Surprisingly high electricity consumption in apartment block (old thread)

One_Time

Hi,

I live in a small apartment building with 14 apartments in 2 blocks. I've recently joined the committee of the management company, and noticed the electricity bills seem very high.

I've gone around the building and noted all the lights, heaters, alarms etc and their wattage, and also noted how long they're on each day. I put everything into a spreadsheet, including the two lifts and the electric gates, and worked out how many kWhs we should be using, but when I compare that to the total from the bills and I can only account for about 60%.

I broke the bills out into the four meters we have (1 heavy duty one per block, plus 1 day/night one per block) and all the excess consumption seems to be coming through the heavy duty meter in block 1, which is using almost four times as much power as the heavy duty one in block 2.

Does anyone have any idea what sort of devices we could be running in only one block which could be using all this power? The only thing I can think of is the electric gates but I can't imagine they could use almost 5k kWhs in a year...

Thanks...

Thoie

I honestly don't know, but if the gates are there, is there an intercom system too? Though I wouldn't have thought an intercom would use that much.

Are the water pumps for both blocks all in one block?
Are hallway lights on a daylight sensor, and block 1 is in shade more than block 2?

One_Time

No, no intercom system. The hallway lights are just all on, all the time (sensor lights are on my list too!)

The water pumps are a good suggestion though - I hadn't even thought of them. I'll look into it. Thanks!

<What am I saying? Of course there's an intercom! Just haven't used it in ages. As you say though, unlikely to use much power>

blatantrereg

I once lived somewhere where the neighbour's apartment was on our meter.
Seems less likely to be the case here, when you're talking about the whole buildings: But if you can't think of any other explanation perhaps investigate it.

fishtank5

Maybe someone is growing hash plants and has the lights on all day / night

Have you replaced the bulbs for energy saving ones?
I read on hear some one had the same type problem and I think it was due to excess use of the electric showers

Mikros

I would suggest the water pumps for the blocks also...

ted1

Is their air conditioning?

Slydice

I lived with a bunch of lads once and we all had PCs which we had turned on quite a bit. They consumed a lot of power.

testicle

I'd go with the cannabis theory...

Victor

What about external lighting?

Why are there heaters in the common areas?

It might be useful to have an electrician check it out in case current is leaking to earth.

fasttalkerchat

Just to check, you're talking about electricity for communal areas only? Or for total consumption per block?

the_syco

Maybe faulty wiring? Also, have a look around the outside of the flat.

One_Time

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Yes, this is just for the communal areas - each of the apartments has its own meter.

There are electric storage heaters in the communal areas, but they're turned off at all times.

I'm leaning towards the idea of the water pump. It's in a locked cabinet out the back, so I'll get the key to that and find the wattage, then make some estimates as to how much usage it gets.

The other option is that we may have a leak to earth. Does that happen very often?

Victor

One_Time wrote: »

1 heavy duty one per block, plus 1 day/night one per block

Do you mean one is three-phase and the other is a two-phase nightsaver? I'm not sure if this is an ideal configuration.

Is one lift used materially more than another?

Consider an out of order sign on the gate (in the open position) and lifts for a day and turn off the water pump and see who screams that their hot tub isn't staying hot.

Milk & Honey

One_Time wrote: »

Hi,


Does anyone have any idea what sort of devices we could be running in only one block which could be using all this power? The only thing I can think of is the electric gates but I can't imagine they could use almost 5k kWhs in a year...

Thanks...

Are any of the apartments let or owned by the original developer? It is not unknown for individuals to power their own apartment from the communal supply.

Thoie

One_Time wrote: »

I'm leaning towards the idea of the water pump. It's in a locked cabinet out the back, so I'll get the key to that and find the wattage, then make some estimates as to how much usage it gets.

The communal water pumps in some blocks can be nearly constant during daytime (or particularly at peak hours), as they often bring the mains water up to the apartments, so everytime anyone uses any water, they work, even just turning on the cold tap.

So say I turn on the cold tap in my apartment - my pump doesn't come on, but the one in the basement does. If I turn on hot tap, my pump comes on (to bring the water from the tank to the tap), but the basement one also comes on, to refill the tank in my apartment.

Victor

Thoie, that sounds like a very poor set up. Fresh water tanks and water depth sensors can be used so that the pump need only come on intermittently.

The_Conductor

Victor wrote: »

Thoie, that sounds like a very poor set up. Fresh water tanks and water depth sensors can be used so that the pump need only come on intermittently.

It is a very poor setup- but unfortunately its far from unusual.......
Efficiency was not on the top of many developers check lists over the past 15 years.......

If the only material difference between block 1 and the other blocks is system pumps (for the whole complex) being powered from block 1- its pretty definitive what the issue is.

Very interested in knowing the wattage of the pump(s) btw- even in poor setups it would be one pump per block- it beggars belief that you'd have the system located in one building for the whole place........

Thoie

Victor wrote: »

Thoie, that sounds like a very poor set up. Fresh water tanks and water depth sensors can be used so that the pump need only come on intermittently.

No arguments from me!

smccarrick wrote: »

- it beggars belief that you'd have the system located in one building for the whole place........

If there's only 14 apartments between 2 blocks, you could take a rough guess that it's 2 adjacent 3 or 4 floor buildings, with separate front doors, but a single gate into a communal carpark, so a joint system might not be that odd.

One_Time

Thanks for the help everybody - I think I've got to the bottom of it now! There's an electric heater at the back of the machine room for the lifts - 750W, on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round - must be costing us the guts of a grand a year to run.

I'm on to the lift engineers to see if it would be safe to switch to a thermostat controlled system which would only come on if the temperature drops below a given level...

Victor

I imagine so, but do check with the lift people.

ted1

more like €1500

Thoie

One_Time wrote: »

Thanks for the help everybody - I think I've got to the bottom of it now! There's an electric heater at the back of the machine room for the lifts - 750W, on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round - must be costing us the guts of a grand a year to run.

I'm on to the lift engineers to see if it would be safe to switch to a thermostat controlled system which would only come on if the temperature drops below a given level...

Out of nosiness, if you're talking to them, could you ask its purpose? I must poke around here to see if we have something similar.

One_Time

Thoie wrote: »

Out of nosiness, if you're talking to them, could you ask its purpose? I must poke around here to see if we have something similar.

Sure, I'll post back once I get an answer...

ted1

i've seen them a few places to provide frost protection.

not quite the ideal way.

Victor

usefulltip wrote: »

Your property management company

I think you mean the management agent.

bmm

Thoie wrote: »

The communal water pumps in some blocks can be nearly constant during daytime (or particularly at peak hours), as they often bring the mains water up to the apartments, so everytime anyone uses any water, they work, even just turning on the cold tap.

Our communal pumps got stuck in the "On" position ( due to no maintenance) resulting in a pipe bursting in the upper floor. Entire complex was flooded resulting in a massive communal insurance bill.

Moral of the story, make sure there is a maintenance contract on communal pumps !

ted1

usefulltip wrote: »

Electricity has gone up 60% over the past 6 years and many apartment blocks common area lighting is on 24/7 which cost an average €70 per light annually on maintenance , bulbs and electric so you should switch to a LED preferably on motion and save up to 90%. Your property management company will try to block you as they earn a fortune on maintenance!

Relatively a motion detector on an LED will offers really bad payback time , it's iften cheaper to leave the light on than fit and buy a sensor

P. Breathnach

It would be good if every OMC had directors who took their responsibilities as seriously as does One_Time. Well done!