Help me work out how I'm using so much electricity??

[Crazybengalcats]

Hi, I know there are a million threads on this topic and I've read most of them, but I could really do with some help working out why the electricity usage is so high in our household.

I'm with Bulb and the annual estimated electricity usage is 14,000kwh :(

Here's what we have in the house:

Combi boiler

Electric oven and hob - we do oven cook a lot of things and some days the oven is on 2-3 times (we might eat something spicy later in the evening after children have eaten, for example) and each morning we boil coffee on the hob using a coffee pot.

Electric shower (all three children shower daily, 10 mins each roughly, partner most days, me every other day)

Kettle - boiled a few times a day, I do tend to fill it up each time

Toaster used maybe 3 times per week

3 x tvs on standby 24/7, one used for the xbox in our room which dp is on most evenings for a few hours

3 other xboxes plugged in but switched on infrequently

3 x sets of led lights (one in each of the children's rooms) - always on but this week I've started turning them off during the day.

Printer - plugged in and switched on all the time.

Alexa device

Google home device

Many phone and laptop chargers left plugged in and on at the wall

Washing machine - new this year and a rated, plus a tumble dryer - a rated. I do lots of washing (2-3 loads per day), one load at 60 degrees and the others at 40.... only an hour for each cycle though.

Tumble dryer I was using for most loads but have been trying to hang the washing out while it's been sunny recently

Chest freezer and a small undercounter fridge which are both -2 years old.

That's it!

Does anyone know the most likely culprits for the high electricity bills?

We can't get an in home display as we have a 1st gen smart meter so was thinking of trying one of the energy plugs to monitor usage but would like to start with one of the most likely electricity-guzzling appliances first!

Thanks in advance

How many children do you have that you need to do 2-3 loads of washing each day? That seems like a huge amount.

By my counting there's 5 in the household

I can do several loads per day here as dh and I go to gym classes. He also plays football and coaches rugby. Ds plays rugby and goes to the gym and also has school uniform to be washed.

I have 2 primary aged DC and since I found out about the price rises I have been STRICT about clothes washing. I look at the laundry basket every night and sling out anything that can be worn again. I don't wash trousers until they've been worn twice, wear a thin layer under jumpers so they can go a few wears without a wash etc. We all look and smell exactly the same but I've cut down to 4/5 washes a week (including bedding etc). It's really amazing how easy it is to cut down once you lose the habit of slinging everything in the wash and it makes zero difference at all to our appearance or comfort!

We use just under that much and we charge 2 electric cars at home as well as electric air source heating!

I used to have similar washing when DD in cloth nappies but reduced now. We do about 1 load per day now for family of 3.

Someone upthread mentioned toaster using leccy just by being on at the wall - are we talking a significant saving if it's turned off?

Three children... two teenagers and a 10 year old.

I used to wash clothes, pjs etc after every use but have recently tried to make sure that clothes and pyjamas get two uses before washing. Any more than that and surely they're dirty?
From sweat etc if nothing else.

The loads are usually a towel wash and underwear (and pyjamas every other day) as everyone uses a towel once before washing,all other clothes go in together and whites are a seperate load.

So maybe two loads a day but I can't do any less than that or it seems to build up and I'm having to do 6 loads in a day and not being able to get it dry.

That's my issue with the line - we have a shady garden so even today in warmer weather I had a pair of my dds joggers on the line from 9am and the cuffs ahead only just dried now.

Haven't really got the room for airers.

My two boys have autism and adhd by the way, so they tend to come home from school covered in mud and school lunch!

@Billandben444

Someone upthread mentioned toaster using leccy just by being on at the wall - are we talking a significant saving if it's turned off?

I don't understand that. It isn't doing anything. How can it be using power?

If you're doing a lot of washing, do one on a 30c wash for items that just need a freshen up (ie not particularly dirty).

If you've got a microwave, you could cook your food alongside the childrens and warm yours up in a couple of minutes.

As said cut back on shower time, I have very long hair that takes a lot of rinsing and I can do that and wash in six mins - others will be less!

Do you really need three tvs, xboxes on standby? One or two of either is surely enough? Don't leave anything plugged in unless it's actually charging. Turn LED lights off first thing in morning.

We don't have a tumble dryer so I do my washing when it's breezy, sunny or can at least go out for a few hours. That's hard is you need to do 2-3 washes, but you could certainly put a few washes out each week.

We only boil what we need.

I'd say ovens, kettles and tumble dryers are certainly high usage. Also, if your running at bath or shower, your boiler will be at max use to heat water up.

Definitely showers! That is a lot. Also you can’t wash less abut maybe dry an alternative? Especially now it’s summer?

I know people keep saying about chargers, this will probably sound ridiculously obvious and not to make it about me but also hoping to help OP but do those sockets with the usb outlets, are the chargers in there using a lot?

You dont need to wash towels after 1 use. Hang them up and reuse a few times. That's just wasteful.

I do use airers and the banister as I don't own a tumble dryer

But what about*

Don't wash towels after every use! I hang mine on the line when I leave for work and it's dry when I get back. Perfectly fresh and clean smelling. I mean, you dry a clean body with it...

That's my issue with the line - we have a shady garden so even today in warmer weather I had a pair of my dds joggers on the line from 9am and the cuffs ahead only just dried now

So? There's several more hours of daylight. As long as everything dries before it starts to get dark and/or cool down, I don't understand the issue. Our back garden is shaded in the afternoon but everything dries in a day between about March and October as long as it's not raining, very cold or damp/foggy etc.

It's astonishing how many people have sleepwalked into such hugely wasteful energy usage that they've only started thinking about now that costs have risen so much.

Mines 2,866 kwh over the last year. The previous year it was 1,754 kwh. Difference from one year to the next is we brought a tumble dryer and had an electric shower installed. That almost 1,000 kwh of difference on just 2 appliances. We only tumble dry one or two loads a week. Only wash 4 loads a week. Showers for me are less than 4 minutes unless I'm washing my hair (weekly) then I will turn the water off while I'm shampooing the hair and lathering myself. I try and keep the kids showers to under 5 minutes. Have a small travel kettle so not to over fill.

Chargers, TVs on standby, kettles - all well and good but using a negligable amount of electricity compared to multiple washing loads a day. You could have a phone charging in every socket in the house and I doubt it'd contribute 1% of what a load of washing does.

My electricity is charged at 19.73p per KwH. Here's what that will buy you:

OMG you wash towels after every use?? I use mine for at least a week before I wash it... is that really minging??
I reckon roughly one load of washing per person per week.
We are a couple with a baby and do maybe 4, but DD is in reusable nappies so that bumps it up a bit.

Washing pyjamas after every use! No wonder you have so much washing. We wear ours for a week unless particularly sweaty (height of summer/fever). You are washing way more than you need to.

You wash towels after each shower? That's insane.

Pyjamas my kids wear 3-4 times.

Clothes are worn until visibly dirty or smelly.

Wind is more important than sun for drying. Get stuff out there on windy days and you'll see the difference. Even if stuff needs a few mins to finish in the tumble, that's better than the whole load in there.

We're a family of 4. I do 4-5 loads a week (unless someone's been ill).

Towels are not single use!!

Why on earth are you washing towels after every use?

You need to seitcht stuff off. Consoles like xboxs don't like to be on standby. The power packs burn out. Don't leave anything on standby. Use eco wash. Yes it takes longer. No tumble drier.

How dirty to you get to need a 10 minute shower?

Use an air frier or get a ninja. I covet a ninja me. Less oven usage. Turn shit off like chargers. Boil what you need. Keep your freezer full.

It's not hard to make some tweaks.

Can you allocate certain towels to each person or a drying place? Then you really don't need to only use a towel once before washing it. When we were kids our towels all got washed once a week, but we all had our own towels & drying place. I tend to change them mid week as well.

I'd like to know in real terms how much difference it makes actually leaving things on stand-by.

Things like kettles make the 'smart meter' go into orbit, but it's only for such a short time.

I think if you turn everything off at the wall & don't have your led lights on all the time then you can make a small difference, but that's not what's driving up your bills. I think it might be your oven use, & possibly your fridges - how old are they? How good are the seals??

With your freezer, they're cheaper to run when full. People used to use polystyrene blocks if they couldn't afford food!!