Help me understand why I use so much electricity

[BergamotMouse]

I feel our electricity use is excessive but I'm not sure how to cut it down.
We don't have a smart meter so can't see how much is used by different appliances.

We use on average 14 units a day.

We live in a 4 bed semi. Use the washing machine 4 times a week or so. Never use the tumble drier. Dishwasher probably on 4 times a week.

DH works from home so his laptop and screen are plugged in all day.

TV etc turned off at the plug when not in use and on for 2-3 hours a day.

Large fridge freezer which i suspect uses a lot.

LED lights throughout.

We have a robot hoover and robot lawnmower.

I can't think how we can cut down our usage so any advice from people who have a smart meter and can advise where it might be leaking to would be appreciated.

Thanks

How often do you use your oven?

Do you have an electric shower?

We have a gas aga (don't even start on the bills for that but it was here when we moved in and will cost too much to replace)

Non electric shower.

OP we use between 7.4 and 10 units a day. Our worst useage was in lockdown when we use 15 a day. (geek alert spreadsheet user)

We cook on electric, and turn everything off at the plug. No electric shower. Big fridge freezer and small fridge. Similar washing/dishwasher use to you.
I suspect that your F/F may be the issue.

Do you use the eco setting on the dishwasher & washing machine? They're often longer cycles but use less electricity

Turn everything off. Make sure there is nothing still using electricity.
Turn the F/F only for an hour. See how much that uses.
then add in the other stuff.

We use a sensor wash on the dishwasher but there is an energy save option which I will switch to. On the washing machine we do the daily wash option which is an hour at 30. There is a 'super eco wash' option but that's a cold wash and not sure if it will tackle kid dirt - will try it next time though.

I think most appliances are 10+ years old so probably not the most energy efficient.

What about the hoover and lawnmower? If they’re robots, are they on quite a lot?

fridge and especially freezers use less electric when full as uses more power to keep empty spaces cold than to keep stuff frozen
according to a website the average is 8-10 per day, but larger homes use more a 4 bed detached on average uses twice that of a 1 bed flat
i switch my PC off completely if leaving it for more than 1 hour ( working form home) we don't have electric shower and i have an old washing machine that uses hot water fill as the stove heats water anyway

Am currently seeing how much is used with only the fridge freezer and modem on for an hour.

Robot mower does a mow every day. Vacuum goes around when we remember to pick up everything but probably a couple of times a week.

Freezer and fridge are pretty full.

fridge freezer do not use lots...they cycle on and off so not running constantly....hoovers use lots but its not running for hours....each appliance will show how many watts it uses on the plate or sticker somewhere.

My df has gas ch and at 91 very few appliances, hardly cooks, no dishwasher, uses washing machine twice a week. Lives in a small flat.
His electricity seemed high to me and I realised it was his old freezer. He’s just had a new ff so I will be comparing his new bill next month.

This is the fridge freezer info. Not sure what numbers mean what though.
435W in 24hrs or 191? Doesn't seem too high either way?

Electric shower? Ours draws 10kw so a 15 minute shower is 2.5kwh before you even get dressed on a morning.

Shower isn't electric.

Sorry just seen your last post. I don't think 14kwh is that high depending on how many people are in your home.

On the fridge freezer, have you cleaned the bars on the back of the machine. They are where the unit disposes of heat but if they are covered in dust/fluff from static, the fridge freezer could be working much harder than it should be.

I live alone in a four bed house, the washer is on once or twice a week, dishwasher twice a week, large 10 year old fridge freezer, lots of smart speakers and Sonos speakers on standby all the time, led bulbs on in most of the house on all evening, electric cooker, and computers/tv on standby most of the time, and my average daily use last month was 5.92 kWh/day according to the bill I received yesterday. So for you to be using twice that, even with more people, sounds like a lot if your showers and oven aren't electric.

I haven't cleaned the back of the fridge but good tip. I don't think it's ever been out 😬!!

I thought it was quite high with us actively trying to cut back where possible

Does the mower really need to mow daily? That seems OTT.

My washing machine I can chose to eco mode every wash. It takes much longer (it soaks clothes rather than agitation so less elec) worth checking if you can do that.

I'm not an expert but I reckon things that heat up or are somewhat dynamic would use more electricity.
Vacuum cleaner ( no idea what a robovac uses for charging), iron, washing appliances, all cooking appliances but some more than others, hairdryer and any personal care gadgets like laser machines), pressure washer, DIY tools.
Definitely look at your washing machine and dishwasher manuals so you know which cycles are most energy efficient.
We have cut down drastically in everything we use, although we weren't extravagant in energy usage anyway, just normal consumption and basic economy habits.
We are now around 8 units per day for electricity. It will not be sustainable long term but we are definitely maintaining hygiene and health standards. DCs are reasonably responsible too. I suspect on average we'd be using maybe 20 units a day if we are careful (visitors, DIY, other temporary needs will happen a fair bit, so higher usage)
But OMG this is so irritating having to keep an eye on things. I really cannot see what else we could do, unless we cook at an outdoor fire/oven fuelled by foraged wood.
I'm dreading next price rice in energy.

That's how robot mowers work. They're designed to keep it low through constant mowing so you don't get lots of grass cuttings and the lawn stays a constant length.

We have one that goes out daily and it doesn't use noticeably any more power than before we got it though so I doubt that's the culprit anyway. We are usually around 10-12KW a day but my husband works with computers from home so generally has powerful computer equipment running most of the day. And we do occasionally tumble dry. So yours does sound a little high, OP, given you aren't using the big energy consumers.

I record my meter readings most months and have lots of spreadsheets as I have changed billing companies most years - obviously not changed since my last supplier went bust and I was transferred on to a capped rate.

In the last 367 days I used 2521 kWHrs - that's an average of 6.87kWhrs/day.
As a reported in a previous post I found that a 20+ year old fridge freezer - which I had noticed was humming into life on quite a regular basis was actually using about 25-30% of all my electricity - I suspect because the refrigerant has been leaking out (even through welded joints in the pipework) for years and so the compressor has run frequently to condense the refrigerant gas back into liquid (which is used to take away heat from items in the fridge - the heat turns the liquid back into gas) - anyway - I suggest to listen out to your fridge/freezers and see if they are bursting into life regularly - I went away one weekend and turned everything off in the house including the gas boiler that uses electricity for the electric pump/electronics - only about 50W - that's how I got some measure of how much the FF was using. I replaced it with the cheapest Bosch one from John Lewis - I reckon it will pay for itself pretty quickly - can't remember the figures - about 2 yrs to break even I think. We have no electric shower, use the oven a lot less, all lights are LED's, use the
dishwasher 2-3 times/week - washing machine slightly more than once a week and don't have a tumble dryer.
Your recharging stations for your robots - if they are transformer types (instead of the much more efficient switched mode power supply types) might use more juice than you imagine - charging batteries is quite an inefficient use of electricity - see if the charging stations feel warm - all that heat was produced by using electricity - electricity that doesn't go into charging your battery powered robots. Why mow the lawn so often? I have a 4 bed detached house - 2 adults.

TV etc turned off at the plug when not in use and on for 2-3 hours a day.

Might as well leave it on standby, I’m happy to pay the 15p or so a month not to have to faff about endlessly switching the socket on and off.

I don't find pressing a switch next up a socket a faff. If it saves even just 15p a month, that's still money I get to keep.

Nothing says on standby here.

It could be that your fridge/freezer is passed it's best. Hopefully your test of just having that and then modem on will establish that either way.

There's only me at home but I'm using 5-7 units a day. Also have 10 yr old appliances and do 3-4 washes a week but dishwasher probably twice. I have an electric oven and an electric shower although I'm trying to use the ones at the gym more to reduce how much I use that! I work from home 3 days a week but having laptop and monitor plugged in all day doesn't seem to make much difference to daily usage (I have a smart meter). My TV is on standby overnight as it's on an extension lead with the phone and broadband hub. Even when my parents were staying over Xmas and everyone had a shower daily and the oven was on a lot I don't think I hit 14 units.