Electricity use has jumped – what/how to check / monitor recommendations

The pump for the borehole. It’s running 24/7, and costing us, and next door basically, a fiver a day…

Just sayin!
(actually it’s costing more than that if it’s 1Kwh x 24hrs.

Just out of interest how does the pump work – does it pump into a tank or does it supply direct pressure for both houses.

Glad you found it but it still sounds a bit messy. Can you not have it on a timer to stop it running at night?

Just sayin!
(actually it’s costing more than that if it’s 1Kwh x 24hrs.

Yeah, but in the day the solar is offsetting the draw of the pump. And next door do go halves on everything to do with the water – servicing the softener, salt for the softener etc, it’s actually in the deeds of the house, but I guess though that previously the leccy usage of the pump has been fairly trivial so no-one thought about it

Just out of interest how does the pump work – does it pump into a tank or does it supply direct pressure for both houses.

I think the way it works is it pumps into a big pressurised expansion tank, and from there the water goes through the water softener and to both houses. I assume that when the expansion tank drops to a certain level the pump should run to refill it.

Can you not have it on a timer to stop it running at night?

I’m expecting a call from the water people today, I’ll see what they say, and if they can’t come and fix it promptly then I’ll speak to next door about doing that. No pump = no water, so they need to agree (and I’m sure they will, we get on very well)

Glad you found it but it still sounds a bit messy. Can you not have it on a timer to stop it running at night?

Sounds more like a case of it needing looked at as it should only be running when there is a demand. If it supplies a tank the first thing to look at is the ball float (if it runs off line pressure or flow) or Mowbrey (float) switch(es) if it runs off a level controller. If any of those are sticking then it won’t get a signal to stop. If it’s none of those then you’re into the realms of a spark.

I think the way it works is it pumps into a big expansion tank, and from there the water goes through the water softener and to both houses. I assume that when the expansion tank drops to a certain level the pump runs to refill it.

The tank will have a level switch if that’s the case, either a Mowbrey type which goes through the skin of the tank or one mounted on the top. If you can get access it’s worth checking they are moving freely as they can seize up. If you’re elctrically confident and have a multimeter you can do some basic troubleshooting to see if it’s producing a demand signal.

Yeah, but in the day the solar is offsetting the draw of the pump

Yes but it’s ‘your’ power – it could be powering your stuff rather than their half of the pump.
Sounds like they’re getting a great deal!!

Should only run after water has drawn off and pressure been loss, then stop at some higher holding pressure so there is a level of hysteresis. Definitely should not run 24/7. Poor design.

Yes but it’s ‘your’ power – it could be powering your stuff rather than their half of the pump.
Sounds like they’re getting a great deal!!

I get your point, but if the pump was doing what it should, i.e. only running intermittently, then there wouldn’t really be an issue, as the amount they would ‘owe’ us would be trivial. It’s only since it started running 24/7 that the costs have become more significant. I might talk to them about covering some of the costs to run it whilst it’s not been right, I’ll have a think.

Should only run after water has drawn off and pressure been loss, then stop at some higher holding pressure so there is a level of hysteresis. Definitely should not run 24/7.

Yep, that’s how it should run. In fact, I’ve just been on the phone to the water people and through some diagnosis through some turning off of stoptaps and fiddling with the pressure switch, they suspect that there’s a leak in the pipework within the borehole itself. Smashing, I’m sure that’ll be cheap to fix… (although next door will have to go halves on that).