Hello everyone,
I am trying to analyse our energy consumption. We live in an average size bungalow, there is a glowworm boiler in the basement, 10 radiators, hot water cylinder (a megaflo if it matters) and gas hob. Electricity wise we have the usual kettle, electric oven, computers, lights.
I have a year's usage of electricity and gas and it seems on the very high side.
From September 13 to March 14 (6 months in winter) we spent 4,519 kWh of electricity and 23,514 kWh of gas. For the next 6 months we spent 4,306 kWh of electricity and 12,227 kWh of gas.
I switched gas and electricity off and did not detect any obvious leaks.
So either we actually do spend all this energy or may be the meters are out of kilt, or a bit of both.
The gas meter is quite old and in 100s of cubic feet. The electricity meter is only a few years old, it is small, compact, has a little red light occasionally flashing as you use electricity.
Are there any further simple tests I can run to establish proper functioning of the meters at least?
For example I was thinking of switching on the kettle which is a known wattage and read the meter to see if it records the expected. But I may have to wait a long time with the kettle constantly on. And for the gas may be I can read the boiler labels, somewhere it will say how much gas it uses per minute , I am not sure.
Any help appreciated.
I am trying to analyse our energy consumption. We live in an average size bungalow, there is a glowworm boiler in the basement, 10 radiators, hot water cylinder (a megaflo if it matters) and gas hob. Electricity wise we have the usual kettle, electric oven, computers, lights.
I have a year's usage of electricity and gas and it seems on the very high side.
From September 13 to March 14 (6 months in winter) we spent 4,519 kWh of electricity and 23,514 kWh of gas. For the next 6 months we spent 4,306 kWh of electricity and 12,227 kWh of gas.
I switched gas and electricity off and did not detect any obvious leaks.
So either we actually do spend all this energy or may be the meters are out of kilt, or a bit of both.
The gas meter is quite old and in 100s of cubic feet. The electricity meter is only a few years old, it is small, compact, has a little red light occasionally flashing as you use electricity.
Are there any further simple tests I can run to establish proper functioning of the meters at least?
For example I was thinking of switching on the kettle which is a known wattage and read the meter to see if it records the expected. But I may have to wait a long time with the kettle constantly on. And for the gas may be I can read the boiler labels, somewhere it will say how much gas it uses per minute , I am not sure.
Any help appreciated.