Units of electricity a day…

[Mummy289]

Hi, ever since moving to our house we have used double the electric 🤣.
Just wondering what you think, does this sound right. We do use a lot I know, it’s just so expensive 🤣.
4 kids in a 3 bed house. (3 eldest have asd so we have more washing than normal).
We use 18 units a day on average.
-tumble dryer on 3 times a day
-washing machine 3 times a day
-dishwasher once a day
-hubby works from home.
-electric oven
-solar panels 😬.
-kids charge iPads and have Xbox.
Does this sound right? I’m assuming it’s the tumble dryer?

Tumble dryer will be a big bit of the cost. Do you have electric showers too?

Just had a look at mine, ours is about 8 but on days we do laundry (I try to limit to one day a week, will do about 4 loads) it's 20. That's using a dryer.

Family of 4 to add.

Family of 1 adult 3 teens, 4 bed house daily between 2-8 (average is 4-5). The 8 tends to be if I've done multiple washing loads, had to put the dryer on or the grass has been cut.

You can't use only 2 units in a day surely??

It does sound right for your level of use. Are you at home in day and able to use whilst solar is producing? Or do you have batteries?
My normal is 8-12 but on Sunday when I do most of the washing, tumble drying it is more like 15-20.

Thanks. Yes we have an electric shower too. Which 4/6 will use. So maybe about right? The tumble dryer is on 3 times a day 🤣.

Over the last year we have averaged 22kWh a day, but if you exclude car charging it was 17.36 kWh a day.
This house seems to use a lot more than previous houses. A lot of tech so all usage is monitored and optimised, however ironically that in itself has added to the usage!
If we go away, the underlying base usage is about 8.25 kWh a day.

When around -
1 washing load a day
1-2 dishwasher loads
Tumble dryer avoided unless absolutely necessary (maybe once a month)
3-4 computers running (working from home/students)
Electric hob/oven/microwave.
Fridge/freezer/wine fridge
Electric underfloor heating in one bathroom
Lighting as efficient as possible

Have a tariff which is 7p kWh overnight so time washing/dishwasher/charging for those times.

We average 15kwh a day during the week. Two of us WFH with multiple monitors and devices. In the evening, there is a gaming PC or PS5 on - both are energy drains.

Dishwasher is used every day or two on a low energy programme. I do 3-4 machine loads of washing, one of which is a hot whites wash. I rarely use tumble drier, but do have dehumidifier on if I can't line dry outside. They are full loads and need all night on airer to dry, but that will go down once heating is on.

Other than that, air fryer used for 20-30 mins weekdays, ironing once a week and fridge/freezer A rated.

When we're not at work and PS5 not used, we're down to 10-12 kph a day max. If I do a lot of laundry and use tumble dryer on a work day, we can easily go above 20kwh.

Thanks. I honesty didn’t think that would make so much difference. So can totally see how we use so much now 🤣

When I have a big wash/ tumble/iron day it is usually 18, normal day is 9.

I live alone in a very energy efficient flat, and I tend to use 4-5Kwh per day, and that's without having appliances on for hours, the washing machine going every day etc, so yes, I can see why a family of 4 with kids running around leaving things on, constant showers, multiple loads of washing every day could easily add up to 20kwh

@BillieJ

A PC doesn't use enough electricity to really worry about. Even if you have a ridiculous 1500w PSU, that's the maximum draw it can service, and for the majority of the time your PC will be sitting idle and drawing nowhere close to that. I think mine idles at 75-80w, and about 800w under 100% load.

I figured out when I built this one that even if I leave it on for 24hrs straight, it gets through about 20p worth of electricity. I'm not sure about consoles because I don't own one, but I know they tend to run extremely hot, which suggests constant power-draw.

@XDownwiththissortofthingX that's a relief, we've bought DS a gaming PC and I was warned it would use a lot of energy.

It will be the tumble dryer 3 times a day that will push it up so much.

It theoretically would if it was under load constantly, but even when playing most games there will be times when it's practically idle.

Unless DS is playing very intensive games for hours and hours on end, I really wouldn't worry too much about the cost. Most PC's are set to go into hibernation when they are left alone for any length of time anyway, and it's a literal trickle of energy at that point. It's maybe worth asking someone who knows what they are doing to look at energy management features on it and give them a tweak.

It will be anything that needs heating - dishwasher, washing machine unless you wash at low temps, dishwasher, kettle, electric shower.

Do you also have gas?

I'm electricity only, I used between 10 and 16 a day over the last 2 weeks including heating hot water overnight.

my son’s Xbox drains a lot of power - with making sure it’s actually off at the walls and not “whirring” away when it’s not in use

@XDownwiththissortofthingX thank you, he def won't be on it hours and hours, if he is, electricity will be the least of my concerns

About 20kwh per day, but I have an electric car.

About 10 a day on average but more in winter and less in summer, so 18 isn't unreasonable for more people with more laundry. As well as the tumble dryer using the oven adds quite a lot. Can you wash and dry at a lower temperature? Use the delicates option on the tumble dryer - takes longer but more efficient.

I would look carefully at the thing that uses the most electric, which is probably the tumble drier. You can get ones that are more efficient, and at 3 loads per day you might be able to make the cost back fairly quickly.

The real question is though if you were following the same usage pattern in your old house with the same appliances, the usage should be the same. So why has it gone up by a factor of 2 ?

@GasPanic this was when we first moved in. So we blamed the oil heating at first thinking it was using electricity. However this was 9 years Ago but we were so tired and so on auto pilot we just carried on. We was with eon and I asked them to check and they said they would but if nothing was wrong would charge!
So when we moved we were on pay as you go meter and paying £45 a month and when we got here it went up to £90 with nothing new…
Now it’s about £180..
The tumble is in the out building won’t fit in the house so can’t have an air source one which I know this will be costing us more esp when cold.
However my children are disabled and get dla and it’s due to their needs it’s used so much so have no issue in paying that.
Just in the beck of my mind I keep thinking is this the tumble dryer or is there something wrong with the electricity in the house.
We have a ground to earth earthing and when we have someone come to put in our oven they wouldn’t as the power was to high? However (council house) council installed and said it’s high because it’s ground to earth. I don’t understand any of it?
I just feel a little paranoid.

I didn't use my tumble drier as much as you buy when it broke and I didn't replace it my bills dropped by a surprising amount. Even using the heating to dry clothes is cheaper l.

You can get cheap power meters that sit between the appliance and the socket that will tell you what proportion of your bill is the dryer.

Over the last few years electricity unit costs have increased by about 50% which will account for some of the rise in your bill but they're actually cheaper than a year or so ago (used to be about 15 p a unit, went up to about 35 p a unit but have now fallen back to about 23 p a unit). But the standing charge has also increased quite a lot possibly by around £20 pm.

I've googled ground to earth and can't find an explanation, never heard of it. But is your home non standard construction eg metal framed? It could be something to do with that.

£180 pm for electricity is a lot but I don't know if it's the dryer or other things. Do your DC need other medical equipment that uses power? Have you asked your neighbours if their homes are similar to yours about their bills or if they know about the ground to earth aspect?

Can you get a larger capacity even semi commercial or American style dryer that would allow fewer loads (but obviously check properly if the investment will pay off in terms of lower electricity bills).

A tumble drier costs 4.5units per run
There is 13.5 a day
A washing machine is 1.5 so another 4.5 there

17 has gone on just washing

At least with solar you are reducing your units as otherwise you would probably be up around 25 units a day if you did the bare minimum of everything else. Add in electric showers and probably nearer 35 a day

Can you not cut down on the washing?