You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I think there was a thread on this a while ago, but I can't find it - happy to be sent there if there was.
In the spirit of trying to be on the front foot a bit with the increase in living costs, I thought I'd do a quick sweep of broadband, gas, electricity etc. Digging out the figures for our usage to inform estimates, I was surprised to see that our electricity usage is often upwards of 500 kWh/month. The estimated annual usage EON provide is c. 5-5500 kWh. The gas is 25-30000 kWh! From what I can find, these figures are very high relative to average households.
There are 4 of us in a '30's 4-bed semi. Electricity-wise, we have two TVs, two SONOS, electric shower (which I hate and is probably using a lot), dishwasher (every day, sometimes twice), washing machine (in use daily), a heated airer (300W, in use frequently instead of the dryer). We have a router and a couple of mesh units. Heating (gas) is off at the moment, and set to 18 for a three-four hours a couple of times per day when needed. We don't work from home.
We've got an EV coming as well at some point, and later in the year we'll get to use the new electric UFH 🙁
I thought I was doing my bit by painstakingly following people round and turning lights off behind them, but clearly needs a bit more careful thought than just shutting doors and turning things off at the plug a bit more! I do plan at some point to wang some additional insulation down in the loft, and eventually the windows could do with replacing, but they are double glazed.
How much do you use? How can we use less?
1300kWh per 3 months billing period
2 persons in a 5 bedroom detached farmhouse with Oil Central Heating
There was a Which? report i read said going around switching off lights and putting things off standby is tickling around the edges.
Bigger users like washing machines, dishwasher usage optimised and shorter electric showers etc are where the main savings are to be had.
In the last 30 days we've used 211kWh of electricity.
In April we used 589kWh of gas, but we had the heating on for some of April, it was chilly.
For contrast, in December we used 1166kWh of gas and 250kWh of leccy. So it looks like our electricity use is reasonably steady across the year.
We're two people in a 2-bed terrace, WFH full time. It's Victorian and a bit drafty.
That seems a lot of electric. I share a supply with my brother (split farmhouse), so 2 separate households and a farm workshop and outbuildings off a single meter. Our average use is about 1800 units a quarter, so 600 a month. Neither household cooks or heats DHW with electric mind.
EDIT: I should add that I do a lot of work in the workshop including considerable amounts of metal fabrication with welders, grinders and plasma cutting. My large compressor is also in use almost daily.
About 4500kwh of electric per year, and 29000 kwh of gas per year.#
Family of 3 , 4 bed detached 1930s house, ancient (circa 1992) boiler.
I recently turned the fridges (x2) and freezer to a slightly warmer temperature and that seems to have saved about £20 per month in electric with no noticable downside
There was a Which? report i read said going around switching off lights and putting things off standby is tickling around the edges.
Bigger users like washing machines, dishwasher usage optimised and shorter electric showers etc are where the main savings are to be had.
Anything to do with heating water is the biggie - washer, dryer, dishwasher, central heating, baths, showers.
There was a Which? report i read said going around switching off lights and putting things off standby is tickling around the edges.
Yeah, this is clear if you have a smart meter and watch how your consumption changes when things are on or off. I used to go round after MrsJ turning off the lights she left on, but now I don't bother. Cooking and heating (house and water) is what uses energy.
Anything to do with heating water is the biggie – washer, dryer, dishwasher, central heating, baths, showers.
But there's also a Which report that dishwashers are more efficient than doing it by hand! Whichever way you do it, the water still needs heating - and people tend to use much more water when doing it by hand.
I got a dishwasher last year (first time in my life I've had one, it's amazing, I still refer to it as the magic cupboard) - so I'm doing my bit 😉
My 2021 useage was:
Gas - 9700kwh
Electric - 2380kwh
4 bed terrace (built 2004) without any wall insulation (now Installed).
2 adults, 2 juniors.
5 of us in a 4 bed 60’s semi. Last year we were averaging £160 a month on a fixed tariff. Since January we have really cut back on our usage so during the period April - October the cost for leccy/gas is only £150 a month with the price rises. Have not looked at the implications for winter yet, but it was a real battle to keep our DD at £160 and not the £260 Scottish power wanted.
Used 6.5k kWh so far this year, clocking about 500 a month now.
Our usage figures from 21 May 2021 to 21 May 2022 are:
Electric: 2,898 kWh
Gas: 9,989 kWh
3 bed Victorian terrace, 2 adults, 4 cats....
In April we used 8 kWh/day of electric and 39 kWh/day of gas.
I sometimes get teased about my spreadsheet 🙁
Two of us in a three bed semi. We're pretty frugal with the heating already so not sure we can reign it in much more next winter.
That's an impressive downward trend on your leccy and gas usage Mowgli 🙂
In April, we used 166kwh and exported 600kwh to the grid (solar). So a net of -444kwh.
May is on target for a net of -500kwh.
Overall this year, I expect we will export 3x more than we use.
(Sorry)
6,500kWh in 2021 for us, and as we're not on mains gas, add in another 3000l of heating oil and 4-6 cubic metres of firewood. 3 bed barn conversion - 2 adults, both WFH.
My Mum who lives in our annex, all electric and water under-floor heating used 14,000kWh in 2021. Each room has a thermostat, and they're set to the warmth she wants - plus has a bath every night.
Mid-Scotland, so based on previously living in Buckinghamshire, constantly 5c lower temp.
Someone else with a graph...
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52102603846_60662a4f74.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52102603846_60662a4f74.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2no8sTY ]Energy[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr
You can see WFH kick in two years ago - extra laptops / monitors on all day.....
Also, milder / colder winters in the gas usage - although we used to use a log burner all winter but have stopped completely now due to the PM10s it spits out - so this winter was the first on 100% gas in years.
Nice graphs folks 🙂
Snapshot of roughly 2.5 months from mid Jan to the end of March this year.
Electric was 385 kWh per month.
Gas was 1440 kWh per month.
That's a family of five in a four-bed detached house (main house built mid 1990s, extension in mid 2010s). I work from home and currently have at least one child and mrs p at home most days too.
My old 3 bed (stone built, not energy efficient) with 3 adults started at 2000/10000 and went up 50% due to girls and heating and long showers.
New 2 bed is £100 a quarter but I've not been using the heating, downstairs seem to have theirs on a lot.
The figures I see above seem high to me!
5337.6 kWh of electricity/year 4 bed detached 1950's farmhouse with up to 5 occupants (3 at uni now).
Hopefully falling usage.
2 adults, 4 bed stone end of terrace, at home, for the last quarter it worked out at £5.75 per day
and the (gas) heating was on a fair bit. We've paid in some extra £s to keep the DDs down a bit.
30s semi, two primary aged kids, two adults mostly WFH. Heating/hot water via a roughly 10 year old gas combi, gas hob, electric oven. EV doing about 6000 miles a year.
Around 18000kWh of gas, and 7500kWh of electricity.
Need to insulate the suspended floor downstairs, we lose loads of heat through there.
Need to insulate the suspended floor downstairs, we lose loads of heat through there
I say that ever winter, then never do anything about it!
14kwh/day for a family of four. No gas. No heating (woodfire for evenings perhaps 8 weeks/year) Includes a pool and a fermentation fridge.
1 bedroom 30 yr old ex council/now housing association bungalow, tiny house with poor build quality and zero insulation. Currently use between 4kw to 5 kw per day/150kw month/1800kw year. I switched off the air source heat pump for heating/hot water back in January as it was costing an absolute fortune to run, just checked and for the first 7 days in January I used approx 25 kw day to watch the pitiful heat generated escape through every area of the house.
I use a multifuel/log burner for heating, logs are free from a mate and I prob spend £10 week for coal/briquet thingy's, not fussed about hot water as I have an electric shower.
2 adults and a toddler with an electric shower on an exposed semi at the end of row on a hill
1076kwH for the first 5 months of the year we exported the same plus consumed 800kwH of our produced energy.
Last year was 3657kwh for the year and 2010KwH for the same period to may.
We had our panels installed mid june and our bills halved from there on in.
We have oil heating/hot water and we get through 1400l a year.
Need to insulate the suspended floor downstairs, we lose loads of heat through there
Only about 10% of heat is lost through the floor so not super critical and it is a bit of a PITA to take up floorboards. Cutting out the draughts may be better bang for buck.
We got someone in who hammered wood wedges into all the gaps between boards. They then sanded the whole lotv and 2-pack varnished. Looks great and made a massive difference to draughts/warmth.
I think I've just tracked down where most of our energy usage is going, the 30 minute segment my wife showers during is 2.5 times greater than any other peak usage including the time I take to shower. This is not going to a be a conversation that is going to go well.
2 adults 2 kids, both WFH full time, 1950s 3bed semi. House has been insulated to an inch of its life by the previous owner, 500mm of insulation in the roof for example...that was fun for the guys who boarded it out when we moved in. Brand new boiler installed last month.
April was around 221kWh elec and 1138kWh Gas. I turned the heating off beginning of May so only thing using Gas is the cooker and heating the shower. So far the smart meter says 157 kWh elec and 178kWh Gas
Ours is awful. Double whatever a 3bedder is meant to be last time I looked. We seem to wash min 8kg per day, every day. Apparently teenage long hair requires a half-hour shower. The dishwasher seems to be on twice a day. I have changed nearly all the lighting to LEDS now, and still go round turning them off all the time. Heating is set to 18deg. Everything that can be insulated is done, bar a ropey 1st floor bathroom, but we just shut the door and it's cold in winter.
I think it's teenagers that are the main issue, especially with showers and excessive clothes washing.
What are people doing in a shower for 30mins??? Infact, don't answer! 😀
Be cheaper to buy them gym membership and use the showeres there, hahah!
looking at a graph its hard to differentiate......
In my wifes case that 30 mins would be shower and then to dry her hair before bed...... that 30 mins makes up a significant portion of our energy usage. Sleeping with wet hair isnt much fun- nor is dealing with it in the morning so its non negotiable....
In April, we used 713 kWh, mostly due to having two electric cars. We generated 591 kWh on the solar in the same period.
Beginning of Feb to end of May just over 2000KWH - 3 bed 3 floor town house. All electric here including water and Smart Infra Red heating and an EV. We get significant thermal gain if it’s sunny which reduces our heating bills a lot - in fact just looked and it’s 25 degrees in my bedroom. We are on an EV tariff so load as much as possible eg dishwasher, washing machine, water etc to 12.30-4am when it’s only 5p/KWH. Just about to have additional thermal insulation on the flat roof which I hope will help retain heat but reduce some of the thermal gain like today.
Not a lot, in January, it was:
50kwh per month on electric
600kwh per month on Gas
May-October I don't use gas at all.
1 person, 3 bed-Victorian Terrace.
My top tips:
- Small houses are cheaper
- Don't WFH!
- A house which catches the sun makes a monumental difference to heating costs, as does double glazing and loft insulation.
- Dry washing on a line/naturally
- Eat more carbs
- Mains gas is still the cheapest (unless you own a forest)
There are some good resources here:
https://cat.org.uk/info-resources/free-information-service/green-living/energy-saving-at-home/
Haven't got the figures but for a 1 bed flat I use so little electricity (no gas) that my meter readings are always queried for being too low. My bill has still nearly doubled though thanks to the standing charge! An open plan lounge/kitchen means that if I cook or use the washing machine they heat it too, add in an efficient Economy 7 storage heater and it's rather a cheap place utilities-wise. The biggest cost is probably my excessive kettle use.
Mostly we seem to be 300 - 400kwh of electric
Gas up to 1300kwh per month winter, 300 summer ish.
2 adults both mostly wfh, 2 younds kids. 3 bed 1930's semi
We got one of those desiccant type dehumidifiers (Meacco DD8L) a while back, that caused a jump in bills! Should have checked the power. Now replaced with a heat pump tumble dryer (though drying goes outside when possible)
According to my suppliers app over the past 12 months my usage is
Electric = 1203 Kw hrs
Gas = 4137 Kw hrs
Single, out at work all day living in a fairly small 1 bedroom flat with Gas heating and water.
I was about to list my stats from training rides. As you were.
Maybe time to consider an electric blanket
6400kWh of electricity and 16250 kWh of heating oil.
4bed detached 1970s house in the Cotswolds with two adults and two children. At least 2 days WFH.
Solar and solar thermal goes in this year, so am hoping to reduce the electric and oil consumption by 2/3rds next year.