High Usage Puzzle

[Jack2]

After my account came in, I browsed through the hourly usage tool over a period of 6 days when we were on holiday. My question is- how can we be experiencing ‘high usage’ at a variety of times during the day, when we’re not at home?

After huge hikes in our monthly bills, after many many years with AGL, we’re done.

[Michael57]

Underfloor heating that you forgot to turn off ?  Hot water service not working properly ?  Hard to think of anything else isn't it!  There is a Facebook group called "My Efficient Electric Home" which is a great place to ask these questions.  Lots of knowledgeable people. 

[Jack2]

Hi there
Our home is 4years old. We have no underfloor heating, nor is our hot water service faulty.
To be honest, I think our hourly usage is made up to justify our bill.
Electricity costs in our country are a joke and the consumer pays the price.
Thanks for the advice.
T & S

Sent from my iPhone

[Caban]

@Jack2

The big energy consumption items are Heating and Cooling.

If you have been away and turned off your HWS then that one is gone.

The next on the list is your Fridges and Freezers. They would have been left on and can draw a lot, especially if they are not efficient models.

Then there are split air conditioners. They will consume power all the time they are energised from the circuit breaker. Each unit can draw 60W to 120W and if you have a few units they will cost a lot even on standby. To eliminate that you need to turn off the circuit breakers and remember to power them up a couple of hours prior to reuse.

[gbullo]

Where did you end up

I am consuming approx 36kWh per day which unfortunately I ignored but when rates increased by 30% it now seems excessive

[NeilC]

@gbullo 

36kWh a day seems a bit excessive.

However your statement "I ignored but when rates increased by 30% it now seems excessive" seems to be a bit unusual.

Now each inverter type AC unit will consume 3kWh a day (24hours * 125w = 3 kWh).

Faulty fridges and freezers can consume excessive power from short cycling, faulty door seals etc.

That 150w Flood Light that is on 24 hours a day will consume 3.6 kWh.

Got a pool, then you may be running the pump for longer than necessary, dirty sand filters or membrane filters will require more power to pump the water as well.

I suggest that you purchase a power meter so that you can individually test the items in your house.

Power meters are relatively cheap starting from $10 up and you only need one to test everything in the house, shed garage etc.

Doing a hot wash using a modern washing machine will increase power consumption as the modern machines contain a heating element rather than having a hose connected to the hot-water tap.

Using old style incandescent lights rather than modern power saving lights will increase your power usage.

Simple things like having a radio on instead of having a TV running for background noise.

Run you AC to have a summer room temp of 25 will save a considerable amount of money, similarly 18 degrees in Winter and wearing a light jumper.

By the way when you are replying to or directing a question to someone on these pages you should at least mention their username.

[LindyLou281]

I'm in a similar spot.  Have an upstairs unit, separate meters for each.  No under-floor heating (no carpet), yes, an old fridge and a mix of old and new appliances, BUT an "estimated" bill for Feb 2024 of over $600!!!! Seriously?!?  The usage at present is showing $124!!! What the hell, AGL!!? For God's sake?!?!??

Pissed off.  Btw, I'm Carbon Neutral!!!

[Lester]

@gbullo 

Yeah 36kw a day is high.

But then you don't say for home many people in the home, what size home and appliances used etc.

Also whether on flat rate / old meter, or TOU with smart meter.

I thought our 24kw per day use was high too (for 2 people), but our recent solar installers said that's about average.

We do run a lot of IT gear and cameras through an extensive network though.

I'd also recommend using a meter to check appliance draw, then you can make a choice to replace high use appliances with more efficient ones, or use at cheaper times like shoulder day rate.

When we went solar recently we had to go to smart meter, and I really wonder now if our old ETSA Email YS1625 meter (dumb meter) was faulty, as I used a cbus type monitor on the 3 phase wires on the board to be able to see usage real time, and it was usually around 700wh, while now it is down around 350 - 400wh.

It's possible our old meter (and maybe yours) was faulty, as unlikely as it might seem.

[Lester]

@LindyLou281 

Per quarter that is not bad from my experiences / research, but yeah with the last few months increases, our rates went up 45%, so we just went solar.

Not an option for you (renting ?) I guess ?

Our monthly bills were an average of $700 - $800 a qtr for 2 of us (we have a lot of IT and cameras etc), but now that was set to go to a grand a qtr  or more !!

So made a big investment, new iron roof (was cement tiles and near 40 years old) and decent solar, and now we worked out in SA you really need a battery to take advantage of solar to eliminate or reduce bills to almost negligible.

So yeah it's a big $ investment to get out of bills or nearly 'beat' them.

Get a simple power reader for appliances and test them all, obtain more efficient ones if possible, or reduce their use / change usage times for lower rates (if TOU).

[LindyLou281]

Hi Lester

No, I don't rent. I own. And everything has to go through our Strata
Corporation. Solar is 'nice' but we have a sagging roof in spots and we
are currently focused on our guttering.