Expensive Electricity Bill

[paulc]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this request for help, if it isn't i'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

I live in a 4 bed bungalow built in the 70's.

The electricity bill seems extremeley high, about =A3400 per 1/4.

I have had npower check the meter, they say it is fine, this was 4 or 5 moths ago.

Since then weve been careful to make sure that we turn off all unneccesary items when possible, but it seems that this has helped very little.

I am running the following items :-

48 inch TV, LCD type, gets used maybe 4 hours per day, on standby @ other times. Sky Box. Small TV in the kitchen, gets used similar to big TV. One PC (security system), left running all day, three cctv (just the micromark type) cams running 24/7. PC has 3 monitors, but these are turned off when not in use, guess max 4 hours per day usage. Laptop also running all day. One newish fridge freezer, couple of chest freezers in the garage. Couple of printers in standby mode all day. Heating is by a combi boiler, heating is on maybe 12 hours per day at this time of year.

Kettle boiled max of 5 times a day (just with small amount of water in) There is 6 outside 500 watt lights, PIR activated, of these 4 are trigerred maybe 6 times each per day (a guesstimate), theyre timed to operate for just a couple of mins each. Three night storage heaters. Economy 7 is fitted.

Now that ive written down everything, there does seem quite a bit. Ive taken readings every morning this week, and overnight were using 34 units (its a modern meter, blue button gives you night reading and day one). Through the day were using 25 units, both seem excessive to me.

Do others think that the readings are high or normal for this type of usage ?.

Thanks.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

"npower", there's you're problem

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Andy Hall]

THe price doesn't give all that much clue. Have you chosen supplier carefully to get the best tariff? e.g.

At a rough estimate, there is about 1kW of usage there, probably no more, perhaps as little as 500W. That would give you 12 to 24 units per day.

Shouldn't add a lot to the electricity - perhaps another 100W or so averaged out.

2kW for 3 mins x 5. 1/2 unit

2kW for 2 mins x 6 1/2 unit

I think that these would be the culprits. Up to 3kW each for several hours.

Do they take a charge during the afternoon as well?

I can see how you get to that. Try the same tests with the storage radiators turned off for a day.

[john]

I live in a 4 bed bungalow built in the 70's.

The electricity bill seems extremeley high, about £400 per 1/4.

I have had npower check the meter, they say it is fine, this was 4 or 5 moths ago.

Since then weve been careful to make sure that we turn off all unneccesary items when possible, but it seems that this has helped very little.

I am running the following items :-

48 inch TV, LCD type, gets used maybe 4 hours per day, on standby @ other times. Sky Box. Small TV in the kitchen, gets used similar to big TV. One PC (security system), left running all day, three cctv (just the micromark type) cams running 24/7. PC has 3 monitors, but these are turned off when not in use, guess max 4 hours per day usage. Laptop also running all day. One newish fridge freezer, couple of chest freezers in the garage. Couple of printers in standby mode all day. Heating is by a combi boiler, heating is on maybe 12 hours per day at this time of year.

Kettle boiled max of 5 times a day (just with small amount of water in) There is 6 outside 500 watt lights, PIR activated, of these 4 are trigerred maybe 6 times each per day (a guesstimate), theyre timed to operate for just a couple of mins each. Three night storage heaters. Economy 7 is fitted.

Now that ive written down everything, there does seem quite a bit. Ive taken readings every morning this week, and overnight were using 34 units (its a modern meter, blue button gives you night reading and day one). Through the day were using 25 units, both seem excessive to me.

Do others think that the readings are high or normal for this type of usage ?.

Thanks.

get shut of the economy 7 as you will be paying more for your daytime prices per unit. Gt some radiators fitted instead to make use of your existing heating system. Get shut of 2 of the PC monitors and stop leaving things on standby as it still uses betweeen 1/3 and 1/2 of the power as if it was on. Forget the PC security system, get a cheap DVD recorder and use that. Change your 500w lights to 150w types. Why have you got printers on standby, just switch them on when you need them and get shut of your freezers! Switch the laptop on when you need it.

I think based on what you said the bill is correct, you're just running a lot of appliances with no real need.

[Colin Wilson]

One thing you could check - are they applying the correct rates to the bill, i.e. I used to be on a similar tariff, with a slightly different setup to an E7 - the peak usage was often swapped with the off-peak usage due to the different settings in the meter, and I don`t think I got a single correct bill in over 4 years. The normal "cycle" of the digits was different with my tariff, hence the easy mistake of transposing readings.

Another thing to check - is the off-peak rate switching in correctly, and whose equipment controls the switching of the off-peak load (i.e. the storage rads) - this is often the consumers' equipment (contactor) and it could be that its not releasing, so the rads are constantly charging.

[Capitol]

Buy a power consumption meter and check each appliance over 24 hrs. I'd suspect the freezers if they are old, but there's no substitute for a lot of tedious measurements. The storage heater consumption seems a bit low, is the clock correct in the meter? I found a large number(15) of small appliances which consumed £2 of electricity/month, these really can add up. Lighting can also be expensive if it is normal bulbs.

Regards Capitol

[Richard Faulkner]

In message , [e-mail] writes

59 units per day x 91 days = 4914 units 40000p/4914units = 8.14p per unit

seems about right as far as charging goes.

i think I pay about 10p for the first 200, then 8p thereafter, with no standing charge.

[John Rumm]

Depends on the tarrif you are on. Some suppliers simply charge a higher standing charge but the same day rate.

yup - that would be the big saving.

1/3 to 1/2 is way over the top for something in standby... even my 22" CRT monitor drops from 130W operational to under 2W in standby. My TV from 160W to under 5W.

Not as flexible and not going to make that much of a saving IMHO.

Again, standby on mist printers is negligble these days.

Not the most practical suggestion... ;-)

[Andy Cap]

I use approx 16 units a day which results in a bill of £116.

I think you're getting it on the cheap for 59 units day. ;-)

Only option IMO is to cut your consumption.

Andy

[Bob Martin]

I have a similar set-up to you - with the exception of the night storage heaters

- and my bill is less than 500 per year. But my heating is gas - about another 500 / year.

[meow2222]

Yes, in nearly all these cases the meter is fine, its normally the consumer's expectations that are faulty.

OK start by getting a killawatt meter, measure your stuff and see what eats what. Maplin do one for =A315 or something.

fwliw check your power settings if its windows.

ah, check those ffs arent running continuously. If one is, replace it. Once theyre working ok, you can then glue polystyrene foam around teh outside to cut consumption right back. A properly working ff wont eat much, but a faulty one will.

replace bulbs with 150w, more than enough in most cases. That wont save you a lot, but it will save you.

Why those plus gas CH? Gas is way cheaper, lose the electric heating if possible. If not, extend the gas system then lose the electric. Electric heating is a serious money hog. Once those are out of action you can lose the E7, you may find you get slightly lower rates that way. Shop around for leccy rates of course.

Your use seems excessive to be honest. There are 2 biggies here: lose the electric heating, and insulate the property if not already done. Cavity wall fill, loft insulation, draught proofing if necessary. The 2 smaller points are the ffs and the electricity supplier. The rest is peanuts but will still save you something.

Ah, what lighting? If its downlighters, lose those, theyre pricey to run.

NT

[Christian McArdle]

Three night storage heaters. Economy 7 is fitted.

You've got gas. Dump the storage heaters with extreme prejudice. Switch to non Economy 7 tariff.

Christian.

[<me9]

Chest freezers often use the case as a heatsink. If the case gets slightly warm it probably does, in which case, *dont* insulate it.

[Doctor Drivel]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this request for help, if it isn't i'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

I live in a 4 bed bungalow built in the 70's.

The electricity bill seems extremeley high, about £400 per 1/4.

I have had npower check the meter, they say it is fine, this was 4 or 5 moths ago.

Since then weve been careful to make sure that we turn off all unneccesary items when possible, but it seems that this has helped very little.

I am running the following items :-

48 inch TV, LCD type, gets used maybe 4 hours per day, on standby @ other times. Sky Box. Small TV in the kitchen, gets used similar to big TV. One PC (security system), left running all day, three cctv (just the micromark type) cams running 24/7. PC has 3 monitors, but these are turned off when not in use, guess max 4 hours per day usage. Laptop also running all day. One newish fridge freezer, couple of chest freezers in the garage. Couple of printers in standby mode all day. Heating is by a combi boiler, heating is on maybe 12 hours per day at this time of year.

Kettle boiled max of 5 times a day (just with small amount of water in) There is 6 outside 500 watt lights, PIR activated, of these 4 are trigerred maybe 6 times each per day (a guesstimate), theyre timed to operate for just a couple of mins each. Three night storage heaters. Economy 7 is fitted.

Now that ive written down everything, there does seem quite a bit. Ive taken readings every morning this week, and overnight were using 34 units (its a modern meter, blue button gives you night reading and day one). Through the day were using 25 units, both seem excessive to me.

Do others think that the readings are high or normal for this type of usage ?.

[Dave Stanton]

WHY on stanby ????. Turn the bloody thing off when its not being used.

Dave

[mike. buckley]

In message , Dave Stanton writes

Amazingly my new Toshiba flat screen LCD can't be turned off, I'd have to turn it off at the mains, which, because of my power lead mess would also turn off the Sky+ box which is undesirable, plus the switch is bloody awkward to get to.

[Peter Lynch]

On 2005-12-29, [e-mail] wrote: ... stuff deleted ...

6 floodlights! OK, putting aside your issue about excessive leccy bills do you _really_ need this much security lighting?

As it turns out, govt. stats show that only 27% of burglaries occur during the evening; when a person is likely to notice their security floodlights (but see later).

I realise that people think it makes their houses safer, but unless you investigate each incident, you may find that all the floodlights do is illuminate your vulnerable areas and help any bad people break in, rather than putting them off.

Sadly, no-one has any information on buglaries that didn't happen (deterrence)

Take a look at this website, it's got some useful stuff

Pete

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Expect it to go higher in 2006

Npower a.. Bills set to rise by 13.7% for gas and 12% for electricity a.. Average household bills set to increase by £85 a year

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[sponix]

I think that £400 would be about normal. I strongly suspect that it's your freezers in the garage that are eating the lekky.

I have one of those Lidl Power meters and tested all the high energy items. Our not old freezer was using about £80 per year.

I'd also suggest changing bulbs for energy efficient types and checking the power consumption of your telly on standby. Whilst most tellies are OK there are a few that use horrific amounts of power when switched "off".

sponix

[Dorothy Bradbury]

So you don't cook by electric re electric hobs/dbl-oven/grill? Your bill is incorrect - if the average is 1600pa.

Verify measuring... o That E7 is being switched over correctly re timing

---- E7 contactors do jam, older timers malfunction o That the meter readings are correct - they put a check meter on

---- meters do go bonkers

---- 80A meter may have been fried by current draw

Economy savings... o Lighting -- 6x 500W halogen is a no-no

---- I hope it's not on a 70s lighting ring

---- few neighbours will like 500-3000W in line-of-sight o Freezers -- frozen 50lb vegetables, 50lb bread is uneconomic

---- examine carefully the economics of what you are freezing

---- vs home-delivery, tinned or long life part cooked bread

---- old freezers seem to kick out a lot of heat (insulation, efficiency)

---- freezers can go AWOL if ambient is lower than the fridge o Storage Heaters -- replace if you can with radiators

---- you don't state size or if automatic / manual charge controller

---- storage heaters are ok for 10-20x a winter heating a hall if -7oC

---- they are to be avoided unless a very small area superbly insulated

---- try to get to 1, if rarely used price out going off E7 re day-rate

Congratulations on going for a LCD v Plasma big-screen... o Plasma can draw 380-750W - that adds up *fast*

---- heat isn't wasted in a house, but it's inefficient creation o LCD will draw 80W I guess re that size backlighting

---- depends on how bright you have the backlight

48"... even Titchmarsh would look frightening on that :-) The world changing from 60W 21" CRT to 550W+ Plasma is a huge 9x increase multipled by millions of people. Instead it seems people may go for LCD solutions which are actually less than a CRT vs 9x worse.

Now PCs... o Laptop will be very low

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