Big Electricity Bill

[Grunt]

So Global Warming is all Darren's fault.

[Tankstand]

This thread has got me thinking about my household electron consumption!

My last bill (Summer!) is for $524.85 over 95 days. 26Kw per day!

I might have to do some serious shopping around.

Charges vary from 15.43 up to 19.42 cents per!

[Clinton1]

Silent - is it all a 240V system?

if so, (I'm tired, so check my maths):
to find x Watt hours:
x Watt hours = KWh x 1000
= 15,000 Wh
to convert to Amp hours, divide by voltage
15,000/240 = 62.5 Ah

or, to find amps per hour:
62.5 Ah used in a day, divide by 24 hours = 2 Amps per hour for 24 hours.

That is a big difference for a sudden increase in power consumption.... the same as 6 x 100W lightbulbs running for 24 hours.

What are the specs on the pumps that get used the most?

Again, better the check the maths.... I'm really tired.

If there are inverters in the system... you are on your own as I'm running a mile!

[Master Splinter]

Both Jaycar Electroincs and Dick Smith sell a clamp ammeter which will help you figure out what's guzzling your power. About $130. Just clamp it around the power cord and see how many amps things draw. You may be amazed to see how much power appliances in 'standby' mode consume.

[silentC]

Clinton, yes it's all 240v. I'm seriously considering switching some of it over to solar. Some of the pumps could run on solar for instance.

I've switched off a few things, like the fridge in the shed for example, then I'll do another reading tomorrow night to see what if any change there is.

I was adding a few things up out of interest. For example, we have 15 12v halogen downlights in our main living area. They are on separate switches, so not all on at once and not all the time. But if they were, that's 15 x 0.06 kwh, which is 0.9 kilowatts per hour that they are on. If they were on for 2 hours, that would cost 27 cents per day to run. That's about 19% of the cost of running our house per day, if I have the maths right.

Master Splinter, thanks I'll check them out.

[Clinton1]

whats the Watt rating of the halogens?

[JDarvall]

Don't know really ..... I've been in a conversation with a plumber, about hot water systems........he was saying to ensure that the systems temp isn't set too high, or you'll get a high energy bill. I didn't take much notice at the time. and probably not your problem eh.

But, I'd definetly work it out soon Silent. Electricity consumption is monitored by authorities eh....... Hate to see your place raided one day by some kind of swat team with big guns.........

wouldn't be too pleasent being pinned to the ground and yelled at by a big copper......uno , ' Where's the stuff SILENT !..... Where you grow that mean weed ! '


.... ' I'm no deeeeealller ' (sniff) .... 'its just me hot water systemmmm set too high ' (sniff)

[silentC]

whats the Watt rating of the halogens?

I assumed 60 watt globes. I think the way you work it out in units as charged by the electricity supplier is 60 / 1000 = 0.06kwh per globe per hour.

Where you grow that mean weed !

Yeah, plenty of that goes on around here, although most people just go out in to dem dere hills and grow it.

[Honorary Bloke]

Our quarterly bill is/was around $300.00

Cripes, Bazza! I wish MY electric bill was $300 a quarter!

[Barry_White]

Cripes, Bazza! I wish MY electric bill was $300 a quarter!

Well Bob I do have a pretty small footprint on the planet. I use solar, I use my own water, I try to suck as little electricity out of the National Grid that I can, I grow my own vegetables. The only bad thing I do is burn firewood but I'm not polluting any neighbours, my nearest neighbour is a mile away.

[DavidG]

Its the beer fridge.
You keep opening the door too often.

Check the fridge seals, particularly at the bottom.

[silentC]

Thing is, it's the same beer fridge we had at the old house...

[RobP]

Does anyone know of a meter that you can put inline with something to see how much it is drawing over a period of time? That would be handy. Then I could monitor one of the pumps and see how much power it uses.

Hi silentC
Have a look at this from Jaycar Electronics.
MS-6115 Mains Power Meter
Plug it into a power point then plug the appliance into it.
Enter your tariff and it will tell you how much it's costing you to run.
Also displays instantaneous voltage and current being drawn as well as peak values. Battery backed up so data not lost during blackout or moving to another point.
All for the princely sum of $40.
www.jaycar.com.au

PS for comparison, our electricity bill for the Summer months was $356 (after $30 pensioner rebate)
but that included running a 5 1/4 HP air con for up to 12 hours most days, a computer for up to 10 hours, television for 12 hours, numerous devices in standby. We use gas for cooking and hot water.

[silentC]

Thanks Rob, that's exactly what I'm after. Unfortunately they're out of stock I'll contact them and find out what the back order wait is like.

Yes, I used to get bills like that. We don't have an air conditioner. That's how I know something is wrong. According to the meter, we used 20 units between 7pm last night and 10am this morning, during more than half of which we were asleep! It's not anything we are doing, I'm sure of it. Either something is eating it up, or the meter is faulty.

[silentC]

Two months away apparently. New product expected last year. Don't know why they put it up on the site when they don't have any to sell