O.5 what? As above, we are talking about and average background/quiescent consumption of 42.8W, aka 0.0428kW - which, as I said, seems to me to be remarkably modest in this day and age.
Kind Regards, John
High baseline electricity usage
- Thread starter LordFrederickIII
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Kind Regards, John
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ok lets have a go
my washing machine uses 7w if not switched off at the wall
microwave??
phone chargers?
any power bricks if not unplugged[printer off brick still consumes about 11w]
computer turned off still consumes power
anything on standby modern around 1w old 5 years plus up to 30% off running power
fridge and freezer about 135w each so 30% run will be an average 40w each
central heating timer/controls
my washing machine uses 7w if not switched off at the wall
microwave??
phone chargers?
any power bricks if not unplugged[printer off brick still consumes about 11w]
computer turned off still consumes power
anything on standby modern around 1w old 5 years plus up to 30% off running power
fridge and freezer about 135w each so 30% run will be an average 40w each
central heating timer/controls
Exactly - and, as I said, I think such things will add up to a fair bit more than 42.8W in many/most households these days.
Kind Regards, John
How did you measure those figures?
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plug in monitor bought from lidl about 15 years ago
interestingly one ancient tv used 40% on standy but it was about 20+ years old and that was 5 years ago
Probably not the most accurate of instruments then, as some earlier comments suggested. Have you been able to compare its readings with something having a known energy consumption?
Not that I disagree with your figures, but I'm aware that those monitors can be horribly misleading for anything but a resistive load.
sorry, was jet lagged when I wrote the energy usage.
It is 427 watts per hour consistently. Someone has suggested is the consumer unit but I can't see how.
sorry about the late response
accuracy is a bit suspect i would suggest + or- 20%
as in 2.6kw fire on 2.2w a 7w led bulb =6 22w le bulb 20w
the cheap monitors are not very accurate at low usages.
they tend to grossly overindicate usage by small items such as phone chargers, and make people think that their cost is more than negligible.
If you mean the usage is 427W, which is 0.427kWh per hour, then the cost would be about 5p per hour. This would be about 20 energy-saving lamps, or a very small electric heater, so if it is a single appliance the heat should be very noticeable.
However this is 42.7 Watts so you are still saying the wrong numbers. If you had a fridge or freezer plugged in, or any lighting, you should deduct its usage
Does this correspond with what your electricity meter says? Your meter may have a flashing LED which counts fractional usage.
You can turn off the MCBs one at a time if you like to see which circuits have your "baseline load". If you little device still claims there is a usage when all MCBs are off, it is probably wrong. Turn off the main switch and see what it says. Observe the electricity meter after an hour.
Your garden lighting certainly SHOULD have an isolator or an FCU in the house enabling you to cut all power to it. Try that. If it hasn't, get one fitted. The garden circuit should be protected with an RCD.
they tend to grossly overindicate usage by small items such as phone chargers, and make people think that their cost is more than negligible.
If you mean the usage is 427W, which is 0.427kWh per hour, then the cost would be about 5p per hour. This would be about 20 energy-saving lamps, or a very small electric heater, so if it is a single appliance the heat should be very noticeable.
However this is 42.7 Watts so you are still saying the wrong numbers. If you had a fridge or freezer plugged in, or any lighting, you should deduct its usage
Does this correspond with what your electricity meter says? Your meter may have a flashing LED which counts fractional usage.
You can turn off the MCBs one at a time if you like to see which circuits have your "baseline load". If you little device still claims there is a usage when all MCBs are off, it is probably wrong. Turn off the main switch and see what it says. Observe the electricity meter after an hour.
Your garden lighting certainly SHOULD have an isolator or an FCU in the house enabling you to cut all power to it. Try that. If it hasn't, get one fitted. The garden circuit should be protected with an RCD.
When you use your calculator to divide 7700 by 180, what do you see in the display?
Sorry, in my original post I stated "7.7kwh". The was wrong. I inadvertently entered a decimal when i shouldn't have. The actual reading was 77.
The following readings were taken immediately before and after the holiday, before we switched anything else on or off.
Reading before holidays: 3284kwh
Readings after: 3361kwh
Usage over holiday period = 77kwh/180 (hours away)
Which is where I got the 0.428kwh usage figure from.
Hope that clears it up.
These readings are directly from the meter. I pay a fraction over 10p per kwh
The following readings were taken immediately before and after the holiday, before we switched anything else on or off.
Reading before holidays: 3284kwh
Readings after: 3361kwh
Usage over holiday period = 77kwh/180 (hours away)
Which is where I got the 0.428kwh usage figure from.
Hope that clears it up.
These readings are directly from the meter. I pay a fraction over 10p per kwh
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Many good points have already been made, I have had career of fault finding for over 50 years. A process of elimination needs to be continued by isolating all possibilities. Start by isolating outgoing MCB`s to find which circuit has the load in question. Hone in on that circuit, remove any items plugged in, switch off any fixed connections, until the unexplained fault / load is found, disconnect fixed wiring that`s routed through unknown inaccessible voids or in concrete floors. Some faults can be detected with I.R. thermal imaging but if a damaged / wet cable is underground that will need rewiring, quite common and should have tripped if RCD protected. Hope this will help to encourage any to be methodical & persistent in solving faults.
P.S. Various items loads all add up and check out things like TV distribution amps. PIR`s, dimmer`s, electronic stuff running warmer than when new, etc. Also your monitor display is not a calibrated tested instrument only a guide for energy consumption.
P.S. Various items loads all add up and check out things like TV distribution amps. PIR`s, dimmer`s, electronic stuff running warmer than when new, etc. Also your monitor display is not a calibrated tested instrument only a guide for energy consumption.
Since most monitors do not have a voltage reference input they cannot multiply volts times amps to obtain accurate VA values. Instead they multiply the average current by 230 volts to get watts with no consideration of the phase relationship between current and votage ( power factor ).
AC mains voltage alternates between 312 volts positive and 312 volts negative in a sine wave. 100 times a second the voltage is zero.
If there is a high current while the voltage is low as occurs with some switched mode power supplies in equipment then that current is multiplied by 230 to get "watts" when it should be multiplied by the low voltage ( typically 10 o 20 volts ) present at the time the current is flowing. Hence the reading in "watts" can be 23 time greater than it should be.
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