MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Just checked my energy consumption history online.
I switched to Scottish Power last June on one of their discounted fixed tariff doo-dahs.
From Jun to Nov my average Electricity usage was 8 kWh per day.
Since the middle of November suddenly the usage has steadily increased from 8 to 28 kWh per day ( 😯 !!!! )
[b]Is this a normal seasonal variation?[/b]
What's changed since November in our house?:
- New Year: New Dishwasher (not had one before)
- New Year: Fishtank with small pump/filter & LED light
- End Feb: 2nd freezer (small chest)
- Been using a de-humidifier sporadically since November
..
My average gas consumption has also increased from 8 to over 50 kWh per day
Having been winter obviously we've been using the central heating but still I am surprised at the increase. We have the thermostat set to a maximum ofd 19.5, and it's only a 2 bed mid terrace.
It has dropped by 8 kWh over the last 6 weeks, but judging by the usage chart will not reduce back down anywhere near the 2011 average.
We haven't had any additional gas fires, cookers or boilers fitted (nor replaced any of the existing ones) .. we don't ever use the gas fire, so it's just central heating, hot water & the gas cooker.
There are also no additional people in the house.
Overall I am slightly shocked at the massive increase in our energy consumption seeing as both gas and electric were both pretty low through the first 6 months of our contract (Jun-Nov 2011).
are those actuals or estimateds ?
i just had my first leccy bill through for my new gaff - 17quid actual vs 40 quid estimated !
28kWh a day is quite a lot, ours peaks at 16kWh a day in winter. But we work from home and my computer is on 24/7 consuming probably about 5-10kWh a day (I know, my bad 😳 )
Domestic Hot Water for us is around 25kWh a day for two adult showers and kids baths a day. Central Heating adds between another 25kWh and 100kWh a day depending on the temperature outside. That's for a well insulated 3000sqft Barn.
Are you sure your previous consumption figures werent based on estimated meter readings?
Id recommend getting a monitor to test your appliance consumption. You should be able to get one from either your electricity provider or a local green charity to borrow.
These are good
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120852207784?
Boring as it is, I have a table of what all my appliances consume when running on full or on standby. Mrs S is banned from using the dryer.
Dehumidifier's can use quite a bit of energy.
Appliance On Standby
Netbook charger 0.7
Washing Machine 10 1
Dryer 1700 4
TV 42 2
HP Laserjet 6.7
HP Inkjet 3
Toothbrush charger 1.3
Microwave 1200 2.2
Kitchen Radio 8 1.4
Freezer 90 0
BT Home Hub 9.3 9.3
Vodafone Hub 5.4 5.4
Netgear Extender Hub 5.1 5.1
Nitelite 0.9 0
Doorbell 1 1
stoner - women are funny like that - mrs tr wanted a drier in the new house - stating it was non negotiable. I then showed her the cost to run one and she soon changed her tune ! (bearing in mind we have a woodburner with an eco fan she can stick the clothes in front of ! )
You haven't left the immersion heater on, have you?
(Been there, done that)
trail_rat - we have a sheila's maid in the boiler room that works brilliantly. Can take a whole washload and it's dry in about 3 hours.
Dehumid will use a LOT of power.
Fish tank with pump and light will take a surprising amount of energy despite being low power, due to the 24/7 nature of it (about 1kwh/day)
Freezers/fridges IME use about 2-3kwh a day.
Modern dishwashers run at about 1-1.5 per wash.
Winter use goes up because people use lights more, we see about 12kwh/day over winter and 7-8 during the summer.
My guess is the dehumid takes more power and more often than you think, but I can't see it accounting for ~15kwh a day.
Easy enough to test - turn it off.
what size is the dehumid
our first flat had 2 portable ones about the size of a bedside table runnin 24/7 - looking back the damp there is probably the reason i constantly had respiritory issues when racing that year.
our bill was never astronomical - i find it hard to believe its them causing the drastic increase.
ah stoner - we have one of those in the bike shed - came with the house.
our boiler gives off no heat and im not sticking a sheilas maid up in the living room where the stove is .
when we redo the kitchen and plumb back in a stove in there then i will put one in there.
New Year: Fishtank with small pump/filter & LED light
And a heater too? Or is it a cold water tank?
trail_rat - we have a sheila's maid in the boiler room that works brilliantly. Can take a whole washload and it's dry in about 3 hours.
But after seeing your gaff on here, I think you have a boiler room bigger than most people's houses. Most of us don't have the luxury of boiler 'rooms' 👿
great to see more people taking real note of the cost of energy. frankly its the cost not the saving the world argument that interests most today.
as a gas/ multi fuel engineer i see very few (only 2 of my customers in fact) that measure thier useage most though ask how can i cut my bills ( the simple answer is the turn stuff off)
we have a hot water storage cylinder that only needs 10 mins in a morning ( pre getting up time) and 20 mins pm ( after tea time) to ensure enough water fro a family of 4 ( 3 of whom are girls)
i'd strongly suggest cutting the time down as much as you can in stages until you meet a 'sweet' point.
equally if you have heating on in a morning have it on no more than 30 mins before you get up and going off at least 30 mins before the last person leaves the house
on an evening again have it on no more than 30 mins befor ethe first person arrives home and thier is no need to have it on after 9.30pm as most are hunkered down in front of the idiots lantern and most doors and windows will be closed
arrive at a thermostat setting with which you are comfortable. 19 is no perceptable difference than 20 but will save money. make sure the room with the thermostat is draught free as you dont want the temp at that point to be artificially lower.
all this comes with a BIG caveat.. if you are elderly or un well KEEP WARM hang the cost.. hundreds die in thier homes each year and temperature plays a part in alot of those deaths.. funerals cost more than heating a home..
Buy one of these
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Owl-USB-Connectivity-CM160-Electricity/dp/B0041H6VXI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335519162&sr=8-1
Sounds like an estimate though. 28kw is a huge amount
You could also just take a reading at the same time each day for a few days. That works surprisingly well 🙂
and im not sticking a sheilas maid up in the living room where the stove is .
Good lord no! Someone might see that you don't get a servant to do your washing 🙄
yeah zokes thats it .... more that i dont live in a mansion and i will be unable to sit on my sofa with one of them over the fire ...
sheila's maid? you mean a pulley?
Had one since forever (well, 1986 possibly) since I liberated from an old aunt's house, moved from flat to house to current house, no dryer here.. it's great.
Don't know our daily consumption but do have a wireless monitor, useful for abnormal usage - yes, dehumidifier could be quite harsh on the electricity..
Dehumid will use a LOT of power.
Not necessarily. They run on a heat pump, which is energy efficient, and turn themselves off when they reach the correct humidity. They also give out heat (latent heat of condensation) which offsets your heating bill (assuming you would have had the heating on).
OP: you need to take a daily meter read to see what your real consumption is. Do some reads before you go to bed and when you get up - so you can see what your base consumption is.
Not necessarily. They run on a heat pump, which is energy efficient, and turn themselves off when they reach the correct humidity. They also give out heat (latent heat of condensation) which offsets your heating bill (assuming you would have had the heating on).
I know, I work with and design heat pumps for a living (though not vapour phase) specifically to capture latent heat of cond 😀
While the theory is nice, the practice is if you lob one in a damp house and leave it running to clear the damp you WILL see a fairly hefty rise in power usage. I've done it a few times in damp rented flats. While it may offset your heating costs a little, elec is far more costly than gas.
are those actuals or estimateds ?
Hmmm, good point, I don't provide meter readings very often, & I think I've only had a visit by a meter reader twice in the year ...
You haven't left the immersion heater on, have you?
Ha! Nope, not got one (been there, done that in a previous house though)
And a heater too? Or is it a cold water tank?
Cold.
You could also just take a reading at the same time each day for a few days. That works surprisingly well
you need to take a daily meter read to see what your real consumption is. Do some reads before you go to bed and when you get up - so you can see what your base consumption is.
I shall do these things and see what's what ...
Stoner is the biggest energy consumption nerd on the planet 🙂
Respect!
If you've got a jesus phone there's a great app that I use (think its called Meters) that i regularly put leccy and water meter readings into. Got 2 years worth of data and shows how much you're really using - the below graph shows quite nicely what happened to our usage when the PV panels went in at the end of November 🙂
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