Prepaid Power Tips?

Ah ok - so it can't jump from 10 to 13 per day without something actually consuming the power .... so I have something using 3 more per day :/

So why the need for electricity monitors like The Owl or Efergy?
Really just adds the historical data, measurement by circuit and maybe extra tarrfif info?
But in effect, your prepaid meter is an electricity monitor as it give kwh?
 
Dolby said:
And it's weird - I don't feel I run that much - maybe less because I don't cook.

They say the largest consumers are geyser and stove :

Stove - I don't cook. I use Fitchef most the time
Geyser - one shower
Microwave - one 2 minute warm up
Kettle - 2 boils per day

All my lights are LED
I have a PC on sleep most the day
I have a small deep freeze (60kWh pm)
My entertainment system (50kWh pm)
A standard single door fridge
A tiny little pump for a water feature 6hrs a day

Washing etc happens once a week and excluded from the above figure
Click to expand...
sounds same as me
i switch on my geyser once a day for 60 minutes, so that's 2 units a day
also dont cook, maybe twice a month.
your stats are about same as mine except i do not run a pump but there is an outdoor 20w LED floodlight on a daynight sensor
 
Chuckmyster said:
sounds same as me
i switch on my geyser once a day for 60 minutes, so that's 2 units a day
also dont cook, maybe twice a month.
your stats are about same as mine except i do not run a pump but there is an outdoor 20w LED floodlight on a daynight sensor
Click to expand...

Ok - I'll have to go check everything to see what is going on ... thanks :)
 
check your geyser, i suspect something there.
make sure temp is not higher than 65 degrees
to all of a sudden be using 3000 plus watts extra a day does not make sense, its not like you're all of a sudden using a heater now
 
Dolby said:
Ah ok - so it can't jump from 10 to 13 per day without something actually consuming the power .... so I have something using 3 more per day :/

So why the need for electricity monitors like The Owl or Efergy?
Really just adds the historical data, measurement by circuit and maybe extra tarrfif info?
But in effect, your prepaid meter is an electricity monitor as it give kwh?
Click to expand...
Nope it can't just jump without something using it.
 
Dolby said:
Ah ok - so it can't jump from 10 to 13 per day without something actually consuming the power .... so I have something using 3 more per day :/

So why the need for electricity monitors like The Owl or Efergy?
Really just adds the historical data, measurement by circuit and maybe extra tarrfif info?
But in effect, your prepaid meter is an electricity monitor as it give kwh?
Click to expand...

The electronic monitors help in determining when and how much energy was consumed so you can more easily try figure out your consumption on a granular level even months later. The majority of domestic power usage is geysers and pool pumps followed by heating and cooling.
 
Dolby said:
Just me :)

And a guy at work was saying he thought 10 units for one was high.
Click to expand...

I used to use around 10 units a day as well living alone, until I decided to test what would happen if I shut down the geyser for most of the day. Now I only switch it on for 2 hours a day and my usage has basically halved.
 
t_girl said:
I used to use around 10 units a day as well living alone, until I decided to test what would happen if I shut down the geyser for most of the day. Now I only switch it on for 2 hours a day and my usage has basically halved.
Click to expand...
I'll shut it off when I leave... Very curious to see the outcome!
 
Get a geyser timer installed! We run our geyser 2 hours a day on the timer.
Nothing worse than forgetting to turn on your geyser and having a cold shower in winter.
Also try find a timer that doesn't need to be reset after load-shedding. Our timer goes off when there is no power and then we sometimes forget to set it again...
 
TheLuckmeister said:
Get a geyser timer installed! We run our geyser 2 hours a day on the timer.
Nothing worse than forgetting to turn on your geyser and having a cold shower in winter.
Also try find a timer that doesn't need to be reset after load-shedding. Our timer goes off when there is no power and then we sometimes forget to set it again...
Click to expand...
Good idea

Though, as like gadgets... Anyone know of a WiFi timer or app control for a geyser?

I turned off my geyser today (can only see my use tomorrow) but my helper comes and use spikes to 18 to 20 units per day.

Let's see tomorrow what my spike is
 
Dolby said:
Good idea

Though, as like gadgets... Anyone know of a WiFi timer or app control for a geyser?

I turned off my geyser today (can only see my use tomorrow) but my helper comes and use spikes to 18 to 20 units per day.

Let's see tomorrow what my spike is
Click to expand...
Wait for smartkit to get the shelly stuff in
 
Dolby said:
Ah ok - so it can't jump from 10 to 13 per day without something actually consuming the power .... so I have something using 3 more per day :/

So why the need for electricity monitors like The Owl or Efergy?
Really just adds the historical data, measurement by circuit and maybe extra tarrfif info?
But in effect, your prepaid meter is an electricity monitor as it give kwh?
Click to expand...
You can use your prepaid meter to keep track , a bit manual but i note my usage everyday, helped plan and figure out where and what we can save, I noted your usage for a guy alone that is a bit high, we a family of four and average used to be 20Kwh a day, but after a bit of tweaking average now is about 15Kwh a day , though we do have a solar geyser and Gas for cooking, but converting lights to Led, messing with geyser, all that little adds up. The cool thing about prepaid if you earn to keep below the change threshold, you can purchase more then you use and build up a surplus, and carry tat over to winter, thanks to the savings in summer , i built up a surplus of about 800 units extra for winter (electric blankets :D ).
Im still adding little improvements, everything helps.
 
Dolby said:
Good idea

Though, as like gadgets... Anyone know of a WiFi timer or app control for a geyser?

I turned off my geyser today (can only see my use tomorrow) but my helper comes and use spikes to 18 to 20 units per day.

Let's see tomorrow what my spike is
Click to expand...
18 to 20 units?? What is she doing?
 
Lupus said:
18 to 20 units?? What is she doing?
Click to expand...
Everything I don't do the other 6 days

So washing and vacuuming... And... I have no idea. But it's only 6 or 7 more than my 'base' 12 or 13
 
isie said:
You can use your prepaid meter to keep track , a bit manual but i note my usage everyday, helped plan and figure out where and what we can save, I noted your usage for a guy alone that is a bit high, we a family of four and average used to be 20Kwh a day, but after a bit of tweaking average now is about 15Kwh a day , though we do have a solar geyser and Gas for cooking, but converting lights to Led, messing with geyser, all that little adds up. The cool thing about prepaid if you earn to keep below the change threshold, you can purchase more then you use and build up a surplus, and carry tat over to winter, thanks to the savings in summer , i built up a surplus of about 800 units extra for winter (electric blankets :D ).
Im still adding little improvements, everything helps.
Click to expand...
I'm in tweaking mode now.

All LED lights already. I think my geyser is the issue. I need to a switch and blanket
 
Dolby said:
Everything I don't do the other 6 days

So washing and vacuuming... And... I have no idea. But it's only 6 or 7 more than my 'base' 12 or 13
Click to expand...
I think it's the vacuuming as that can chew electricity.
 
Washing machine close to 3kw while it's heating the water.
Tumble dryer 2-3 kw
Dishwasher 2-3kw also while it's heating.
 
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