High consumption of electricity

Panline

Hello,

I have been living in a 1 bedroom flat since February 2013. The flat is all-electric (night immersion, electric heating, electric hot plates, etc). The flat is about 45m². I live there with my partner.

So far for the period 8 February-8 August 2013, our electricity provider is charging us for 5808kWh of electricity which seems abnormally high to me as the national average for a 1 bedroom home is 3100kWh a year according to bonkers.ie (http://www.bonkers.ie/compare-gas-electricity-prices/faq/#elecconsumption). I would also like to point out that the number of kWh we are charged for is not based on estimates but on actual readings from their electrician.

I have no access to my electricity meter. My landlord says that it's in the basement and that only professionals can access it.

My question here is: given that my flat is an all-electric, is using 5808kWh of eletricity in 6 months an oddity? Should I get worried and if so, what should I do?

Many thanks in advance for your guidance,

Pauline

FoxT

There is an interesting report here. On P.26 it states that in 2006, average electricity usage per person in 2006 was about 1900 units annually.
However, in addition to this, Average FUEL usage was a further 6300 kWh annually.

You don't use fuel. Now, Fuel converts into usable heat at an efficiency of , let us say, 50% (gas boilers are very efficient, open fires are not). The 50% figure is a wild guess on my part.

Electricity converts into heat at 100% efficiency, so we can guesstimate that 2 units of fuel will deliver as much usable heat as 1 unit of electricity.


So I would expect each person in your apartment to consume about 3150kWh of electricity for delivering heat. Total is then (1900+3150)*2 per annum, or simply 1900+3150 = 5050 for six months.

Note: The Bonkers website refers to average ELECTRICITY consumption, and makes no reference to average fuel consumption - so I would place mor e weight on the SEI report linked to above.

TLDR: 5800 units for 2 people over 6 months is not too bad.

To save: Focus on heat. Heat consumes, on average, three times as much residential energy as all other energy consumption combined.

-FoxT

coylemj

Panline wrote: »

I have no access to my electricity meter. My landlord says that it's in the basement and that only professionals can access it.

You mention 'our electricity provider is charging us for xxxxx ' - which provider is it?

You also say that 'the number of kWh we are charged for is not based on estimates but on actual readings from their electrician' Since when do electricians read meters?

Doesn't sound right. Why would the landlord let your electricity provider meter reader see the meter but not the tenant?

brightspark

As you use electric heating I would expect your summer bills to be lower than the winter ones. Do you have the readings for each billing period?

K.Flyer

I presume you are receiving bills direct from the electricity supplier who takes readings direct from the meter. Check the bills, are they "actual" readings or "estimates". You should be given access to your meter so that you can verify the readings for yourself, your paying the bill after all.
Electric storage heating can be quite difficult to manage at times and can be quite costly. Make sure you have the power imputs adjusted down to meet your needs in winter. Also check how long and when your immersion is actually coming on for compared to your requirement for hot water. Some of the preset timeclocks can be switching on immersions for much more time than is required, wasting money and energy.

onliner

Do you get bills for two months and can you see the difference between heating and not heating time of the year. Are you heating during the day also or only during the evenings. Based on your supplied kW hrs this gives an average use of 1.33 kW per hour. What is your building like for heat loss. I think for heating cooking and water heating this might be OK.

ted1

32kwh per day is very high.
Is your immersion on every night all night?
Did you see and take a meter reading when you moved in? He may be having you on and getting you to pay for previous tenants or himself?

Is it a revenue meter installed by the ESB or is he sub metering? Is the bill in your name? When was the last time The ESB took a reading.

.G.

Yeah its high alright and I wouldn't be accepting that reading the meter is for professionals only. Thats a load of bull.All your doing is looking at it. Your entitled to verify what your being asked to pay for.I'd get an owl monitor installed in your fuseboard too so you can see yourself what you are using and then compare it the bills you are getting.

benbrown

I have had the same issue with all electric space before. Even using a day/night meter it is abnormally high. I have had arguments with Electric Ireland about the bill. It seems that the storage heating although only on at night time during the cheap rate is still eating away at the electricity. Testing at the moment to see where the problem lies. I have had the place checked by an electrician. And if you want my advice a good electrician can nearly tell you off the top of his head how much electricity you should be using when he adds up the different appliances and lighting that you use. I can send you a link to a good one if you want. PM me back.