Can a device draw slot more electricity if faulty?

[sunil237]

I had hanyman, who's fitted this device before fit it in.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0...+drimaster&dpPl=1&dpID=4193rLOH7VL&ref=plSrch

It should draw 1.6w at the lowest at 15.3 at highest.. so a penny a day. It's essentially just a fan.

It's wired with a 1amp fused spur.

If this were wired incorrectly or faulty, can it draw more electricity and cost roughly 10-20£ a week?
My tenant thinks this caused her to have a large increase in electricity

I've called the handy man and the companies tech support, both say it's 100% not possible...Just want another opinion.

Would you agree this isn't possible for it to draw more electricity?

Is there an easy way I can test how much electricity it is drawing?

 

[flameport]

If this were wired incorrectly or faulty, can it draw more electricity and cost roughly 10-20£ a week?

No - as you already state, it's just a fan and 1p per day or less.
Unless they have the heater version fitted, which would use significantly more - but that would blow the 1A fuse, and even if a higher fuse was then fitted, £10-£20 per week is excessive even for that.

£10-£20 per week increase would represent something like a 2kW fan heater being used for 10 hours per day.
Another usual culprit is an electric immersion heater being switched on by mistake where the tenant has gas heating.
Other than that, extended use of things such as tumble dryers and portable heaters during the winter and bad weather can easily increase electricity usage.

Also check that the tenant's actual electricity consumption has increased - what they pay can be very different to what is actually being used.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

forget about the tenants electric bill, you have been conned for a simple extractor fan that cost you £270.00! what is it a Rolls Royce Turbine fan? Unless it has something very special about it like built in dehumidifier.

 

[securespark]

You haven't read the info, then.

It is essentially a fan, yes. But it has internal and external temperature sensors and a control system to switch the unit between off, on and boost.

As for whether the unit is causing this excessive consumption, take the meter reading at the start and finish of the week, with the unit on.

Then take readings with the unit locked off.

Could it be possible the tenant knows what is using the extra electricity, but is trying to blame the ventilation unit? Has it been recently installed?

There isn't a greenhouse in the loft, is there?

 

[ericmark]

I looked at the units and it seems there are different versions, however top of list states

Nuaire offer the market leading DRI-ECO-HEAT-HC as the height of PIV technology. This low- energy ventilation system has a unique 400W heating element to temper the airflow on entering the property.

This page goes through the options it would seem idea is to take air from the loft which is often warmed by the house and pump this air into the house so you will not get a cold draft through ventilation.

At 14p per KWh so £23.52 per week to run if the heater is on all the time. The advert does not say which of the units it is. As far as I can see it is a cheap alternative to a heat recovery unit, and it would depend on the temperature of the air in the loft and humidity in the house as to how much power it used. A proper heat recovery unit does not have a heater it warms incoming air from outgoing air, some are one room devices with a single fan,

they rely on the room being reasonably sealed and door kept closed, others are for whole house and have twin fans. The problem is the pipe work, installing a proper heat recovery unit often means taking warm air from upstairs and using it to warm the replacement air pumped into downstairs.

they do seem to start at around same price as the unit you have. But it's the installation which costs. The big box type also needs space and unless installed as the house is built getting some where to fit pipes and unit is a problem. The single room unit uses the pipe as the heat exchanger so not much larger than an extractor fan.

The unit you link to may work well in some houses, it depends on the sun heating the roof, or poor insulation in loft to be able to run without the heater being on.

 

[bernardgreen]

Is the new extractor fan sucking warm air out of a room that has electrical heating ? That might increase the amount of heating required in the room.

 

[ericmark]

Is the new extractor fan sucking warm air out of a room that has electrical heating ? That might increase the amount of heating required in the room.

They blow air into the room rather than suck air out, they heat the air if required before it is blown in, so they don't cause cold drafts. The idea is it takes air from the loft which is warmed either by sun or through ceiling so in the main the heater is not required. However this would depend on the house.

400W is too much for 1 amp fuse, but still within limits for 2 amp fuse. I would assume it does have a 400W heater as the figures quoted for running costs seems to match what a 400W heater would use.

 

[sunil237]

Thanks everyone.

This is the non heated version. - only 1.6w -15.3w usage

The device is used to cure damp issues, not for heat recovery. That's just a bonus feature.

I did provide her with 2 oil rads as some rads weren't working, and I did ask if she kept the heater in the room with the fan. She said not much.. but I don't believe that now.. she must have left the rad on, and as the nuaire device was pumping in cold air, it cause the rad to be on constantly

I'll go turn the device on again today.. She's going to have to live with the landing being cold for a week or so to help cure the damp issues.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

I get it, same as Securepack, she is using electric heating more so now and blaming the extra usage charge on this extractor fan.

Securepack said

Could it be possible the tenant knows what is using the extra electricity, but is trying to blame the ventilation unit?

 

[ericmark]

I would be looking at what is causing the damp issue? I found my mother was drying cloths on the radiators even when she has a washer drier, this was making the humidity high. Father in law fitted triple glazing, new front and back door and made the house nearly a hermetical sealed unit, and used gas to cook on, again the humidity was very high. My house has a very low humidity around 40 to 60% but still have mould in bathroom because of wet items left on bath edge.

I like the vented tumble drier, it blows air out so replacement drier air is sucked in.

Damp can also be due to cracked roof tile, failed damp course, and many others. To remove the damp after something like a cracked tile OK, but step one is to work out why it is damp. I had a faulty tile, it was clearly faulty since the extension was built as it had a corner ground out of it, likely the plastic over the insulation in the roof in early years stopped the water getting in, but when it did get in then it soaked the insulation then dried out once the sun hit the roof, when I had really heavy rain we would get a leak, which I blamed on moss on the roof around the roof window, I would clean out moss and leak seemed to be cured, it actually took years to find the real reason for the damp. Learn from my error, find out where the water is coming from, don't just get rid of it after it's got in. Fibre glass insulation can absorb a heck of a lot of water and mask a leak.

 

[endecotp]

If there is thermostatic heating of any sort in the property, then it will be coming on more to warm up all the cold air that the unit is blowing in which it didn't have to do before.

£10/week = about 500W continuously I think.
Heating 1kg of air by 1 degree C takes about 1kJ. And 1kg of air occupies roughly 1 cubic m.
Say the temperature difference is 10 degrees. So 500W is enough to heat 50g = 50 litres of air per second.

50l/s sounds high but it's the right order of magnitude.