Parents' £80 Elec. bill p.m, surely too much?Emersion heater maybe?

[Surfer01]

Chest freezers don't consume a lot of electric if they are fairly new but if old they will keep switching on and off consuming electric. Then again if you balance it out against what they save by buying in bulk and cutting down on travel it may even out.

[dx100uk]

Chest freezers don't consume a lot of electric if they are fairly new but if old they will keep switching on and off consuming electric. Then again if you balance it out against what they save by buying in bulk and cutting down on travel it may even out.

 

yep

 

i found those freezer plugs very good on the old type chest freezers.

cuts usage down by almost 50%.

 

dx

[bankhater10]

Hello, please can you tell me what you mean by 'i found those freezer plugs very good on the old type chest freezers.

cuts usage down by almost 50%.'?

[Surfer01]

Hello, please can you tell me what you mean by 'i found those freezer plugs very good on the old type chest freezers.

cuts usage down by almost 50%.'?

yeah I was wondering about that unless they were thinking of timer switch.

[dx100uk]

what

they've been around for year.

 

basically the quickly switch the power on/off so upto +50% less energy is used by the compressor.

 

 

http://blog.sparksdirect.co.uk/back-on-the-market-the-savaplug-energy-saving-plug-for-freezers-and-fridges-reduced-price/

 

dx

[bankhater10]

I am having trouble setting up the OWL. I dont know what it means by tarriffs and rates. I would appreciate some help please

thankyou

[dx100uk]

i have a full w/end

 

i'll help next week if not before

 

if i can have aquick look see to refresh myself i will

 

dont forget though

they have [or did] put step by step guides on their website.

 

have you tried using a search engine?

 

try typing

 

the owl - how to set rates and tariffs

 

or simular words i bet its already out there

 

dx

[bankhater10]

Hello again!

Sorry for the late update but i've finally got my parents to go through every house aplliance with me and the brilliant 'Owl' energy monitor and i have listed everything on a piece of paper!

Basically the worst ones that my parents either did use or do use are:

 

Tumble Dryer: Min 1.336kwh/Max 2.399kwh(Now use a rotary washing line most on of the washing)

Pond pump+Fridge Freezer(on 1 plug): Min 0.580kwh/Max 1.320 (on all the time)

C/Heating(kerosene fueled):

Hot water: 0.193kwh

Heating: 0.097kwh

Both: 0.290kwh

 

Basically the constant useage from 8am to 11pm is between 0.0700kwh and 1.200kwh (i assume the variance is due to fridges/freezers coming on and off?)

 

They are currently with Scottish Gas electricity payment meter but plan to change to Eon direct debit paperless billing to save 40% (according to Eon)

The normal price for their Scottish Power electric is 11.22p per unit but apparently they are on the social tarriff so actually get charged 9.98p per unit.

The normal price for their Scottish Power standing charge is 17.29p per day but apparently they are on the social tarriff so actually get charged 9.98p per day.

They apparently get the difference refunded every 6 months and have had £32 in August 2009 and £39 in February 2010.

 

Im sorry if this information is put accross in a complicated way, i have tried my best!

 

I have two questions:

1, is this medium or high useage?

2, How can my parents tell if they have been charged too much in the past?

[dx100uk]

we have scottish power onboard here at cag

i'd be inclined to send that member a pm to have a look see at this thread

 

an avg of 700W-1200W i would say is quite high for their home

 

i've got an 6 bedroom bnb and that hovers at 1400W in dalight hrs.

you now need to start taking daily electric meter readings

 

then corrolate that with the owls daily total to see if the meter is over-reading....more common than they will have your believe.

 

dx

[Surfer01]

We are retired and have found Southern to be the best when it comes to customer service, pricing and social tariffs. We are on Economy 10 with them and get a £50 rebate every year plus other extras. Did you know that they can apply for a free new freezer fridge through Southern? You don't need to be supplied by SOUT either. I am assumning that they are getting shot of the Pre Payment Meter as soon as possible and they don't have to wait until they change supplier.

[ScottishPower Company Rep]

Hi bankhater10

 

You have been given some excellent advise regarding your parents consumption.

 

As your parents are on our Social Tariff, they will be getting charged our cheapest rates. This is regardless of how they pay for their energy.

 

If you want me to look into the account for you and provide you with some more in depth consumption details, just send me a private message, like dx100uk has said, and I'll be happy to help and provide as much information as I can.

 

Kind Regards

 

Colin @ ScottishPower

[dx100uk]

thanks colin

 

dx

[bankhater10]

Hello+thank you all for your answers/help! Thank you s.power rep, i shall contact you later when im at home! In the meantime id like to ask if i am to check to see if the meter isn't overcharging am i to get the owl to record a whole days worth/useage (if this is possible) and set the meter to do the same (if this is possible) and then compare them?

[Surfer01]

Pity Spower rep was not around when we had all the hassles with SPOW. Worst CS I had ever come across. Hopefully that has changed. Where is the call centre located?

[bankhater10]

id like to ask if i am to check to see if the meter isn't overcharging am i to get the owl to record a whole days worth/useage (if this is possible) and set the meter to do the same (if this is possible) and then compare them?

[dx100uk]

if you go on the help centre here and select your model

there are pages of FAQ's

 

http://www.theowl.com/index.php?page=about-owl

 

dx

[bankhater10]

Hi again. Please please dont hate me for this but i cant seem to find the FAQ on the Owl website?

[verycatchy7939]

i can understand this but your parents are using just over 3 units perday? that low reallly low? or have i missed summat

[bankhater10]

As for getting the units per day/week/month, let me explain that i only travel to see my parents once a week as it is quite far away so to get this far (willing to swap suppliers, willing to change from pay-meter, actually using an energy monitor) is quite pleasing! I am going to their house tomorrow where i shall hopefully get stuck into the owl and the various options available.

Am i correct in thinking that what i need to do is get my parents to take a reading from both the meter and owl at regular intervals, such as once per day, to get an accurate measurement of how much they use? Im not sure the owl has this option but i guess it has...

[bankhater10]

Ps- Sorry Dx100uk, i've found the FAQ!!

[dx100uk]

no need to be sorry

 

its the easiest way for you to undersatand what to do to get what you need.

 

dx

[bankhater10]

Hi again, i have looked through the FAQ on the Owl website and rang the contact number from the site and no one seems to be able to verify that it does have the capability to give a total of units/kwh used during a given time (say, 8am to 8am the next morning) so that i/they can compare it to the meter, thus establishing once and for all whether the meter is reading correctly or incorrectly! One thing the Owl number helper did say was that there is a usb device you can buy to connect to a PC but i just find it a bit strange that the owl doesn't have this capability?

[dx100uk]

yea i know...didn't know there was a usb converter..i'll look meself.

 

 

well then all that needs to be done is do it manually

read the total on the meter and total on the owl at the same time AM/PM.

[bankhater10]

Hi again! Yes it took a while but eventually my mum found out that it actually does give a 'total' read out, i suspect this total has been running since the Owl was switched on?

[dx100uk]

yep correct

but it increments just like the lecky meter

so's just read both at the same time of day for a few days

or at 8am/8pm or whatever.

 

dx