Excessive Electrical Bill

[jonnec]

Hi, I always receive high electrical bills average £180/month, I have monitored usage, switched appliances off, reduced usage by not using appliances; i.e. dishwasher. Nothing I do seems to reduce the amount of the electric bill. I have switched supplier, always make sure tariff is discounted lowest rate, compared my usage with comparable usage; i.e. similar size house + occupants and my bill is always the highest by a significant amount. It was mentioned about reverse polarity and this could cause wastage and unnecessary usage subsequently higher cost. I have no electrical experience so any advice, guidance would be appreciated

 

[James]

How is your house heated?

 

[jonnec]

How is your house heated?

I have oil central heating boiler. There is an immersion switch for hot water only

 

[brianmoooore]

Do you use the immersion heater, or does the oil boiler heat the water?

 

[jonnec]

Do you use the immersion heater, or does the oil boiler heat the water?

Brian, the oil boiler would heat hot water but i also use an immersion heater for short periods of time for showering or washing dishes, immersion heater maybe on 2-3 times a week for 1-2 hours per time. I’ve cut this down but hasn’t really made a significant difference. I have an electric shower in another bathroom that is used mostly by kids

 

[James]

Electric shower could cause cost £1.50 to £2 per hour
That can seriously add up!

 

[brianmoooore]

Electric shower could cause cost £1.50 to £2 per hour
That can seriously add up!

That was last month. £3 per hour now.

 

[Ginvariant]

Do you have any halogen downlighters? At 50w a pop they soon add up and it's very easy to overlook 'lights' as a reason for high power usage (said he from experience).

 

[jonnec]

Do you have any halogen downlighters? At 50w a pop they soon add up and it's very easy to overlook 'lights' as a reason for high power usage (said he from experience).

Hi, I have replaced any halogen spotlights that were in the house with new LED about 10yrs ago and all lightbulbs have now been replaced with LED type.

 

[Rockingit]

OK…. A really simple and basic experiment to see if you have a fundamental ‘fault’ is to literally flip the main breaker next time you go out for a few hours and see if the meter moves at all. If it doesn’t (as I suspect) then start to look at white goods like fridges and freezers to see if they‘re set too cold, electronics on standby, etc

 

[jonnec]

OK…. A really simple and basic experiment to see if you have a fundamental ‘fault’ is to literally flip the main breaker next time you go out for a few hours and see if the meter moves at all. If it doesn’t (as I suspect) then start to look at white goods like fridges and freezers to see if they‘re set too cold, electronics on standby, etc

Hi Robert, great idea I will try that tomorrow, I’m also starting to log a reading each morning at a set time for the month period to try and get average usage and identify peak days. I’ve checked fridge / freezers and turned these down already so might show up in the next bill. Thanks