Hi all
My mrs was complaining last night about the size of the old leccy bill. Can anyone give their experience of similar property cost and usage please?
Last quarter cost was about 311GBP.
Detached 4 Bed house
2 Adults 2 kids Mostly energy saver bulbs Gas heating - no electric fans/fires Electric Cooking 2 TVs 2 Computers Tumble drier, washing m/c and dishwasher all in daily useTry to keep lights to a minimum but you know what kids are!
Any thoughts?
Phil
It would be excessive for us but if you have all electric cooking and heavy usage of drier, washing machine and dishwasher what else can you expect? Low energy lightbulbs will have little impact on what you use on heating in those machines.
Mary
Too many variables to know really, but some things to consider.
Lights have a negligible impact on your bill, as do most electronics. Things which affect your bill are devices that generate a lot of heat. For example:
Tumble drier on for 1 hour: 3kW hours, 24p
18W CF bulb on for 1 week: 3kW hours, 24pLook at your cooker, washing machine, dish washer and tumble drier usage
- that will make up 75% of your consumption.
That do seem a bit on the high side. Immersion heater on 24/7?
Totally agree with Grunff's analysis. One other thing that can gradually become inefficient are fridges.
Andy
Get a large Red LED numerical display, reading watts consumed - and place in a central part of the house where all can see it. Yell at people every time it trips over some agreed limit.
And then grab a beer ...
-- Adrian C
"The Wanderer" wrote
You got me thinking there Wanderer! Water heating should be via gas boiler/indirect cylinder. But we did have the immersion on while the plumbing was being re-worked! Having run out of hot water a couple of times it's unlikely that the immersion has been on all this time - but I will check
Phil
"Grunff" wrote
Thanks Grunff, but what's a CF bulb?
Phil
Yes. We will stop freaking out about our £30 a month bill for roughly the same thing!
Find what ever it is and kill it quick.
compact fluorescent == energy saving
Mine bill is similar, but in a 3 bed semi.
However, in my case, part of the reason is a server and tape autochanger on
24/7 along with a large fish tank and all it's filters/pumps/heaters etc running. And that's before I start looking at electric oven, and washing machine / dishwasher usage, and the 6kw of electric heaters in the garage which get a bit of use this time of year when I'm working down there!I have economy 7 and have the washing machine and dishwasher on timers so that most of their usage is in the cheap period. I just wish the wife could make sure EVERY was was overnight!
The oven will be relaced with a gas one when it next dies, the heating elements only seem to last for about 2 years in it.
Alan.
A Compact Fluorescent - a low energy bulb.
Is that a "real" electric bill or an estimate? Utility companies routinely overestimate so they can get interest-free loans from their customers.
Doesn't make a huge difference. I put a meter and timer on the immersion at work to try and save them a few quid and was surprised at the results. Running it for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon used only slightly less than having it on 24 hours a day. It is well lagged mind.
Agreed, assuming that the thermostat hasn't stuck ON, but you'd proably notice the cylinder boiling, makes quite din...
Of all the things listed there the tumble drier is probably the biggest consumer. 2 or 3kW for all the time it is on maybe 45min to an hour, thats 2+ units.
The dishwasher will take a bit when heating the water, dishwashers are generally cold fill only. The washer may well be hot and cold and won't be heating the water electrically unless doing a really hot wash, unlikely for most washes these days.
You have, of course, checked you are not on an expensive tarrif. I pay
7.191p/unit (+ VAT at 5%) with a Scottish Power Online tarrif with standing charge. Don't get fooled into tarrifs with no "standing charge", apart from EBICO Equipower, they invariabaly charge more for the fist X units/qtr. Stangely the extra amount they collect this way is within pence of the standing charge...To find your best deal you really needd to use one of the switching websites, as not only does each supplier have several tarrifs, the price of those tarrifs depends on where you are.
On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:49:06 -0000 someone who may be "TheScullster" wrote this:-
Do you cook a lot in the oven, or on the top of the stove? The top is usually cheaper to cook on. Do you do long cooking in a slow cooker, or the oven/hob?
Do you have off-peak electricity? If so is everything that can be run overnight?
Are all the lights left on (hall, stairs for example) energy saving? Do you have any of those fashionable little downlighters?
Have you checked you have switched to the right supplier for you?
Our house / family is nearly identical, except we have a gas hob and 1 daughter is away at Uni, (that has been costing us £7k/year).
Our quarterly standing order for electricity is £290.
If you have energy efficient bulbs reducing lighting usage by switching lamps off as the room is vacated should be kept in proper perspective, it saves almost nothing, plus they take some time to achieve full light output, for me a big annoyance factor.
If someone were to have have an accident on the landing/stairs or with a kettle whilst the twinklers were still in "twilight" mode it wouldn't be worth it.
Tumbler drier and electric hob ! Usage of to be reduced forthwith.
A gas hob is faster than electric and cheaper to run. But needs a gas installation job, and it would be moot as to whether there would be any net return on the installation. Maybe when the kitchen is re-done.
OK with the current weather situation it bodes ill for drying on a clothes line. Could the volume of washing done be reduced? My teenage offspring could, and would go through 3 outfits per day each.
I'm seriously considering building a dedicated drying area in the garden with perforated block walls and some sort of a roof. IIAC
1960's tower blocks provided such a facility.Bit late now of course, the youngest is 20 and away from home.
DG
Electricity 4 beds three adults
Feb 2006 £226 May 2006 £215 August 2006 £164 November 2006 £176
Gas heating and water - several TV's and computers, house normally occupied during day.
When mine went high I discovered that the thermostat on the freezer had broken and the compressor was running nearly all the time.
Neighbour with a very high bill discovered that his immersion heater had been turned on 24/7, he normally uses gas for water heating!
Peter
Ours isn't dissimilar (except as below) but we have 6 computers on permanently (don't ask); four are oldish low power jobs.
Exactly. They're OK in their place, but I hate them in a living/working space and in most other places the lights aren't on enough to make it effective in the short or even medium term.
Absolutely. We do have a gas hob. The tumbler drier is used only when absolutely necessary. One of the most cost effective things we ever did was install a 'Sheila Mid' (drying rack on ropes) in the utility room.
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