Electricity usage seems high

[Snyper564]

Trouble shooting is a hassle..

lol no crypto mining as far as I know


Don’t even have a pc connected.. I use the laptop once or twice a month.. started using it now more during loadshedding

then im certain its likely your geyser but always good to walk from plug to plug and see whats lurking in the sockets.

 

[Geoff.D]

All you fundis pls tell me how much my fridge costs me monthly to run.. Also just had my geyser replaced.. Plumber said he put in a 3 kw and set it to 55 degrees(how much is this costing on a monthly basis more or less.. Two showers a day)

According to that label, your fridge is going to consume about 44 units a month.

The geyser is totally dependent on how much hot water is drawn from it every day. The setting is just barely acceptable. It means more water will be drawn every time someone showers which means the geyser might have to run for longer etc.

 

[Mogo]

I’m gonna have a look at this when I get home from work

This will be highly unlikely, but are you sure no one is stealing your power either?
You won't believe me but before I moved, I found out that I was feeding power to my neighbors gazebo and tennis court! Both houses are stand-alone properties.

 

[Sinbad]

Go and get an efergy or similar. You can attach the monitoring clip to each circuit in your DB in turn to see what is pulling how much and when. Otherwise, you're sucking thumb.

 

[Guest 290922]

Seems roughly average - 20kw/ day. Slightly higher than some, less than others.

Geyser probably drawing a third of that a day.
First thing to reduce would be that - solar or heat pump etc. Or solarwise to schedule turn off til you need it.

Fridge - if you keep opening to look and closing, will use a lot more power. Only open when you need to.

You probably have other gadgets sucking power that are always on too.

20kw / day

Say 6kw for geyser, that leaves you roughly 580w an hour base load. Go look to see whats causing that.

Gaming PC can easily use 300-500W an hour even if "only DoTA". So thats quite possibly your culprit for some of that. Turn off when not in use.

Cellphone chargers also draw some power. New high-wattage bricks can make a difference.

 

[Sinbad]

Cellphone chargers also draw some power. New high-wattage bricks can make a difference.

I have 5 cellphones to charge here. They really do not add up imho.

 

[Geoff.D]

I’m gonna have a look at this when I get home from work

My advice would be to establish exactly what the tariffs are in your area and what are the steps. In CT, if you purchase more than 600 kWh per month average, you will automatically pay more per unit.

Based on the slips you provided, you are paying about R4-02 per unit which is very expensive.

Next, would be to establish what is going on. take a reading on the meter, then switch off everything in the DB board. The Stove, the geyser, the plugs the lights, pool etc.

Then monitor the meter. The usage should stop. If it does not there is a fault or, someone is stealing power from you.

Then you can move on to the next step, by gradually switching on CBs to try and establish if there's any other fault.

 

[Guest 290922]

I have 5 cellphones to charge here. They really do not add up imho.

If you leave them plugged in all the time. It must surely add up.

 

[wingnut771]

If you leave them plugged in all the time. It must surely add up.

My killawatt reads 0.0W with just the phone charger plugged in and 4.5W when the phone is plugged in (with 95% battery).

 

[P924]

Is that watts per hour or watt hours per.minute month :-D

Watts is joules per second.
Watts per hour would imply joules per second per hour, which is a rate of change (like m/s² - acceleration).

 

[Speedster]

Watts is joules per second.
Watts per hour would imply joules per second per hour, which is a rate of change (like m/s² - acceleration).

Read the thread

 

[Sinbad]

Read the thread

watt are you talking about

 

[one poster]

Bro, we live in a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom, just the basics.. nothing that pulls extreme power and I pay R3300.00 for the same amount of elec you buy.. I’m on the highest block tariff set by my landlord

separate but related issues. The 760kWh and R3300 for that 760kWh.

the electricity use might not be excessive... how many in that "we" and what is electricity use behaviour like (e.g. 6 people each having a nice full hot bath every morning vs 2 people having quick showers will have different impact on geyser needing to reheat water).

You mention a kettle (assuming not on a gas hob?). Many electric kettles have elements that draw close to the same power as a geyser element when on. Boiling multiple full kettles during the day to make 1 cup of instant coffee every time will consume unnecessary electricity.

You mention hand washing. If doing multiple basins full of steaming hot water you again add to the need for the geyser to heat water.

very outside chance but also check that the geyser thermostat is not faulty in a permanent on state for the 6 hours that the timer allows it to receive power. (check if there is constant water dripping from the overflow). If the geyser is old and/or not well insulated it could be another place to save a couple of rand.

The bigger problem is probably your apparent rate charged for the 760kWh as it seems high but I will bet your actual rate per kWh is not higher than it should be - the total rate though is likely loaded with fees. Ask the landlord for a breakdown of the electricity rate. Have a look at this for a sense of what this is about:

Overcharged on electricity prepaid meter: TheMeterMan

SOS I feel like l am being overcharged in my prepaid meter is this normal? I pay R2.92 per kWh, and l live in Lyndhurst. My household is just 2 adults and a 5yr old. We are at school & work all day, no tv or radio, small fridge & really only cook 1meal a day. Geyser is switched on only for a...

mybroadband.co.za

 

[Speedster]

watt are you talking about

Ahhh... I can't handle it anymore
A unit is a kilowatt-hour... Not kilowatts... or watts or watts per hour! Please come on people, this is mybb not your church Facebook group!

Mybroadband is 100megabits, and I use 20 gigabyte-seconds per month!?!

Ps..
If you live on an estate and have some influence on the HOA. Quite possible to drop the domestic / home rate in CoCT (R3/kWh) and swap it for Small Power (R2/kWh)... Works for more than 10 dwellings in a cluster...
Give me a shout.

Is that watts per hour or watt hours per.minute month :-D

You are right though, an elec fence should use basically nothing unless it's electrocuting someone.

Let's be sensible here and talk about kWh per month.

So 10W = 10 watts X 24 hours X 30 days = 7,200 -- i.e. 7.2 kWh per month

Fridges vary you can see the label.

Geysers are 2 part
1. The standing losses - power they use to stay warm -- based on size and rating

How much does my geyser cost? – Homebug

blog.homebug.co.za

2. How much hot water you use. Basically at 60ish degrees that is
(And that includes water you use usefully... AND. water you waste as leaks or pressure overflows etc.)

Watts is joules per second.
Watts per hour would imply joules per second per hour, which is a rate of change (like m/s² - acceleration).

 

[Guest 290922]

ma

My killawatt reads 0.0W with just the phone charger plugged in and 4.5W when the phone is plugged in (with 95% battery).

maybe chargers have gotten smarter. im old bro.

 

[Geoff.D]

My geyser over flow is constantly dripping, could that be a problem some how? If so, please point me in the right direction, I’m super grateful.

1. Where is Citiq?
2. The overflow pipe on a pressurised geyser system does drip all the time, whenever pressure builds up beyond the rating of the pressure control valve. But it should never exceed about a 5-litre bucket full in 24 hours. If it does, it signals a problem somewhere. Just one of the causes could be a heater element that is permanently on because the thermostat has failed permanently on and is not regulating the temperature to the setting set.

PS: Many new thermostats FAIL permanently ON (not like the older designs)! The manufacturers tell you that there is a thermal fuse that is supposed to blow if that happens. I have NEVER come across one where the thermal fuse has blown.

 

[wingnut771]

1. Where is Citiq?
2. The overflow pipe on a pressurised geyser system does drip all the time, whenever pressure builds up beyond the rating of the pressure control valve. But it should never exceed about a 5-litre bucket full in 24 hours. If it does, it signals a problem somewhere. Just one of the causes could be a heater element that is permanently on because the thermostat has failed permanently on and is not regulating the temperature to the setting set.

PS: Many new thermostats FAIL permanently ON (not like the older designs)! The manufacturers tell you that there is a thermal fuse that is supposed to blow if that happens. I have NEVER come across one where the thermal fuse has blown.

I've always noticed the drip overflow only drips when the geyser is heating and the pressure is building and does stop when it gets to temp and the pressure stabilises.

 

[richjdavies]

Kettle probably goes on at most twice a day.

Think people thinking about kettles are a bit weird to be honest. Hot water from 20 to 100 degrees uses about 0.02kWh per cup.

So you need to boil 50 cups to use a kWh.

 

[wingnut771]

Think people thinking about kettles are a bit weird to be honest. Hot water from 20 to 100 degrees uses about 0.02kWh per cup.

So you need to boil 50 cups to use a kWh.

A lot of people fill the kettle to the brim for 1 cup.

 

[one poster]

Thanks so much for the info,

Just to fill in the gaps, we refers to myself, my wife and 2 kids (aged 4 & 2)

Edit: sorry, my phone sent it on its own.

Kettle probably goes on at most twice a day.

Our outside basin has only one tap, a cold water tap

My geyser over flow is constantly dripping, could that be a problem some how? If so, please point me in the right direction, I’m super grateful.

Citiq does have additional fees loaded. My landlord set the tariff to the max block tariff so the sliding scale is null and void

as pointed out by others, many geysers drip while heating, it could just be a wonki pressure relieve valve but might also give a hint that the geyser is reaching a high enough temperature and therefore pressure that the valve opens. *If* the element does indeed stay on it will use a fair amount of electricity. Probably not a bad idea to have the geyser checked (if not saving you electricity it might save you a couple of cents on wasted water). Think the geyser is the landlord's problem btw. If the geyser thermostat is cranked up to 70 you can consider turning it down.

Other things to check. Lights, if any old incandescent bulbs still around (highly unlikely) replace with LED. Multiple security lights on the whole night? If yes, can they be replaced with lower wattage?

There is obviously also the option that the meter is faulty. Will be difficult to know without some form of an energy meter.

if in the end your roughly 750kWh electricity use is accurate and as low as you can manage to get it without building fires on the living room floor to heat water, then at least try to avoid the fees you can - looks like purchasing tokens directly from Citiq at least saves you on a potential vendor fee.

Btw, if you use around 750kWh electricity in a month I suspect you will be in the upper block almost anywhere in the country where inclining block tariffs are used (so the landlord may not be the one to have set a particular rate).

Think people thinking about kettles are a bit weird to be honest. /snip

I would call me stingy AF, but weird also works.