[RichardBoult]

This is tentatively related to global warming as, according to my figures, I am contributing more than most. I wondered if anybody could spot the flaws in my energy useage and/or give me some tips on reducing it.

Having been stung into an investigation into my energy use by an ever increasing outstanding balance brought about by a cock up in setting my DD level, which didn't become apparent until 3 years after setting up my new supply agreement and a subsequent 400% increase in my DD payments to recover the balance, coupled with Scottish Powers ridiculously low estimated usage levels used to calculate estimated bills which are shown to be too low when I send in real readings, I have uncovered some interesting facts and figures about our usage.

The story is:

we have been supplied by our current supplier for G&E for almost exactly 1000 days. I have calculated our energy use over this extended period to be as follows by dividing the total energy used by the number of days supply. The figures work out to be:

Gas 70.5 kWh/day 25750 kWh/Year
Electric 21.5 kWh/day 7880 kWh/Year

According to figures I googled from EDF Energy Typical Consumption is of the order of 20500kWh/Year and 3300kWh/Year respectively.

Now I am guessing I represent a fairly average family with maybe a house that is very slightly larger than norm in that we are two adults and two 5/6 year olds living in a 5 bedroom detached house in the outskirts of suburbia.

Therefore I can kind of understand us being over on gas but I am concerned that we use over twice the typical electricity of an average household
.

So....

I have tried to estimate our electricity consumption based on other typcial appliance figures I found online, however this has given me a figure of 46kWh per day and therefore must be wrong althought the two things that did stand out during this exercise (unless I've misunderstood) is a) the fridge/freezer is by far and away the largest energy user in the house consuming a whopping (est) 17kWh, mainly due to the fact it is on for 24hrs (or should I only be considering the time it is over temp and therefore working?). The fact that I've got my old fridge/freezer in the garage also full of stuff this huge energy use is effectively doubled in our house. The other big users are TV/AV setup/washing machine/dishwasher and lights which between them use somewhere (est) around 10kWh.

So do these figures look reasonable? If I haven't already answered my own question what can I do to reduce this electricity consumption? Any other tips are welcome but please refrain from flaming me as a global destroyer!!??

[hermanmunster]

With 2 fridges and one being a bit older this sounds about normal for a house of this size and occupation.

Is your current fridge freezer a large 'American' style unit. If so then it will be the largest consumer. Do you have computers on constantly, they can add to the usage a little more than you think. If you are a Tea or Coffee addict then make sure you just boil what you need that will help too.

I managed to reduce my useage from 18Kwh per day to 14 by shutting down the 2 computers I had on all day, and just using them when required.

My home is literally brand new with ES light bulbs and A rated appliances, but I have a teenage son so harder to control

[njp]

Originally Posted by RichardBoult

however this has given me a figure of 46kWh per day and therefore must be wrong althought the two things that did stand out during this exercise (unless I've misunderstood) is a) the fridge/freezer is by far and away the largest energy user in the house consuming a whopping (est) 17kWh, mainly due to the fact it is on for 24hrs (or should I only be considering the time it is over temp and therefore working?). The fact that I've got my old fridge/freezer in the garage also full of stuff this huge energy use is effectively doubled in our house. The other big users are TV/AV setup/washing machine/dishwasher and lights which between them use somewhere (est) around 10kWh.

So do these figures look reasonable? If I haven't already answered my own question what can I do to reduce this electricity consumption? Any other tips are welcome but please refrain from flaming me as a global destroyer!!??

17kWh for a fridge-freezer looks implausibly high to me, assuming that really is a daily figure. Could you give a link to where you found those numbers? However, it is true that these are the biggest energy consumers most people own, so you might want to have a close look at the old one in your garage.

I suggest you buy a power meter (Maplin have sold these in the past for £12 or so). This will give you the instantaneous power consumption of any appliance, as well as monitoring total energy usage over a period of time. This is especially useful if you want to know how much energy a washing machine or dishwasher cycle uses, for example, or how much energy a freezer uses on a typical day.

[MikeTV]

I've just had a quick look at my own electricity usage for last year - 2642 kWh/Year - for a one bedroom flat, on my own. So 7880 kWh/Year doesn't seem too bad for an occupied 5-bedroom detached house.

EDIT: PS. my gas usage is 8240 kWh/Year.

[RichardBoult]

Originally Posted by njp

17kWh for a fridge-freezer looks implausibly high to me, assuming that really is a daily figure. Could you give a link to where you found those numbers?

It came from the US so perhaps it does relate to big american fridges!!

http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/.../mytopic=10040

[njp]

Originally Posted by RichardBoult

It came from the US so perhaps it does relate to big american fridges!!

http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/.../mytopic=10040

Ok. The figures given there are maximum power ratings, and are completely useless for estimating energy consumption for an appliance with a variable duty cycle. You've just multiplied by 24, and were right to suspect that this was the wrong thing to do!

Googling for "fridge-freezer energy consumption" gives a range of values, as you would expect, but the average seems to be around 350kWh per year, so say 1kWh per day.

Older appliances, especially those with faulty seals or loss of refridgerant could increase this dramatically, which is why I suggested looking at your old fridge-freezer. If your garage gets very hot in the summer, this would also have an effect.

[damo_in_sale]

Originally Posted by MikeTV

I've just had a quick look at my own electricity usage for last year - 2642 kWh/Year - for a one bedroom flat, on my own. So 7880 kWh/Year doesn't seem too bad for an occupied 5-bedroom detached house.

EDIT: PS. my gas usage is 8240 kWh/Year.

Obviously, in the winter I have my central heating on, but I like crisp fresh air so I keep the windows open. In the summer it's fine during the day but in the evenings I heat my study with my PC and the lounge with my plasma telly. If it gets too hot then I turn on the air-conditioning.

You chaps might be interested in this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6616651.stm

I am currently constructing a micro power version. It involves my girlfiends wardrobe and a hundred energy saving light bulbs.
Seriously though mate, good luck reducing your fuel bills

[EDIT] PS, I should add that the above is intended to be lightly amusing, rather than provocative (have to be careful )

Good luck mate

[blearyeyes]

I can sympathise with you, we're with SP too and pay £143/ month by DD for gas and electricity for a 4 bedroom house. But with four kids - no wait one has just flown the nest so make that three - with three xbox360s, two PCs, 3 TVs, a washing machine used twice each day.....
SP have still to reduce their tariffs for domestic users are they promised to do so once that happens we might get some relief. In the meantime I have used low energy lamps for main room lighting and try to switch off unnecessary appliances when I can.

The way forward would be to install intelligent power monitoring into all new build houses and well as passive solar heating. But I suspect this is a long way off.

[Ronski]

Consider all the items that are left on standby, this consumes an awful lot of energy as well, I checked my two computers the other day using the previously mentioned power meter from Maplins, and they were drawing 25 watts, I now intend on getting a couple of those One Click power plugs to cut this down, they can also be used for hi-fi systems etc.