electric consumption

[BJS]

I am an OAP and with the recent price increases I have been recording my daily electricity meter readings. On a average the reading is about 11 units a day. This is days when things like the oven, washing machine are not in use. Just normal things like lights, tv, radio, fridge/freezer and a small chest freezer and computer. Gas CH. 2 people in house. Would this be considered a average amount of daily usage. Thanks for any comments in advance.

[Buenchico]

2 x 100W bulbs on for 6 hours = 1.20 kWh

1 x 60W desk lamp on for 6 hours = 0.36 kWh

Fridge freezer (based on 300 kWh per year, which is a typical figure from the Argos catalogue) = 0.82 kWh

Small chest freezer (based on typical 250 kWh per year) = 0.68 kWh

TV, 20 hours on standby at 15W = 0.30 kWh
(NB: TV power consumption varies widely. It can be less than 1W or greater than 50W).

TV, 4 hours switched on at 300W = 1.2 kWh
(Once again, figures vary widely)

PC (based on 250W for the base unit and 50W for the monitor, although figures vary greatly) on for 4 hours = 1.2 kWh

So we're up to 5.76 kWh. Things like radios and mobile phone chargers won't add much, so I've only got about 6 kWh per day, not 11.

If your central heating is backed up by electric water heating (e.g. an immersion heater) that could account for much of the difference. Otherwise, I'd be looking at your chest freezer for a possible cause. Some models are far less efficient than others, especially if the thermostat is set too low or they're heavily iced up. (An inefficient freezer could be responsible for an extra 3 kWh).

Some TVs use much more power than I've estimated. (In particular, older models often use a lot of power on standby. You might save about � kWh per day by turning the TV off completely when it's not in use)

If you've not already switched to low-energy light bulbs, you could probably save about 1 kWh per day by doing so.

Chris

[mrpeter]

Hello
Do you have any external lights using halogen lighting that come on with sensors. These can be very expensive if the timer to switch them off is set for several minutes before they go off. If they are very sensitive and coming on often then it is surprising how the time mounts up during the night.