Confused about the price cap and energy consumption. Here's the thread for the physics and the maths to help you

[cakeorwine]

I've seen a lot of threads on here with people asking about their energy bills.

So a few basics here - and then I am sure people can add their own.

The price cap is an average expectation of what a household will pay. It's based on typical consumption and can vary between areas.

There is a daily standing charge and a cost per kilowatt hour.

There are figures available on typical energy consumption in a house.

According to Ofgem, the average household in the UK has 2.4 people living in it, and uses 2,900 kWh of electricity and 12,000 kWh of gas respectively. This works out as an average of 242 kWh of electricity, and 1,000 kWh of gas, per month

Electric devices have a power rating - in watts.
Devices that need a lot of power have a high power rating.

If you use a 1000 watt device for 1 hour, you have used 1 KWH of power (1000 watt hours)

That's 1 unit - about 28 pence with the new rating.

If you use the same 1000 watt device for 1/2 hour, that's 0.5 KWH - 0.5 units.

So if you use a 100 watt device for 10 hours, that's also 1 KWH (as it's low power but for a longer time)

Heaters are high users as they are on for a long time. As are immersion heaters.

Gas is different - you need to use a formula to change the volume of gas used from cubic metres into kilowatt hours.

A Smart meter will give you an indication of when there is a high energy demand, but don't forget that a low power device on for a long time will end up using a lot of energy.

So it's the kilowatt hours you need to look at whenever you question your bill.

This video is a basic guide to using one of them

@HollowTalk

Daft question, but can you plug it into an extension lead?

Yes.

@MissOrganisedMe

I wouldn't have thought so. It would just be an LED. It's not doing anything else.

But the best bit of advice is to turn things off and look at the rate your meter is changing.

@cakeorwine Thanks

I'm £1600 in credit because I haven't been at home much due to illness. I know they will want to give me some money back, I'm hoping to leave £600 on my account to cover the price rise, I currently pay £69 a month duel fuel by direct debit.

Thank you for this thread,OP. It's really really useful.

@HollowTalk

Thank you for this thread,OP. It's really really useful.

I just know from threads I've seen elsewhere that people know their direct debit costs but aren't aware of their actual energy usage.

The shower example is a perfect example of how a device that uses a lot of energy and is on a lot everyday ends up costing a lot of money.

I remember my Gran who used to sit with her electric heaters in her little conservatory. They were on for ages. I shudder to think what her bills were like.

Is it cheaper to run gas appliances than electrical does anyone know please,like to know if my next cooker would be better of as gas than electric and whether to get calories gas fire instead of heating on.

Calor gas I meant although I do generate enough calories gas myself

I think that Calor gas in a gas bottle (like we used to have) are expensive to run. As well as potentially dangerous with carbon monoxide poisoning,

It's expensive to buy bottled gas.

@NewbieDivergent

Calor gas I meant although I do generate enough calories gas myself

Calor gas also gives of an amount of water vapour as it burns. We had to use it to heat a mobile home once and the windows were dripping every night. It needs very good ventilation.

It's only a good temporary solution in my opinion.

Us there somewhere to compare energy use for devices to? So if i bought a power checker and worked out the kwatt usage of my fridge, how do I fine out if that's good or bad?

Thanks - great thread!

Thanks, this is really interesting!

Is it likely to be true that slow cookers on for 8hrs are cheaper than an oven for an hour? Air fryer I can believe as it's so much quicker.

We currently use the grill for toast etc, would I be better or worse to buy an actual 4 slice toaster? Not worried about cost of purchase, just interested in general use as we use it everyday.

Same with dehumidifier and drying clothes on a clothes horse inside in winter Vs tumble dryer etc.

A slow cooker, on low for 8 hours, can use 1.2 to 1.6 kWh. On April cap rates that's 33.6p - 44.8p for 8 hours. A standard oven is about 2.2kwh so 61.1p for an hour.

Air fryers are about 1.5kwh, so they use less power and are quicker.

Does anyone know how much a pressure cooker uses?
Also I have a plug In electric fire in one room. We only use it occasionally, I remember checking the use age cost when I bought it and thinking it was reasonable but 20 years later I can’t remember the useage and costs have rocketed! Does anyone have any ida of cost per hour to run?

@EnterFunnyNameHere

Us there somewhere to compare energy use for devices to? So if i bought a power checker and worked out the kwatt usage of my fridge, how do I fine out if that's good or bad?

Thanks - great thread!

White goods are supposed to have a label on them which gives a guide to how much energy they use in a year.

e.g. this is one for a fridge freezer

currysprod.a.bigcontent.io/v1/static/fiche_764031_en-39290.pdf

430 kwh per year - so that's 430 * 0.28 = £120 per year.

You should be able to get this information when you look at white goods. On Curry's, it's the product fiche with a Letter (in this case F)

www.currys.co.uk/products/lg-gsld50dsxm-americanstyle-fridge-freezer-dark-graphite-10227365.html

@43percentburnt

Does anyone know how much a pressure cooker uses? Also I have a plug In electric fire in one room. We only use it occasionally, I remember checking the use age cost when I bought it and thinking it was reasonable but 20 years later I can’t remember the useage and costs have rocketed! Does anyone have any ida of cost per hour to run?

A Ninja cooker is 1500 watts

So 1 hour of use is 1.5 units * 0.28 = 42p

(This assumes it's drawing that power consistently).

If you plug it in to the device I mentioned, that will give an accurate measurement.

Same for the heater - you just need to see if you can find the wattage on it and then test it.

Thank you @cakeorwine!

All I know about electric fires is that my sparky dh, who is happy to spend money like it's water, throws himself across the room to turn it off if one of the kids flicks it on.

But, it all gets more complicated if you are comparing heating say, one room with an electric heater rather than say, the whole house with gas.

But, it all gets more complicated if you are comparing heating say, one room with an electric heater rather than say, the whole house with gas

That's an interesting question.

I've seen debates on keeping radiators low in other rooms and using a heater in the lounge etc.

Actually, on interrogation, apparently it's 2kwh and he just gets miffed with people turning it on and walking away.

@FourTeaFallOut

Actually, on interrogation, apparently it's 2kwh and he just gets miffed with people turning it on and walking away.

I am going to be really pedantic here - it's one of the bugbears I have.

So sorry for the below...

It's 2 kilowatts. I suppose you could look at kilowatts as the equivalent of miles per hour and KWH as the equivalent of miles. We pay for the miles, not the speed we take to get there.

We have a temperature controlled heater, so it cuts out when the temperature is reached.

Just ordered one of those plug in thingies but had to get it from Amazon as your link to Screwfix had them all out of stock 😮.

I keep meaning to take meter readings on a regular basis but don't ever manage to. If I start today I suppose that would help work out what we use especially through the colder months. Should I do daily or weekly? I do have solar panels so need to make sure I use the washing machine/tumble dryer during daylight hours as we don't store the excess power, it goes back to the company.

I also need to get an electrician to fit a new control unit for the heating. Ours is so old it's either on or off so normally on. This one will give us the option of three times a day plus different times for different days which will be good for us.

No, that's fine. You're right. I've only just taken any interest in this stuff and can trip over important differences.

Our electric fire doesn't have a thermostat so it will just heat full noise until it is turned off, so - for us- if it's on for an hour that is 2kwh.