High baseline electricity usage

[LordFrederickIII]

Recently moved house and we've noticed that the electricity bills are rather high. So we purchased one of those energy measurement gizmos and did some monitoring.

The base energy usage is approximately 0.5 kWph which is like having a portable heater on all the time. This is even during the night when only the essential items are on. I've unplugged items, measured the usage at the power sockets and nothing adds up to 0.5 kWph. By my calculations it should be around 0.2 kWph max.

The only thing I've noticed it that with everything off at the mains, and all items unplugged, when we turn on the switch marked 'lounge' there is an immediate use of 200 watts which falls to about 50watts after a while. Also the lounge is wired to the garden lights and I have a feeling there could be leakage here, although how I would test that I have no idea.

So I've had an electrician in to have a look, but if I'm honest, they were absolutely hopeless. They did agree that the base usage should be much lower, but couldn't pinpoint the issue.

My first question: is it worthwhile for myself to go around all the lights and sockets and ensure there are no loose wires? I'm not sure if that would cause the issue.

Second question: ideally I'd like an electrician to come and take a proper look. What kind of questions should I be asking to ensure they are capable (and qualified)? Happy to take recommendations of electricians in the West Yorkshire area.

 

[winston1]

Recently moved house and we've noticed that the electricity bills are rather high. So we purchased one of those energy measurement gizmos and did some monitoring.

The base energy usage is approximately 0.5 kWph which is like having a portable heater on all the time. This is even during the night when only the essential items are on. I've unplugged items, measured the usage at the power sockets and nothing adds up to 0.5 kWph. By my calculations it should be around 0.2 kWph max.

The only thing I've noticed it that with everything off at the mains, and all items unplugged, when we turn on the switch marked 'lounge' there is an immediate use of 200 watts which falls to about 50watts after a while. Also the lounge is wired to the garden lights and I have a feeling there could be leakage here, although how I would test that I have no idea.

So I've had an electrician in to have a look, but if I'm honest, they were absolutely hopeless. They did agree that the base usage should be much lower, but couldn't pinpoint the issue.

My first question: is it worthwhile for myself to go around all the lights and sockets and ensure there are no loose wires? I'm not sure if that would cause the issue.

Second question: ideally I'd like an electrician to come and take a proper look. What kind of questions should I be asking to ensure they are capable (and qualified)? Happy to take recommendations of electricians in the West Yorkshire area.

The first thing to realise is that "those energy measurement gizmos" don't measure energy. They measure current only and compute watts assuming a fixed voltage and unity power factor. You won't have either.

Testing for garden leakage? Well disconnect the garden circuit for starters.

 

[LordFrederickIII]

The reading from the device does seem to correlate with the meter readings, although I do appreciate they may not be 100% accurate.

As for the garden lights, I'm not convinced that all the wiring goes via the separate isolator switch marked 'Garden lights'. I have a gut feeling the issue is around that area.

There's just too many wires for me to be comfortable.

Edit: I just read this thread and i've often thought there maybe some audio equipment that is hard wired somewhere. I know the previous owner was an audiophile.

 

[WellKnownSid]

Edit: I just read this thread and i've often thought there maybe some audio equipment that is hard wired somewhere. I know the previous owner was an audiophile.

Aside from not having a voltage reference, these are measuring current using a mass-produced solid state sensor built for cost not accuracy. The major issue is that they are very non-linear for the first couple of hundred watts.

For example, we have a timer that uses about 3W (measured) that shows as 39W. We have a couple of 14W fluorescents that appear to use 85W together.

 

[JohnW2]

The only thing I've noticed it that with everything off at the mains, and all items unplugged, when we turn on the switch marked 'lounge' there is an immediate use of 200 watts which falls to about 50watts after a while. Also the lounge is wired to the garden lights and I have a feeling there could be leakage here, although how I would test that I have no idea.

Do any of the garden lights have PIR detectors? If so, the lights will usually come on for the 'timing period' (usually 30 seconds or so) when you first apply power, before they settle down.

My first question: is it worthwhile for myself to go around all the lights and sockets and ensure there are no loose wires? I'm not sure if that would cause the issue.

Loose wires are not going to be the answer. Indeed, given that you are 'looking for' an unaccounted load of a few hundred watts, if that were resuting from some sort of leakage due to a fault in the wiring, it would probably be the fire brigade, rather than an electrician, that you would need!

As has been said, these 'energy monitors' can be particularly inaccurate at very low loads. Have you tried comparing the overnight usage as measured by the energy monitor with that actually recorded by your elecricity meter?

Kind Regards, John

 

[LordFrederickIII]

As has been said, these 'energy monitors' can be particularly inaccurate at very low loads. Have you tried comparing the overnight usage as measured by the energy monitor with that actually recorded by your elecricity meter?

Kind Regards, John

As I have just returned from holiday, that is precisely what I did.

When we left the house everything was as it would be overnight. So for 7 nights the electricity consumption wasn't influenced by human interference.

The total amount of electricity used was 7.7kwh over 180 hours.
Which equates to 0.427 watts of energy used constantly which does somewhat correlate with the energy meter.

Effectively a baseline cost of approx £37 quid per month

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Which equates to 0.427 watts of energy used constantly

42.8 according to my calculator.

 

[LordFrederickIII]

Which equates to 0.427 watts of energy used constantly

42.8 according to my calculator.

Lol. I didn't bother rounding

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If you can't spot an error of two degrees of magnitude, and don't even grasp it when it's pointed out to you, I suggest you never, ever, do anything which requires calculations again.

 

[EFLImpudence]

180 hours is exactly one quarter of 30 days so

7.7 x 4 = 30.8 x 12p? = £3.70

 

[big-all]

Which equates to 0.427 watts of energy used constantly

42.8 according to my calculator.

Lol. I didn't bother rounding

you are talking less than one unit or about 5p you seem to be 2 decimal points out so 100 times more at £5 or 42,8 units ??

 

[JohnW2]

180 hours is exactly one quarter of 30 days so ... 7.7 x 4 = 30.8 x 12p? = £3.70

It's good to see that someone got it right (about £3.70/month) - the decimal point seems to have been moving around all over the place!

I have to say that an average 'background' usage of 42.8W (yes, that's what it is 7700/180, per BAS) strikes me as being very modest, and I would think appreciably less than most houses achieve these days.

Kind Regards, John

 

[bernardgreen]

If you can't spot an error of two degrees of magnitude, and don't even grasp it when it's pointed out to you, I suggest you never, ever, do anything which requires calculations again.

more like decades or orders of magnitude.

 

[maltaron]

0.5 is not particularly high for quiescent power consumption. When you consider what is "always on". Telephones, modems, routers, mobile chargers, fridges, freezers, to name just a few.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

more like decades or orders of magnitude.

Yo - sorry. I thought I had written "orders of magnitude" - my keyboard must be faulty.