PSpirine
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 07:12 PM |
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Just got an unpleasant electric bill!
Just input my latest readings (last time put in end of July last year) and it popped up with a £450 payment shortage! 
Granted I live alone and the house isn't the most energy efficient (1985 mid terrace, storage heaters and dragty single pane windows) but still
seems a lot. on top of my £66/mo DD that makes it circa £1250 per annum.. quite a lot given that in the same period a year ago it was around £750.
Does that not sound excessive? I've got a full time job so am not in during the day and don't exactly burn electricity for the fun of it.
Can anyone recommend one of those energy monitor things so I could figure out the biggest culprits?
Pavel
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mangogrooveworkshop
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 07:16 PM |
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big TVS flat panels are like 1.5 KW compressor left on eeek
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westf27
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 07:17 PM |
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Also certain houseplants take a lot of leccy
555
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daniel mason
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 07:20 PM |
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i would imagine you have no gas?
also bet yo dont use a full tank of water a day if on immersion heater? if not turn it off every other night/ every 2 nights.
storage heaters i would put input up tol about half way and output down low.
also check your timeclock for economy 7 is showing correct time so your heaters and immersion are in use during eco 7 hours.
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 07:28 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
big TVS flat panels are like 1.5 KW
A 60 inch Plasma is under 300 watts. A reasonably modern 40 inch LCD is under 100 Watts.
The "Current Cost Envi R" or the OWL CM160 have built in USB interfaces. This means you can log electricity use on your PC so you can
work out daily consumtpion and at what time it peaks so you can pin down likely causes.
[Edited on 24/1/12 by MikeRJ]
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mark chandler
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 07:32 PM |
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When I got a 40" plasma 10 years ago the electric bill went up by £25 a month... kept the room warm though.
My TIG welder wound the costs up as well by a fair bit 
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fullpint
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 07:33 PM |
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We pay £101 per month. Thats ALL electric here in a 1970's 2 bed bungalow with storage heaters. Wife works mornings only so TV is on for a good
12 hours. Water tank runs on economy 7 but I do pop the over-ride on every day for 15mins just before bath-time.
I've over 28 years in dealing with magnesium wheels. Refurbishment and can powder coat most metal parts. Visit my web site if you wish..
www.tpcs-magnesium-refurbs.co.uk
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JoelP
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 07:39 PM |
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we pay £70 all in per month for gas and electric. Given that leccy isnt as efficient as gas for heating and hot water, and you have dodgy windows, i
would imagine £100 being realistic for your house.
I have started turning the microwave off at the wall when its not in use! How tight is that?!
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 07:59 PM |
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Put a plate over your toaster!
Also yes might well be worth changing them windows, especially if you're planning on staying there for a few more years.
What's the loft insulation like?
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snapper
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 08:01 PM |
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It's the storage heaters and immersion heater.
Ive got Double glazeing
Loft insulated
I've had cavity walls done for £99
Made a difference
When there was 6 in the house 4 using an electric shower washing machine on all the time, dishwasher every day tumble dryer etc etc, leccy was £122
gas was £68 a month
I'm hoping it will go down noes there's only 2
I eat to survive
I drink to forget
I breath to pi55 my ex wife off (and now my ex partner)
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Irony
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 08:14 PM |
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I am constantly adding up the total wattage of multiple items for my job and soooo many people don't seem to understand electricity and power
consumption. I would suggest due to the nature of this site that most people on here know what their talking about. My simple rules are
1. TV's, screens, computers, fridges, modern lighting (LED, Metal Halide etc) cost very little to run.
2. If you intend on heating something then power consumption sky rockets.
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bracey
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 08:19 PM |
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yep,anything with a heating element to it is biggest culprit
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PSpirine
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 08:31 PM |
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Thanks all,
Pretty much reinforced what I already know, but good to know that £100 a month is actually not that unreasonable. Just put in all my figures into an
energy comparison website and there's not a great deal in it in terms of switching anywhere (a couple of quid..)
I've got LED/low energy lighting everywhere, but do have some appliances on standby which could do with turning off so will start doing that.
Don't think the TV contributes a great deal as it's a brand new LED jobbie, which only gets used a couple of hours a day.
Loft insulation isn't superb but fine (will top it up), but upstairs holds heat incredibly well, it's downstairs that loses all of it.
Will also make sure I only use the washer and dishwasher on timer in eco 7 hours (which are correct by the way!)
Anybody know roughly how much it costs to install a small wood burner (I've got an open fire with a standard clay lined chimney so not intending
on having it stainless-lined?). Didn't burn much wood in it this year at all as it's not massively efficient even with.
Will probably change the windows and doors downstairs (again have no idea how much it would cost) as I'll be keeping this place for a few more
years at least.
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Steve Hignett
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 08:41 PM |
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I fitted my own double glazed windows and doors that I bought brand new from ebay. I had a friend to lend a hand who is no more skilled than me and I
thought it was a piece of pee...
So, price up that way of doing it if you fancy it, it really was fantastically cheaper and still fit as well as any other windows...
ATB
Steve
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ashg
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 08:53 PM |
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crumbs my electric is £120 a quarter
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 09:05 PM |
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quote:
Given that leccy isnt as efficient as gas for heating and hot water
Not sure how you get to that. Resistive heating elements are effectively 100% efficient at converting electricity to heat. Sure electrickery is about
3x the price of gas per kw.
3 bed 60s semi in chilly scotland here, gas and elec break even with £30 a month for each here.
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JoelP
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 09:15 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
quote:
Given that leccy isnt as efficient as gas for heating and hot water
Not sure how you get to that. Resistive heating elements are effectively 100% efficient at converting electricity to heat. Sure electrickery is about
3x the price of gas per kw.
3 bed 60s semi in chilly scotland here, gas and elec break even with £30 a month for each here.
More efficient in terms of bang per buck, rather than taking it literally...
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 09:27 PM |
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Double glazing is pretty poor value in terms of payback time. Unless the windows need replacing anyway?
If they are good, fitting secondary glazing is much better value, and just about as efficient. Worth a thought. Also cavity wall insulation, plus get
that lost insulation topped up and the draught proofing sorted!
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Dingz
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 09:43 PM |
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Wood burners are very efficient, you cant compare them with just burning wood on an open fire. the 'even' heavier ones with firebricks in
you can burn coal too. They are good for recycling old pallets from work as well. Easy to fit in if your chimney is ok.
Phoned the local ramblers club today, but the bloke who answered just
went on and on.
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clairetoo
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 09:48 PM |
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I've been heating my house on just a gas-bottle log burner all winter - I bring home scrap pallets from work by the ton , so my only heating
`cost' is cutting them up to fit in...........
I'm seriously thinking of fitting an extractor fan high up in the living room , and running ducting through the floor space to each upstairs
room for next winter .
Its cuz I is blond , innit
Claire xx
Will weld for food......
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JoelP
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 10:03 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by clairetoo
I've been heating my house on just a gas-bottle log burner all winter - I bring home scrap pallets from work by the ton , so my only heating
`cost' is cutting them up to fit in...........
I'm seriously thinking of fitting an extractor fan high up in the living room , and running ducting through the floor space to each upstairs
room for next winter .
Just make sure you provide a return path for the air to avoid sucking back through the flue! Having the doors open between rooms would sort it.
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clairetoo
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 10:13 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
Just make sure you provide a return path for the air to avoid sucking back through the flue! Having the doors open between rooms would sort it.
Not sure what you mean there ? The flue goes up the chimney , and so out of the house ? Being a poorly built 1936 house means its far from air tight
so ventilation is no problem
Its cuz I is blond , innit
Claire xx
Will weld for food......
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JoelP
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| posted on 24/1/12 at 10:48 PM |
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Fair enough if you are sure the rooms arent remotely airtight. Basically if you suck lots of air out of the room, the combustion products get sucked
into the room rather than up the chimney.
When we fit a gas hob at work under a ducted extractor, if there is a gas fire in an adjacent room, the gas fitter puts the fan on full and tests the
fire for spillage, obv with doors and windows shut. I imagine a HETAS installer would have to do similar.
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Irony
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| posted on 25/1/12 at 09:20 AM |
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I have this vague idea of putting in a multifuel logburner downstairs in the kitchen and running the chimney up through the floor and up through the
upper hallway and into the loft and then outside. The stove would keep downstairs warm and toasty and the pipe that runs through the upstairs hallway
would also get red hot. Effectively heating the whole house.
I recently changed my logburner setup in the garage that includes a chimney made from galvanised pipe that runs diagonally along one wall. The
diagonal pipe has 3inch x 1inch aluminium angle rivetted to it along it's length. Which makes it effectively a huge heat sink. The Chimney
gets hotter than the stove itself and gives out heat 100% better than before. Once it's hot however the draw is huge and you can burn through
softwood far to fast.
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Macbeast
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| posted on 25/1/12 at 09:54 AM |
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I bet all your downstairs heat is going up the chimney
I'm addicted to brake fluid, but I can stop anytime.
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