Fridge freezer costing £20 per day to run?

[Buttonsluna]

Hi there ,

We have just realised our standard size Liebherr fridge freezer is costing us over £7,000 a year to run . Obviously we’ve unplugged it and bought a new one (arriving today), but do you think I can get compensation from the company?

It took us a whole quarterly bill period to realise it‘s been using over 100 KWH per 24 hours. Our bills went up dramatically before that, but we put it down to both WFH.

Basically we now owe thousands of pounds we can’t afford (I feel sick and I’m having panic attack about how we’re going to pay).

As soon as we realised there was a problem when submitting our meter read, we bought a plug to check how much electricity each appliance is using. We were shocked that our Liebherr FF cost £23.50 over a 24 hour period!!!

We purchased it from John Lewis 10 years ago. Is there any recourse for compensation or do we have to suck it up? Is this just what happens when FF break down- is it normal? It seemed to be functioning ok, everything cold/ frozen and no frost or anything.

If you have any ideas please help. We acted as soon as we realised there is a problem so please don’t tell me I’m stupid for not noticing, I am busy working mum and struggle as it is to keep up with all life admin. Obviously I’m checking meter constantly now.

We accidentally left the immersion on for a whole year once.

DH still can't talk about it without needing a lay down 😬

I have always kept my emersion on at all times. Definitely what I was advised.
I did only put it on ehen I wanted deep baths, did so for three months and my electricity usage tripled. Never changed any other appliances of living habits

How have you calculated the £23 per day? It’s very unlikely that a ff faulty or not would cost this , worked in utilities for 30 years and never heard of this higher usage would always be some form of elec heating or Im heater have you spoken to anyone for energy efficiency advice? Also who do you think you could claim compensation from ? The retailer is not going to pay out for anything and after 10 yrs is unlikely the manufacturer will have any legal liability

At that price to heat water , I would get a new combo boiler or solar panels . We had an old type boiler when we moved in and we changed it within months .

I'm wondering if there's an issue in GNE billing? Because they went bust and EDF took over and then you've switched to EON next.
I'm in exactly the same situation. GNE sent my final bill and it seems completely wrong, they've used estimated figures even though meter reads were provided and they got my bill double a month on what I normally use. It's stressing me out.

My brother moved into a property just before covid, worked from home then the electricity bills went dramatically through the roof into the thousands after an electrician had done ‘some work’ they had also purchased a hot tub and assumed it was that! Anyhow upshot was it was a switch in the loft next to immersion heater that the electrician had switched on! I’d be looking at your immersion heater

@Buttonsluna just read this thread for the first time and what a ride! genuinely had me feeling stressed out on your behalf and then to find it's all a mistake - must be the most mundane horror story I've ever read!

So your ff used 5kw an hour.
I can't see that even being possible as ff's don't have 5kw motors.
Are you sure it wasn't your energy supplier changing your direct debit.

An old lady I know has been growing her own cannabis on and off since 1972, but she wouldn’t nick anyone’s electricity.
My power bill is over £150 a month but I’m all electric - heating, the lot - in a big, draughty, poorly insulated apartment directly under the roof in a Jacobean house. My hot water heats up overnight and keeps hot all day. Sometimes I use the booster if I want a bath in the evening.

are you absolutely sure someone else isnt using yr electricity?

@winnieanddaisy

At that price to heat water , I would get a new combo boiler or solar panels . We had an old type boiler when we moved in and we changed it within months .

Me too, I had a new high-efficiency combi boiler fitted, and my gas usage has gone down.

I had a new condensing boiler, with a HW cylinder, and my gas usage dropped enormously.

@PigletJohn

I had a new condensing boiler, with a HW cylinder, and my gas usage dropped enormously.

So is your cylinder unvented, ie is your hot water at mains pressure? If not, you have to suffer low hot water pressure. IMO, a combi boiler is a much better solution, as you get all the system in one small box, which doesn't take up a lot of space.

Combi boilers aren't suitable for every household and I'm sure there's more things that can go wrong with them.

When i got a new boiler I got a like for like replacement and kept my hot water cylinder and tanks in the loft. We don't use hundreds of gas anyway as we use a timer and thermostat. Still only have the water on for a couple of hours a couple of times a day and that gives plenty of hot water for our needs

@BoredZelda

I know, can’t believe it either but there are other posts on mumsnet saying the same thing for immersion fitted more recently.

I know you’ve resolved that the immersion heater isn’t a problem, but, to confirm it is generally better to keep the immersion on all the time rather than on or off.

I get that it is counter intuitive, but the reason is, when it is on all the time, the water is kept constantly at a certain temperature, so the heater will still click on and off and only draw power once in a while to top up the heat. If you put it on once or twice a day, the tank will have cooled down which means the heater will be on for longer to reheat it.

Think of it like a kettle. If you want to keep it hot enough to make tea, you would only have to switch it on every once in while to take it back to the boil and it would only take a few seconds, but it takes 4 or 5 minutes to take it from cold to boiling.

If the tank is insulated it won't have cooled down so even if you had it on a timer you will not be heating from cold each time.

That obviously is not right. Has it been doing this for 10 years? If so why haven't you noticed before this. Even a year would show it up. Don't you check your bank statements when they come. Good luck

@Welshiefluff

The other cause could be an electrical leak in broken wiring. We only had 60% of house rewired, so this will need checking with the theoretical money I’ve saved today

Okay I am calling wind up now.

Getting confused with numbers is common, but nobody is dumb enough to think electricity can leak out of broken cables.

..ah leaky electic cables

I do remember reading (I think it was James Thurber) about his mother was convinced if you left lightbulbs out of their fittings, electricity would leak all over the house...

That really made me laugh thank you

@dementedpixie

Combi boilers aren't suitable for every household and I'm sure there's more things that can go wrong with them.

When i got a new boiler I got a like for like replacement and kept my hot water cylinder and tanks in the loft. We don't use hundreds of gas anyway as we use a timer and thermostat. Still only have the water on for a couple of hours a couple of times a day and that gives plenty of hot water for our needs

Actually, modern day combi boilers are extremely reliable! I went for an Ideal Logic Max C30, because they offer a 10-year warranty! Reading several reviews for my boiler, I only saw two cases where there had been a fault, and in both cases they were repaired for free under the warranty.

Have you tried talking to the electricity suppliers and asking for a comparison with other houses in the area? It is possible that you may be supplying electricity to someone else as well. 40 years ago, where I was living at the time, our electricity bill went sky high. I went to the Electricity board (it was then) and they took out the records and discovered that for some reason we were linked in to an industrial place opposite!

I ask because for three years my DD is £111 a month for electricity and gas, and I was always in credit. I have 3 FF, the newest is 3 years, and the other two are 25years and 15 years. I run one at a higher temperature - keeps lettuce for weeks, one has water and drinks and the other has food. My immersion heater is on all the time as the combi boiler only heats the water to the disabled living extension so the heater provides hot water to the kitchen, bathroom, cloakroom.

Perhaps you need to investigate why your FF is costing so much. You can also turn everything off, then watch the electricity meter and try each appliance in turn to see which is using the most. People are very clever nowadays at hooking their appliances into someone else's electricity.

There is a button to read all the posts by the OP.