makes even more sense to use a dishwasher rather than several washing up 'sessions'.
Why is speed a factor? It might take a couple of hours for a dishwasher cycle, but you don't have to sit by the appliance;)0
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