How the hell can I reduce my electricity bill?

[aliciaflorrick]

I've just got my annual electricity bill this morning and have spent the last 12 months actively trying to reduce electricity used only to find we've used 400kw more. A three bedroomed house and I've used 6516Kw in 12 months.

My central heating is wood, we changed the pump this year to an A* but have only used the heating about three times because we use a stove in the living room.

I work from home and computer is on from 7.00 till midnight, but I sit covered in blankets all day because I don't have the heating on.

TV is off all day until between about 7.00 and 10.00 then turned off again at the switch.

Water heater was on all the time because someone told me it was more efficient to do this, I've cut it down to two hours a day now (for the last three months).

Cooker/oven is electric but I've stopped baking as much because I didn't want to use the fan oven.

Dishwasher probably on daily and washing machine probably about five loads a week. Haven't used the tumble dryer in 18 months because too expensive.

New fridge and freezer bought two years ago both A rated in an effort to get bills down.

Two digital radio clocks in the house for time telling and radio.

3 electric blankets on for 2 hours a night before bed.

Kettle.

My bill is 120 a month which I struggle with. The only thing I can think of doing to reduce the bills is to change the cooker/oven for a bottled gas one. I can't turn the computer off because it's my work and I need it.

Any suggestions as to what I can do?

House was fully re-wired about 8 years ago so not old wiring - stupid economy bulbs that you can't see with everywhere. Nothing is ever left on standby.

I don't think buying a new oven is cost-effective. It would take years of energy saving to recoup the initial outlay.

I think you'll just have to carry on doing what you're doing. Are you on the cheapest tarriff available?

This seems way too high. Ours is £50 a month or so. Is there any way you can have your meter checked?

Slow cooker would save putting the oven on at times?

Blimey, I didn't notice how much you're paying when I replied. That's twice as much as we pay and I'm not as careful as you are. You're on the wrong tarriff, or there's something wrong with your meter.

That seems ridiculously high - expecially considering what you've done to reduce it...

Maybe time to start checking for stuff you'd never imagine - turn absolutely everything in the house off (use the fuse box) and check the meter - is it still spinning? If so, something's using electricity that you don't know about... I've had more than one person tell me about mysterious wires disappearing next door and discovering that they're paying for their neighbours/the takeaway below/whatever....

Id say there is something up with your tariff too. We don't pay half that and use a tumble dryer, dishwasher, washing machine etc. do you have engery lightbulb? Also electric blankets on two hours before bed is wasteful if you are not in the bed. Turn it on 10-15 mins before bed to warm it through.

water heaters use 7-8kw I think, so if you've only cut that down in the last 3 months that probably accounts for a lot of the usage - the last 12 months includes the long cold snap at the end of 2010/start of 2011

how much does an electric blanket use? could you get hot water bottles instead?

our 12-month electricity usage (3-bed mid terrace) was 7093, & we have a combi boiler for hot water, so I would say you have done pretty well

we have one of those Owl energy monitors & it's v interesting to watch it when things like d/w, w/m & kettle are on - usage shoots up BUT it's only for a comparatively short time. Late at night when the only things drawing power are sky boxes, microwave/cooker clocks, my PC & lamp, 2 clock radios, & maybe f/f, it drops to below 3p an hour.

agree that £120 a month for what you use is very high. Our DD is £145 for elec & gas combined, & the gas costs more.

That's insanely high. We pat £110 per month all year round for both gas and electricity combined. We are all home all day and make no effort to limit useage. We never turn the heating off - it comes on 24 hours a day as needed to keep the house at 18c. If your heating is wood burning, not electric, then that's a red herring. I'd be looking for an error tbh. When my landlord first bought this house, an illegal electricity supply was very subtly running from the kitchen to the garage. It could very easily have been set to go to another house instead. It isn't as difficult / uncommon as you might think. Get someone from your suppliers to come and investigate. An energy monitor would be a good first port of call though as you could check that with everything off it's reading 0.

Have you tried going onto comparison websites for a better tariff?

Also, check with your utility supplier if they do an electricity meter (npower gave me one for free) so you can track things better and experiment with turning stuff on/off, to see what's causing you most pain.

Gosh your bill is high considering all the cutbacks you are making. The only thing I could suggest is changing the electric blankets for hot water bottles, but I don't know how much electric blankets use tbh.

We tend to use about 5-6000 units in 12 months and pay £67 a month for electric, and we're in credit a bit.

We don't leave things on standby but do run the dishwasher daily, the washing machine most days and I use the tumbler after each washload through the winter months. We've recently moved to a house with an electric shower which DH and I each use daily so I anticipate having to increase our monthly DD a bit but even so I expect no more than £70-75 a month.

Your useage seems very high, the monthly payments seem high even for the energy you're using. Which supplier are you with? I would ask them to check your meter.

I'd also go and have a look at the moneysavingexpert.com website and ask on the relevant forums on there.

I think lots of councils have energy saving officers who might be able to provide other useful info or help.

Have you done lots of little things like put covers over keyholes, checked for draughts (obviously keeping enough ventilation for safety with any fires or boilers), topped up insulation (lots of grants around for it), got thick curtains over windows, etc. And checked out the energy saving trust (I think!) website for other ideas.

Definitely worth contacting your energy company and seeing if they can provide any other info or advice. Are the meter readings real and accurate or have they guessed that you have been using crazy amounts that you haven't for example?

Good luck!

from the Uswitch website

'Electric blankets...are typically used to pre-warm a bed. During this pre-warming phase they have a relatively high power consumption, around 100 watts for a double sized bed. Once you are in bed, an electric blanket must be turned down to the sleep setting, this setting uses about a quarter of the electricity, typically around 25 watts, which is equivalent to a couple of mid-power low energy light bulbs.
However, many people turn the blanket off altogether once they get into bed.'

if yours are all 100w, then having all 3 on for 2 hours will use 600w; I think we pay around 11p per kwh, so 600w would cost around £2 a month.

Not a big contributor to your bill then!

Looking at it from a different angle, as you are using it for work can you claim any tax back?

Agree you need to shop around for a cheaper supplier.

Agreed with the others it sounds like a lot with your usage - I would check out your meter, and your tariff.

Can you fill the kettle for a hot water bottle instead of electric blankets?
The other thing that you've probably already thought of is only boiling as much water as you need for the drink you are making in the kettle, rather than filling it.

You could get one of those little meter thingies that show how much electricity each device is using? Then at least you'd know what is really adding up to the cost.

I used to work for npower and I have to say that your usage seems much higher than it should be for what you have listed.

I don't know who advised you to keep the water heater on permanently as that is like saying keeping a kettle boiling all the time. I think that alone would push your bill sky high.

My advice would be, read your meter now, read it again at the same time tomorrow and see what your daily consumption is. Do that over a couple of days and then post back here. I and others will have a look, on my last bill from Aug to Nov I used 1246 units of electricity.

I live in a 4 bed with a hell of a lot more electrical equipment on, and use less than you do. I do about 8 loads of washing a week and use a tumble drier all the time in winter. My heating is on 24/7 as I am a SAHM. I have a dishwasher that is on daily.

Also get an energy monitor, gives you peace of mind. I am heart broke for you thinking of you sitting there in blankets instead of being warm

I should have said, what I am hoping is that by turning your hot water on to just two hours a day you should see a real difference now before waiting for your next bill, hence the readings.

This is my first house with a traditional boiler and a hot water tank. We always had combi boilers before. We started off heating the hot water in the morning for some ridiculous amount of time, then kept reducing it and reducing it. I think it is on for 40 mins at the moment. It is back on again or a little top up when I am cooking tea (hand washing stuff that can't go into the dishwasher) and that stays warm enough for the children's bath later.

My hot water is set to 65 degrees as advised by the plumber.

What's the lagging like on your hot water cylinder? But I agree, your bill seems insanely high for your usage. We live in an all electric house (inc. heating) and ours is only just over what you are paying.

Sounds like your not on the best tariff. We pay £30 a month for electric and are in credit and we're not mad at turning things off.

Do you actually provide a meter reading. Companies are notorious for over estimating your usage.

sounds a bit much to me,,we pay £50 a month
use fan oven every day.
3 x washing every day
6 x electric showers everyday
im home all day,so heating,tv and kettle boiling every day all day.

sounds a lot. I'm sahm - we have tv on, computers on a lot - use the oven daily, use tumble drier. DH uses tools for cars a lot and still we pay nowhere near that

Do you actually provide a meter reading. Companies are notorious for over estimating your usage.

Thank you all for responding - the final bill came through as a result of the meter reading I had on Monday. My meter is read twice yearly and the bill is fixed on that.

I phoned the energy company up after my first posting and had a very interesting discussion - so although my energy use had increased slightly since last year they have actually been overcharging me on the direct debits so I am going to be refunded 150, then my monthly DD's are being reduced to 80.

I also asked about a different tariff and she has put me on a tariff where the electricity I use during the night is cheaper, so I'll be able to put on the washing machine, water heater etc during the night and save a bit of cash.

They are also coming to replace my meter next week as a result of my querying my usage and explaining how many appliances I use - so maybe I have had a dodgy meter too.

I do use the slow cooker whenever I can these days. I boil the kettle first thing in the morning and then stick the water in a flask and use that for the rest of the day to make my coffee. I have the electric blankets because I haven't had any heating on until this week (when it's got really cold) I can't bear the thought of the DCs getting into a cold bed and hot water bottles only heat one spot. So they have their electric blankets on just before they get into bed and then I turn them off when they're asleep and are all warm and toasty - that way they stay warm and comfortable all night. I turn mine on about 30 mins before I get into bed and off when I'm in the bed.

Looking at the bill I have reduced my electricity consumption by a massive amount in February 2010 it was 8265 Kwh and Jan 2012 it's 6516 Kwh (I guess the new appliances have played a big part in that), so I guess even though my usage is going down the cost is just going up. I've had that with my water bill as well this year, used less than last year, paying more this year. It's never ending isn't it?