Huge electric bills???

daglish74 · 15 Aug 2006

Hi, my electric bills are sky high - £130 per month!!

Does anyone think it would be worth changing the consumer box or could it be down to dodgy wiring inside?

I've had the outside line tested and that's not the problem and my meter is only 3 years old.

I use the tumble dryer twice per day but that's the only thing I can think of that's heavy on electric??

Someone please help, it's like paying another mortgage!!!
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JohnD · 15 Aug 2006

immersion heater? electric cooker? Washing machine? Winter heating? Electric shower? and of course the tumble drier.

Turn everything off, and take a chair and sit by the electricity meter. If it's still going round see what else you can turn off. If it still goes round when everything is turned off, try turning off your MCBs and see what circuit is using it. If it still goes round when all circuits and even your main switch is turned off, then perhaps there is a fault somewhere. Then put on your washing machine, tumble drier and immersion heater, and watch it whiz round a lot faster. Sadly it is more likely you are using electricity and not aware of how much you are using over the year.

For a week, get in the habit of reading it every day. Work out how much you are using and what it should cost.

Have a look at your electricity bills and see if the reading they show is accurate or estimated.

Look at your winter usage because you are presumably paying a regular monthly amount, and your usage is higher in the winter.

A 3kw electric heater costs about 27p per hour to run. So does an immersion heater and a tumble drier. An electric shower costs two or three times as much. Women seem to have more trouble adjusting to temperatures than men, and turn heaters on and off a lot.

RF Lighting · 15 Aug 2006

daglish74 said:
Hi, my electric bills are sky high - £130 per month!!

Does anyone think it would be worth changing the consumer box or could it be down to dodgy wiring inside?

Neither of these will make any difference to your electric bill.

You need to find out what it is that is using all that electric. Have a look at the meter and see how fast the disc is spinning (on older meters) or how fast the LED is pulsing (on newer meters).

When you see the meter spinning faster than normal, or if it normally spins quite quickly, then try turning off each circuit one at a time at the fuse box. When you find the circuit that is using alot of power, the meter will spin slower.

Once you have identified the 'problem' circuit you need to see what is connected to this circuit, by going roung and seeing what has stopped working.

You then need to start tracking down further from there.

Just a thought, do you have an immersion heater?
Do you normally use it?
Could it have got switched on / left on by mistake?

<edit> He's a quick typer, that JohnD

JohnD · 15 Aug 2006

RF Lighting said:
<edit> He's a quick typer, that JohnD

Tee hee!

johnb80 · 16 Aug 2006

Fit a plug in timer on the tumble dryer, fit a timer on the immersion and use economy 7 electricity at night (much cheaper). Our Washing Machine, Dishwasher, Tumble Dryer and Storage heater in my shed all come on at 02:00 and we don't have a bill anything like yours.

Regards - J

daglish74 · 16 Aug 2006