Energy usage

[ΩΩΩ]

Hard to say I understand. But....3 bed house, gas heating and water. four people.
LED lighting throughout. No EV or large loads. 'Normal use' Average Electric use is 500kWh per month.

Would that seem a typical usage?

 

[Mottie]

Hard to say I understand. But....3 bed house, gas heating and water. four people.
LED lighting throughout. No EV or large loads. 'Normal use' Average Electric use is 500kWh per month.

Would that seem a typical usage?

3 bed house, gas heating and water, probably half LED lighting, two people and our average is 275kWh

 

[ETAF]

edit
just seen its electric only

mine 3 bed bungalow - 2 people, home all day - retired
2 Electric ovens, micro wave
2 fridge
2 freezers (we have a fridge and freezer also in the garage
Washing on probably every day - ,maybe 5 times a week say
little use of tumble dryer - but is used
LED lighting in most
Often have kitchen under cupboard leds on all day and another lamp - keepp turning them off ... but

water/ch/hob all gas

Nov21 - Nov22 -285

our highest has been 403 - then we had 4 adults , 3 kids and various family & friends visiting for 10 days that month and also repair work on a car in garage with heating and flood lite and also a conservatory heated as a playroom for kids - plus washing every day and tumble dryer used a lot

The average gas and electric bill in Great Britain - British Gas

With our guide, find out about the average energy bill cost in the UK. Understand what influences this and read our tips on reducing your energy bill.

www.britishgas.co.uk

 

[jacko555]

3 bed detached, 2 adults 1 kiddo. Gas heating, cooking and got water.

251 for electric, last month. More than summer with tumble frier, and, we off work at the mo'.

180/190 during summer months.

 

[RandomGrinch]

2 bed mid-terrace.
2.5 peeps.
Combi, plus gas hob.
190kWh average leccy per month
400kWh average gas per month

 

[ericmark]

I moved in 2019, we expected the bills to be far higher, larger house, and oil central heating, and older in some cases damaged double glazed units, but our bills have dropped. Not a clue why, guess is now in a sheltered valley, but before on a hill, clue in the name Bryn-y-baal.

It is all very well talking about cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, etc. But location also makes a difference, I would say biggest electric user is the tumble drier, but now in an unheated utility room, was in a heated kitchen, so now draws in cold dry air, before it was warm air with a much higher humidity.

 

[robinbanks]

5 people, 5 bed, all electric, heat pump, induction hob, 2 ovens 2 washers, 2 fridges, dryer, 2 plasma TVs, no EV, 1000 kWh / month

Just installing monitoring devices to work out where it all goes!

 

[pcaouolte]

It seems to be the number of people that makes the biggest difference:
Ours unoccupied (when on holiday) about 150kWh per month.
With 2 occupants about 345 kWh per month
With 3 occupants about 460 kWh per month

 

[ericmark]

I would love to be able to compare cooking methods, pressure cooker, fan oven, microwave, etc. I can measure total use of house, and items fitted with a plug, but items which switch on/off to maintain a temperature, like an oven or hob, very hard to measure how much used.

Did try with washing machine, gave up, as same cycle, 10 washes, and very different results, as the machine it seems weighs the wash, and adjusts amount of water etc. The Dish washer has loads of options, with the cycle ranging from 59 minutes to a few hours, too short meaning needs washing again is clearly to be avoided, but also too long, I can't work out the happy medium.

Biggest cost is likely washing cloths, and at £2 for a pack of 5 pairs of socks are they worth washing? I do, but it seems today all washing machines are cold fill only, except for specials for use on boats etc. So even if DHW is heated by oil or gas, you can't use this water, you have to use electric.

I remember the days of the twin tub, and the piles of cloths on the kitchen floor, I am sure it was more environmental friendly, water being used many times, but the labour involved was huge, and we have to accept labour saving costs money.

If I look at my home, having a PIR to turn lights on in the hall and landing would clearly make sense, but only if wired that way from new, the cost to rewire would exceed any savings. And with LED lamps using so little power, cost to better control lights will very likely exceed the saving, I have a landing lamp with 5 bulbs, I can select 1, 4 or 5, but it was not done to save money, it was done so I can turn on landing light in the middle of the night without waking my wife, by using just the centre lamp.

Room temperatures is another thing, my old house had a Myson fan assisted radiator, this heated the room up fast, but it also circulated the air, so room was an even heat. That may not be such a good thing, my hall now, TRV shows 15°C the wall thermostat shows 17.5°C in the summer they show the same, it is just the closer one goes to outside door the cooler it is, and higher you go in room warmer it is, so this bedroom 1 foot from floor shows 17.6°C and on chest of draws 19.8°C and I am warm enough.

So why do we fit radiators next to windows? would it not be better to heat centre of home, and let the heat move out? A heated chair seems a good idea, I have them in my car, why not in the house.

 

[robinbanks]

very hard to measure how much used

I'm sure an individual with your wherewithal could put a CT clamp on the relevant circuit?! Quite a few Raspberry Pi projects around the web will do multiple simultaneous clamps..

So why do we fit radiators next to windows?

Because the air being cooled by the window convects down, and the air being warmed by the rad convects up, the two meet at around windowsill area and mix, funnelling out into the room.
If you put the rad on the opposite wall it warms and the air rises, the cooling air by the window falls, and you set up a convection cycle that encircles the whole room, making the occupants sit in a draught that makes them feel colder

would it not be better to heat centre of home, and let the heat move out?

Unlike the kids, we'd quite like the heat to stay in for 40 years!

A heated chair seems a good idea, I have them in my car, why not in the house.

Call the scrappie, buy one, get a reasonable amperage 12v power supply and wire it up. A friend has done just this after finding his Volvo seats to be the most comfortable he's ever sat it; 50 quid for a seat, mounted on an old office chair roller wheel set; heated, reclining, bargain. Tip, try and get a passenger seat - they're less often sat in and not quite so knackered

 

[Munroast]

Because the air being cooled by the window convects down, and the air being warmed by the rad convects up, the two meet at around windowsill area and mix, funnelling out into the room.
If you put the rad on the opposite wall it warms and the air rises, the cooling air by the window falls, and you set up a convection cycle that encircles the whole room, making the occupants sit in a draught that makes them feel colder

that might be the theory, ours was under the window, with the curtains closed the warmest prt of the room was behind the curtains next to the cold glass where heating loss is greatest.

I moved them to another part of the room and it made a notable improvement to how the room felt, certainly made the room warmer.

 

[pcaouolte]

I use a CT clamp on the oven circuit to measure the current used but it doesn't prove much. Different meals require different amounts of energy to cook and it also depends on the starting temperature of the food. You would need to cook exactly the same meal, starting with ingredients at exactly the same temperature by several different cooking methods to make the comparison valid.

 

[Munroast]

As for our electric use, and our heating is Gas, I would suggest we are about 330 a month. I have kept all my energy use weekly for the past 15 years, so it is interesting to make comparisons

You can tell the fine effort we are making from the chart below, the green is the long term average. Redis the cirrent year

 

[Munroast]

I use a CT clamp on the oven circuit to measure the current used but it doesn't prove much. Different meals require different amounts of energy to cook and it also depends on the starting temperature of the food. You would need to cook exactly the same meal, starting with ingredients at exactly the same temperature by several different cooking methods to make the comparison valid.

and on top of that you would need to factor in the wste heat from the cooking that stayed within the house and supplemented your central heating, very important in the winter less so in the summer.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I remember the days of the twin tub, and the piles of cloths on the kitchen floor, I am sure it was more environmental friendly, water being used many times, but the labour involved was huge, and we have to accept labour saving costs money.

It wouldn't be too difficult to modify a machine, to pump it's used hot water to a store, then back in for the next wash.

If I look at my home, having a PIR to turn lights on in the hall and landing would clearly make sense, but only if wired that way from new, the cost to rewire would exceed any savings.

Again, an easy modification to add a PIR local to a light, and link out the switch(es)

A heated chair seems a good idea, I have them in my car, why not in the house.

You can buy heated pads, like an electric blanket. I bought one a few years ago, a small version for back and neck - 6x heat settings, and it shuts off after an hour. #6 is uncomfortably hot after a while.