Working out electricity costs, am I right here?

[mybrainhurts]

Thought Economy 7 was a scam...?

[cannondale]

I'm with ecotricity on the economy 7 rate and charged 12.74p during the day and 5.81p at night.

When living in the flat myself I tend to put the immerser on alternative nights and just boost the system if I need more hot water.

[missdiane]

We are also on Economy 7, after several tests on electricity usage our worst problems were tumble dryer, fan heaters and halogen lights, if that helps.
Our electricity went from £60 a month usage to £30 a month usage when we had our electricity meter changed. I kid you not!

[Simpo Two]

missdiane said:

We are also on Economy 7, after several tests on electricity usage our worst problems were tumble dryer, fan heaters and halogen lights, if that helps.
Our electricity went from £60 a month usage to £30 a month usage when we had our electricity meter changed. I kid you not!

They do slip time and you end up paying peak rate when you shouldn't be. My ageing mother once got a quarterly bill for over £800 - 4x more than the same quarter the year before. Needless to say I stepped in and got it sorted out!

[missdiane]

We got our E7 meter changed to another E7 meter as it was old- offered to us by the energy supplier free of charge
So same tariff. The old one clicked on and off at the proper time, so it was keeping time- just not sure how it managed to rack our bills up- but nothing has changed in our house- just the bills

[Brite spark]

To make it easier...
min consumption rounded up to 10 min/rev at min useage
1 revolution every 10 min
6 revolutons per hour
144 rev/24hr

from meter 1 kw =
166 rev / 24hr = 1kw
6.91 rev/hr = 1kw/day
1.15 rev/10 min

so again for ease assume 1 kw used per day at min use (although at time of measurement fridge/freezer may not of been using much power/full power as not cooling, just holding temp- and no lighting on)

so you are somewhere close in your thinking with min use, however it's when you start putting other things on it will start to mount quickly

min use as watts
1 kw =1000w
1000w/24hr =41.66w/hr

light bulb 60w
immerson heater 3000w ( 3 rev of disc per hour when running at max)
shower circa 7-10kw / 7000-10000w
storage heater 3000w
kettle 1000w

etc etc

sorry if I have over simplified it- but it should show how you costs will spiral as the other power hungry appliances are switched on

what you want is an owl meter if you really want to monitor your usage/annoy the other half/drive yourself mad (del as appropriate)

http://cpc.farnell.com/owl/cm119/energy-meter-wire...

[Brite spark]

IL_JDM said:

How does that owl device work?
[/footnote]

in essence
sensor attaches around mains, then is able to detect the current flowing through the cable, this then sends info to the display

[chris1roll]

Simpo Two said:

missdiane said:

We are also on Economy 7, after several tests on electricity usage our worst problems were tumble dryer, fan heaters and halogen lights, if that helps.
Our electricity went from £60 a month usage to £30 a month usage when we had our electricity meter changed. I kid you not!

They do slip time and you end up paying peak rate when you shouldn't be. My ageing mother once got a quarterly bill for over £800 - 4x more than the same quarter the year before. Needless to say I stepped in and got it sorted out!

Or conversely you get the reduced rate when you shouldn't be - so you can get up in the morning, have a good long shower, and then stick the washing machine, dishwasher and tumble drier on so they finish before 10am
then they come and reset it so you have to stay up till midnight to put the washing on......

[littlegreenfairy]

IL_JDM said:

mybrainhurts said:

Thought Economy 7 was a scam...?

I'm charged 14p for day units and 5p for night

Who are you with? I'm charged 28p for day!

[Deva Link]

Brite spark said:

immerson heater 3000w ( 3 rev of disc per hour when running at max)

In the OP's case, his meter is 166revs/KW so (ignoring the thermostat cutting it off) if the immersion ran for an hour the disc would rotate 3 x 166 = 498 times per hour.

30+ years ago when I was an apprentice (industrial electrics) I was asked to look at an immersion heater in friends sisters house. It had been wired so it was on all the time and the first she knew was a bill in excess of £100/qtr (an immense amount for a bill then) electricity bill.