How much electricity do you use?

[Crazyhouse123]

Our electricity is around 100 a month. We don't have a tumble dryer. Boiler is combination so runs on gas. Lots of tech but looking this up this shouldn't add up to so much. Got rid of the fish tank when the last ancient fish went to the great pond in the sky so not lighting or heating for this. I work from home but just run a laptop and screen. Lights go off and are all enery

@ivykaty44

SieveBrain in order of use?

hi, yes it lists the ones with the highest use (of electricity) first

the always on is infuriating. I've been going round turning everything off since I got that bill!

@NotMyCat

Bill says 109kwh per month, about £25

Your bill is for 3 weeks rather than 4 so will be a bit more for a full month

We use between 175 (summer) and 230 (winter) kWh per month on average. 4 bed house, 2DC, two of us wfh all week, 1 or 2 tumble drier loads per week, one or two meals cooked in the oven. Gas CH so no electric heating

@dementedpixie yeah I think it was around £30 for a full month and then gas is about £20 (my gas is always less!)

Just over 6000kWh per year, monthly cost the last two months of £109, which used to be what our combined gas and electric cost (still in credit) but now on the shitty Octopus avro tariff that's extortionate.

Our washing machine and Tumble drier are on everyday, also run a hot vivarium and I wfh.

Thank you all so much for the responses.
Looks as if it isn't out of the realms of normal for a 3 bed tech heavy semi.

Either that or my dear lovely 80 year old ndn is siphoning it off and when she asks me to pop in and switch her TV on cos she has forgotten how it's just a ruse

We have just had our bill based on actual readings. Might invest in one of those plug in checkers too they look like a good idea. I would love to get it down if I can.

We averaged 6.9kWh a day last autumn (Sep/Oct/Nov), and 7.8kWh a day during the winter (Dec/Jan/Feb). Two adults and two pre-school age children, all home all day. We use the tumble drier couple of times a week at least, wash maybe five loads. You're still getting on for double what we use.

First, I presume that whilst your gas combi boiler might run on gas, the pump which actually moves hot water around the heating system is electric? That's about 60W when the boiler is running for a start. If your heating runs a lot this will add up.

Our fan oven is 900W, so 90% of the consumption of a one bar electric fire when it's on. If you're running one for, say, an hour most days, that will add up enormously.

Our vacuum cleaner uses up to 2200W, which for the five hours a day my wife thinks it should be running is a phenomenal use of electricity.

Chest freezers are notoriously inefficient. My last Whirlpool one had an efficiency rating of E and then the thermostat broke so it ran continuously! Check this.

You mentioned two teenagers. Gaming devices (for the cooling fans) and hairdryers are the two obvious hidden drains that spring to mind.

Approx 4,500kwh per annum, increased from about 4,000kwh over the last 10 years.

Until recently;
1 adult (full time) - wfh over covid, now out at work 2 days per week
1 older-teen (full time, currently at uni)
1 mid-teen (5 days a week)
1 adult (weekends)

4-bed house.
Oil fired central heating & hot water.
Inflatable hot tub from May-Sep, but not heated constantly. Only from 2020, doesn't really appear to have impacted consumption much overall.
Usual gadgets etc.
Electric oven & hob.
Washing machine approx 4 or 5 time per week.
Tumble drier v infrequently, almost never Mar-Oct. Maybe 1 load a week Nov-Feb.
Don't use the kettle much in the week, although the weekend adult visitor does!
Fridge freezer, integral fridge & separate chest freezer in garage.

Get a smart meter fitted and suss out the in-home display. You can go around switching things on and off and see the level of energy used. You might find that your washing machine is using more energy than you realised. A cooler wash might use less.

4 people, 3 bed house, electric and gas is about £170 now was £130 last winter and we are being considerably more energy efficient this year it has just gone up a lot

You have roughly the same as us. I spend about £100 per quarter actual usage.

That covers fridge freezer, 3 x washing machine per week, 1 pc & screen running evenings, low energy light bulbs, electric cooker, dishwasher x 2 per week, no tumble dryer.
I use a slow cooker for mid week meals, and turn off everything ASAP. Most of my appliances are recent AAA+ rated so quite efficient. Turning things off at the wall, not on standby makes a difference.

I use about £20 per week. I have a tumble dryer, lots of tech and a heated clothes dryer. X

in 30 days ive used 111 pound ele,93 pound gas
im on a smart meter

im a big 3 bedroom on a mountain of south wales valleys uk
its gets bloody cold here.its been -2 to -5
at night for days now

We used a Smart Meter for a while when we were broke and it’s changed the the way we live. Basically, unplug any appliance you’re not using and you’ll see massive differences. We keep the TV, Kettle, toaster, lamps unplugged and we save about £20 a moth! Everything still uses electricity, even when plugged in!

*we love in a 4 bed with 3 people (2 wfh) that was £60 per moth (they say it’s now £100pm)

191 kWh last month or roughly 6 per day, for a single person, which is considered slightly lower than average. I do have a gas oven and instant hot water though.

I try to keep my usage low - turn off lights, use fan rather than aircon, heated throw rather than heater, plug up draughts coming in etc. I put a lot of devices on smart plugs so they turn off automatically - avoiding stand by power charges.

Oh wow there are some really amazing insights here! Thank you all so much!

I think the first thing I am going to do is get a plug in meter to check individual plugs. We do tend to leave a lot plugged in overnight even if flicked off at the socket. Smart plugs sound like an excellent idea....especially for teens!

I didn't even think of the water pump in the boiler or how much the chest freezer might be costing us. I don't even utilise it so much any more so after Christmas that can go (not before as it would involve a bit of clearing and organising!)

Thank you all so much. Submitting a meter reading today and then again in a month so hopefully we will see a difference! Gas will be up this month because we have had the heating on more so it would be an extra good month to get the electric down!

We have averaged 15-20 kWh per day over the last week but we've been off work and have had an elderly relative to stay, 10-15 is more usual. Heating on a fair bit this last week at it's been cold (so gas has increased) and it seems rude to tell an 86 year old to put a thicker jumper on!

I'm feeling everybody's fear here.
Just me and my grown up son who's out all day so just me at home and the heating comes on 7am off 9am until 5.30pm until 11pm.
As soon as it the radiators cool down the house is cold again.
Apparently you should leave on a low constant heat. Which I'm going to try.

NotMyCat

Your standing charge is really low at under 17p per day, and the price per unit is good at under 19p

Edf are charging 27p per unit and 23p per day for comparison

Sounds like a lot for the use you describe.

Is your shower electric? If so, do people take long showers? On another 'my electric bill is so high' thread, someone worked out that if you have a habit of daily 20 min showers, that can add about £30 pm to the bill for that use alone.

Or it could be the tech if you have things like gaming PCs on for hours at a time.

Our electricity bill is probably about £50-60 a month, there's only two of us, but I WFH and we have electric shower, oven and hob that's used quite a lot, plus dishwasher so we probably use more electricity and less gas than a lot of households that cook and shower using gas.

Last month we used 940kwh, costing £105
Two of us living in a 4 bed semi. Washer and tumble drier, used 3 times a week on average. One fridge freezer. DH wfh twice a week. TV on a lot, and radios. Permanent fish pump. Two electric cars. Dishwasher used daily. Heating is oil. Electric showers, used daily. Electric hob and cooker as we don't have gas.
We have super green electric (from Octopus) and use their Go tariff which is cheaper overnight so that's when we charge my full electric vehicle and run the dishwasher. The hybrid charges during the day usually.
Our smart meter reports on a half hourly basis so it's very easy to get to grips with what is using electricity.
How old are your appliances? My parents realised their old fridge freezer was costing them a fortune as it was no longer running efficient. Swapped it out and saved nearly £20 a month!

@ivykaty44

NotMyCat

Your standing charge is really low at under 17p per day, and the price per unit is good at under 19p

Edf are charging 27p per unit and 23p per day for comparison

Yeah I was with bulb and then sainsburys had a fix offer which I took, the day before they pulled it as the price was too low! I just wish I had fixed for 2 years instead of 1 but I can't complain

Too high, tho since price rises ( just puss and I), washing 3 to 4 times a week, dishwasher 3, oven once a weeek, heated airer to.
Anyone using their oven every day, why, buy a instapot or slowcooker or steamer.
Personally I have slowcooker , steamer and microwave

280kwh per week! I just looked at our bill and I'm shocked it's so high compared to everyone else. We have solar panels which offset our usage almost exactly so I don't feel too bad about it from an environmental perspective but still...

No idea what it all goes to - we use aircon at night, have a big fridge freezer and a mining computer but we don't have a dishwasher nor a tumble dryer, rarely watch TV. Most of it is probably aircon.