# Outragous Electricty Bill



## stowaway (2/10/08)

I just got my electricty Bill. It was $600 for the quarter!! Unbeleiveable. Can anyone help narrow down the costs for me. ive got these costs off the net..

I have: 46" Samsung LCD, 300Litre 4.5star rating fridge,500Litre Beer fridge,3 Computers, 26" Samsung LCD, Wine Fridge

Its a lot of electrical stuff but it should not be near that price for a townhouse!


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## stowaway (2/10/08)

stowaway said:


> I just got my electricty Bill. It was $600 for the quarter!! Unbeleiveable. Can anyone help narrow down the costs for me. ive got these costs off the net..
> 
> I have: 46" Samsung LCD, 300Litre 4.5star rating fridge,500Litre Beer fridge,3 Computers, 26" Samsung LCD, Wine Fridge
> 
> Its a lot of electrical stuff but it should not be near that price for a townhouse!




I know the 500l fridge uses $150 a YEAR and the 300l uses $70 a year.


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## quantocks (2/10/08)

could it be the beer fridge ? lcd don't use too much juice.

do you have air con? fans, heaters? etc


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## stowaway (2/10/08)

quantocks said:


> could it be the beer fridge ? lcd don't use too much juice.
> 
> do you have air con? fans, heaters? etc




didnt use aircon (winter)

Have a recycle Heater but barely used it..


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## white.grant (2/10/08)

My winter quarter was just shy of $700 but I use electricity for heating and I have two teenagers :huh: .

cheers

grant


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## pokolbinguy (2/10/08)

Yep ours is up around the $600 mark this quater. I looked at the rates...there was a price increase during the quarter (right near the start). This jump increased the bill by $70 from memory on its own.


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## quantocks (2/10/08)

The Department of Mines and Energy has developed an online energy calculator to help you estimate the costs of your household electricity use. Use the calculator to discover where you are using the most electricity in your home and find out ways to save money on your energy bills.

http://www.dme.qld.gov.au/Energy/energywise_calculator.cfm

looks like it might not nail it 100% but better than nothing? give this a whirl mate


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## sumo (2/10/08)

Don't move to NZ, they just put the electricity up by 12%. Last three months would equal $650 and we use fire for heating....


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## gibbocore (2/10/08)

we had the same thing go down, we pay $90 per month for our electricity and when we moved house they tried to slam us with an additional $600 for additional power and what not, for one 1/4, i'm having it investigated because thats insane considering we use gas for stoves, hot water and heating.


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## brettprevans (2/10/08)

yeah mine was outrageous also. our last quater was ~$580 and it normaly about $180. dodgy stuff.


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## stowaway (2/10/08)

even Tho the tag says my 500l freezer should only use 900khz a year (thats roughly $150) i think it may to be to blame.

im upgrading to a Chest freezer. this will be the 3rd Beer fridge in 5 months.


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## quantocks (2/10/08)

how many kegs/taps you using ?


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## stowaway (2/10/08)

quantocks said:


> how many kegs/taps you using ?




6 Kegs 4 taps.


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## Brewtus (2/10/08)

stowaway said:


> even Tho the tag says my 500l freezer should only use 900khz a year (thats roughly $150) i think it may to be to blame.
> 
> im upgrading to a Chest freezer. this will be the 3rd Beer fridge in 5 months.


What are you on about? 900khz a year Khz is kiloHertz which is the number thousands of cycles per second
Do you mean kwh or kilo watt hours, i.e. the number of kilowatts drawn x the number of hours it is running. This kind of equates to how much petrol a year your car uses. For a 1/4 you would use about 225kwhs. There should be a tariff on you bill in cents per kwh. The maths is easy after that.


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## mika (2/10/08)

Beer fridge, fermenting fridge, food fridge, small bar fridge, small ice cream freezer, electric stove, 3 computers (generally 2 run all the time), 80cm CRT TV and electric HLT, ~$180 for last quarter and the meter ain't that old.


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## stowaway (2/10/08)

Brewtus said:


> What are you on about? 900khz a year Khz is kiloHertz which is the number thousands of cycles per second
> Do you mean kwh or kilo watt hours, i.e. the number of kilowatts drawn x the number of hours it is running. This kind of equates to how much petrol a year your car uses. For a 1/4 you would use about 225kwhs. There should be a tariff on you bill in cents per kwh. The maths is easy after that.



yeah your right. Sorry. Too Much Computer on my brain.
I ment 900Kw/a (900 Kilowatts per annum) my electricty is 16.67 cents per kw therefor its rounded up to $150 a year.


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## stowaway (2/10/08)

mika said:


> Beer fridge, fermenting fridge, food fridge, small bar fridge, small ice cream freezer, electric stove, 3 computers (generally 2 run all the time), 80cm CRT TV and electric HLT, ~$180 for last quarter and the meter ain't that old.



This is why im so pissedoff. It doesnt add up to me. I have the highest amount of all my friends and i only have a small place.


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## FreemanDC (2/10/08)

Make sure someone isn't steal it for hydroponic uses ( tomatoes of course )


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## Fents (2/10/08)

^^^^ beat me to it.


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## devo (2/10/08)

most folk were hit with big bills this quarter because the two previous quarters were speculative or under estimated figures by the energy providers. This time around they apparently did things differently hence why myself ($500.00) and everyone else got slugged. Or so i read in the paper recently!?


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## SJW (2/10/08)

WOW, I have a 60,000 litre pool, a large fridge in the kitchen, a chest freezer (160litre) for serving kegs and a small fermentation/conditioning fridge, all that are going 24/7, ducted air, 4 tv's all in a 55 square house and out electricity bill was only $220, and never much more.
I would be investing in one of those electical usage meters and be testing a few appliances.

Steve


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## apd (2/10/08)

stowaway said:


> I have: 46" Samsung LCD, 300Litre 4.5star rating fridge,500Litre Beer fridge,3 Computers, 26" Samsung LCD, Wine Fridge



Why don't you try turning off all those things above (and whatever else you can think of) and see if your meter is still ticking over. Maybe you have an appliance you've forgotten about. Is your hot water service electric or gas? What about your oven/stove top? 

From memory, our latest bill was $250. The major appliances we have are 4 fridges, TV, an oven (2-3kw) and a coffee machine (2.5kw).

Andrew


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## oldbugman (2/10/08)

devo said:


> most folk were hit with big bills this quarter because the two previous quarters were speculative or under estimated figures by the energy providers. This time around they apparently did things differently hence why myself ($500.00) and everyone else got slugged. Or so i read in the paper recently!?



Yeah this is a bit stiff when they carry out estimates and then finally get round to doing a real reading.

in theory it works fine as you'll either have a larger bill or possibly a smaller bill. But it does not take into account a change of rate. As the power could have been used when the rate was lower but your now paying for the underestimates at a higher rate.


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## Ronin (2/10/08)

devo said:


> most folk were hit with big bills this quarter because the two previous quarters were speculative or under estimated figures by the energy providers. This time around they apparently did things differently hence why myself ($500.00) and everyone else got slugged. Or so i read in the paper recently!?



The same thing happened to us a while ago, although it went the other way. The electricity company just guessed how much a couple should use, and charged us for that amount. My wife and I are quite small energy users, and we went and checked the meter and the reading was off by a long way. We called the company and gave them the actual meter reading and the bill dropped from $600 to $200.

I take it you've actually checked the meter and the reading is correct?

James


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## Ol'Wobbly (2/10/08)

* Check the seals on all your fridges - it's amazing how much extra you pay with a leaky or cracked & hardened fridge seal
* Check the thermostat settings. As a "very" rough rule of thumb the thermostat should not be more than 1/3 of the way across the dial. Use your brewer's thermometer and test the temp - the temperature inside your main fridge compartment need not be lower than about 4 deg. This is ample for most food (and beer).


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## staggalee (2/10/08)

well, I just opened mine and it`s the lowest it`s been for 2 years- $177.00!!
And that`s with being away for the last 2 weeks in July.
2 big fridges, big upright freezer, 3 colour tv`s,etc BUT gas stove and oven.

staggalee.


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## trevc (2/10/08)

$600? wow... how many lights are in your garden?


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## matti (2/10/08)

I though I'd join the chorus.
$713 :wacko: 
My highest yet!

I know prices has gone up but this is ridiculous.
The biggest concern is I've got gas hot water, Heater and stove.
Blow me.

I am turning off the main!


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## staggalee (2/10/08)

matti said:


> I though I'd join the chorus.
> $713 :wacko:
> My highest yet!
> 
> ...









relax, don`t worry.
Sit down and have a beer,

staggalee.


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## lobo (2/10/08)

stagga, who was it that taught you how to post pics? i must remenber to thank him again. always gets a laugh from me.

Lobo


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## MCT (2/10/08)

Well I got a $475 bill, which is doing my head in. Living alone in a townhouse and I am notoriously tight with heating and turning lights etc off....
Bills are normally $200, crazy.


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## Duff (2/10/08)

Ours will go between $600 - 700 a quarter. I thought it might have been the pool and air-con adding to the cost but maybe not.


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## schooey (2/10/08)

Maybe I need to look closer at the meter readings. Our last bill was $970, but with the wet weather and using the dryer a fair bit, the split system air con being used as the heater, 4 fridges running, 3 computers, 3 TV's most nights, electric hot water, electric cooktop and oven, I kinda figured that it would be about right... :unsure:


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## goatherder (2/10/08)

Buy one of these things from jaycar:

Mains Power Meter

Do some tests with it and track down the heavy hitting appliances. You might find it's only a handful of things driving your usage. If you can measure it, you can manage it.

The other thing to watch for is Energy Australia (and probably other retailers) have been rolling out new tariffs based on the time of the day - peak, off peak, shoulder etc. If you run an aircon then you will get killed in summer because peak time is 2pm to 8pm. The cost during peak time is about 3-4 times off peak from memory. If you are on this arrangement then it can really pay to run dryers, dishwashers etc at night during the off peak periods.


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## matho (2/10/08)

my winter bill is about $700 but that because we have 3.5hp split system for heating and our 250l hotwater system is not off peak.
NSW is keeping the price of electricity down (IPART) on the eastern seaboard. That's why there was a big push to put it in private hands. Hope it doesn't, in the USA in one of the southern states the price of electricity increased by 77%  the day after regulation ceased.

ps being a sparky i should change my HW system to off peak just han't got around to it.  

pps by the way there is two off peak in sydney rates one that is on between 11pm and 7am and off peak 2 which also comes on about 9am and off around 3pm off peak 2 is billed at a higher rate so if you don't need all that hot water maybe check to see what rate you are on.
a standard hw system has a 4.8 kw element so running that extra 6hr would work out at 4.8*6 = 28.8 KWh a day * 100 days = 2880 KWh a billing period * 10 cents/KWh = $288 

cheer's


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## Doc (2/10/08)

Our winter bill was $762.71 
Household of 2 adults, 2 kids.
CRT TV. Projector Hometheatre room. CRT bedroom tv.
Large kitchen fridge,
Kitchen kegorator.
Laundry fridge. Laundry freezer.
2 x shed keg fridges. 1 x shed yeast fridge.
About three laptops continually on.
Dishwasher, Washing machine, HLT Urns for brewing, power tools for building the coolroom.

I think I got away ok.

Doc


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## brettprevans (2/10/08)

goatherder said:


> Buy one of these things from jaycar:
> 
> Mains Power Meter
> 
> Do some tests with it and track down the heavy hitting appliances. You might find it's only a handful of things driving your usage. If you can measure it, you can manage it.


Goats right. 
Jaycar has up to 50% off at the moment. these power meteres are cheap as. i just bought 3


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## InCider (2/10/08)

What else do you do Stow? I live in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and the choppers go past so often they should call this area 'Copperhead Road' :lol: 
Where your high electricty bill comes from


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## Screwtop (2/10/08)

InCider said:


> What else do you do Stow? I live in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and the choppers go past so often they should call this area 'Copperhead Road' :lol:
> Where your high electricty bill comes from




Bugger increasing costs, if it's not one thing it's another :lol:


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## Batz (2/10/08)

InCider said:


> What else do you do Stow? I live in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and the choppers go past so often they should call this area 'Copperhead Road' :lol:
> Where your high electricty bill comes from




We got a problem with them there varmints too Incider

So town decided best way was to get rid of them same as we did the wild dogs,I got myself one this morning! 




Batz


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## mickoz (2/10/08)

Does your wine fridge have a glass front? Pretty shitty insulation there if it does unless it's double glazed.

My $0.02

Mick


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## Batz (2/10/08)

mickoz said:


> Does your wine fridge have a glass front? Pretty shitty insulation there if it does unless it's double glazed.
> 
> My $0.02
> 
> Mick




That could be the problem I think  

And a perfect post after one from Kin Kin

Batz


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## dreamboat (3/10/08)

I have on eof the plug-in electricity meter things. Reads Amps (instantaneous) and can also accumulate kWH for you.
We have an upright freezer, and it used iirc 80 kWH in a week. I defrosted it, and it used around 15kWH the next week.

I will be defrosting that sucker every few months from now on for the money it will save me.



dreamboat


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## ausdb (3/10/08)

dreamboat said:


> I have on eof the plug-in electricity meter things. Reads Amps (instantaneous) and can also accumulate kWH for you.
> We have an upright freezer, and it used iirc 80 kWH in a week. I defrosted it, and it used around 15kWH the next week.
> I will be defrosting that sucker every few months from now on for the money it will save me.
> dreamboat


Ice is a very good insulator as you have now worked out!


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## trevc (3/10/08)

> What else do you do Stow? I live in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and the choppers go past so often they should call this area 'Copperhead Road'
> Where your high electricty bill comes from



I've never understood why people running grow ops STEAL power. The elec. companies will be on to it, eventually. If they acted like normal people and paid their (really high) bills on time, it's much less likely to raise suspicion. 

Sorry, OT.


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## fraser_john (3/10/08)

I got an old fridge from my brother and the compressor was loose, it rattled like a bastard, kept it in the shed for cold conditioning kegs, could hear it 100m away!!

My bill went from $300 quarterly to $480 quarterly the quarter after I got it!!! Someone told me that if a compressor is running noisy, its running inefficiently. It also ran almost non stop.

I pulled the back apart, mounted the compressor of probber rubber mounts, now my last quarter is back to a better $320!!

All that plus I run chest freezer, side by side fridge/freezer, three tv's, four computers, serving fridge, bar fridge, four electric blankets (darn Victorian winters). Gas heating, cooking and hot water.

So my electric bill is not too bad. Maybe I can afford to build that coolroom after all......


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## pokolbinguy (3/10/08)

Dammit I really can't see where all our electricity is going....$600....and there is only 3 of us...we use fire to heat during winter and we are pretty energy conscious....glad I bought one of those energy meters...going to suss out whats chewing all that juice.


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## newguy (3/10/08)

trevc said:


> I've never understood why people running grow ops STEAL power. The elec. companies will be on to it, eventually. If they acted like normal people and paid their (really high) bills on time, it's much less likely to raise suspicion.



In Canada, the utilities will turn you in if your consumption (meter bypass or not) is high enough. But I agree that it will probably take longer for them to catch on if you pay your bill.

One thing that is catching on round here is the theft of copper by drug addicts. Even from fully energised substations....which serves as sort of an instant karma kind of feedback loop for the moron who tries to cut copper bus bars out of ominously humming equipment.


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## Batz (3/10/08)

dreamboat said:


> I have on eof the plug-in electricity meter things. Reads Amps (instantaneous) and can also accumulate kWH for you.
> We have an upright freezer, and it used iirc 80 kWH in a week. I defrosted it, and it used around 15kWH the next week.
> 
> I will be defrosting that sucker every few months from now on for the money it will save me.
> ...



I just ordered one of these,on special at Jay-car ATM,only $29.95.
Just hope it will not cause a problem with all my fridges once swmbo sees it  




CAT. NO. MS6115 RRP $39.95 



MAINS POWER METER 
This intelligent power meter simply plugs into a normal power point (GPO) and turns it into a real-time power monitoring outlet. You can enter the ...more... 
QTY 
1+ $29.95


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## staggalee (3/10/08)

I honestly can`t imagine why some of you blokes are in the price bracket you are, someone even said they were close to a grand for A QUATER!!
That`s $80 plus a week.
Bugger that.

staggalee.


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## stowaway (3/10/08)

dreamboat said:


> I have on eof the plug-in electricity meter things. Reads Amps (instantaneous) and can also accumulate kWH for you.
> We have an upright freezer, and it used iirc 80 kWH in a week. I defrosted it, and it used around 15kWH the next week.
> 
> I will be defrosting that sucker every few months from now on for the money it will save me.
> ...



We May have our answer here! my defrost stopped working half way thru the month. i didnt realise it until i noticed my fridge wasnt cold enuf.

anyway its defrosted now.. And ive got a power monitor so ill monitor everything.


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## Phrak (3/10/08)

Just opened our power bill for this qtr...

$1,071.21    

Roughly the same daily kWh as last September's qtr, so I can't say it's uncharacteristic  

Averaging 72kWh/day


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## stowaway (3/10/08)

Phrak said:


> Just opened our power bill for this qtr...
> 
> $1,071.21
> 
> ...




wholly shit! we have a winner.
What exactly do u have in ur house
Ducted airconditioning + 5 teenagers?


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## bugwan (3/10/08)

Phrak said:


> Just opened our power bill for this qtr...
> 
> $1,071.21
> 
> ...



Seriously? Are you running a particle accelerator?

I'm not normally Mr environment, but that's terrible...!

I can only hope your brewery is the culprit.


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## Phrak (3/10/08)

Ducted air (heating & cooling), a stay-at-home wife looking after a 3yo and a 5 month old, three computers on 24x7. The brewery is completely LPG.

Interestingly enough (for me at least), I use about half the amount of power during the summer months than the winter months.

Looks like some upgraded/replacement insulation is in order.


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## Phrak (3/10/08)

While we're on the topic, what was everyone's daily avg or total consumption for the qtr?

Mine was 5536kWh Peak @ 14.9c/kWh for the first 1400kWh then 16.15c thereafter.

Perhaps I'm just paying too much per kWh? :unsure:


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## pokolbinguy (3/10/08)

Phrak that is similar prices (maybe cheaper) than what we are paying here. I think you really need to look at your consumption. Insulation would be a good idea.

Our bill at $600 is high enough....too high at that!!!


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## kram (3/10/08)

Geez Phrak you must be rolling in $$$ if you've got a stay at home wifey with those sorta elec bills.


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## bugwan (3/10/08)

Phrak said:


> ...stay-at-home wife...


Say no more... I've got one of those, lovely as they are, they're bloody expensive! Always "too cold" or "too hot"...!


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## Insight (3/10/08)

bugwan said:


> Say no more... I've got one of those, lovely as they are, they're bloody expensive! Always "too cold" or "too hot"...!



Preachin' to the choir brother!


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## browndog (4/10/08)

Seems like something is on the nose in NSW guys, I just got my latest bill, $360 for 4 fridges, 1 chest freezer, non-off peak 250L electric hot water, electric stove and oven, 1PC, 1 laptop, 1 big mother old style TV.


Browndog


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## dr K (4/10/08)

The apparent increase in electricity consumption we are seeing is direct result of greehouse gases. Imagine the power lines etc a great big pipe , the size, construction and speed at which the electricty moves around makes it pretty efficient, until it goes past your meter. When it gets in your house the wiring uses old technology and materials that were designed before the increase in greenhouse gas emmission. Essentially the insulation, due to increased GHG is just not properly insulating and your electricity is leaking out into the atmosphere, turning your apliances off does not help as the power still runs to them and leaks out of the cables, imagine a plumbing sytem full of thousands of miniscule leaks...that is where your electricity is going.

K


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## FarsideOfCrazy (4/10/08)

dr K said:


> The apparent increase in electricity consumption we are seeing is direct result of greehouse gases. Imagine the power lines etc a great big pipe , the size, construction and speed at which the electricty moves around makes it pretty efficient, until it goes past your meter. When it gets in your house the wiring uses old technology and materials that were designed before the increase in greenhouse gas emmission. Essentially the insulation, due to increased GHG is just not properly insulating and your electricity is leaking out into the atmosphere, turning your apliances off does not help as the power still runs to them and leaks out of the cables, imagine a plumbing sytem full of thousands of miniscule leaks...that is where your electricity is going.
> 
> K




I would have thought that if your power is "leaking out" through the cables even when appliances are turned off it would be a short? Which would result in tripping of circut breakers, or in a worse case scenario, fire. To me this sounds like a load of BS. But please correct me if I'm wrong.


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## rclemmett (4/10/08)

Have you done the math on that dr K? Most power lines in Australia are bare copper, why do your electrons not leak out of these? Air is an insulator, combined with the insulation already on the cables it seems unlikely that this would give you a high electricity bill. Not to mention all the RCD's that would be tripping of due to this leakage. 

If you believe this to be true the you should test the insulation resistance of your installation which will give you the overall resistance of your wiring (with everything unplugged of course) then P=VI and you could calculate these "leaks".

What do the green house gases do exactly?


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## FarsideOfCrazy (4/10/08)

Phrak said:


> Just opened our power bill for this qtr...
> 
> $1,071.21
> 
> ...




Wholly Phrak :lol: ,

Seriuosly dude that is alot of power usage there. I would definatly consider finding where all that juice is going. Ducted air uses a shirtload of power so you might want to consider putting jumper on instead of cranking it up.


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## The King of Spain (4/10/08)

Check your meter. My last bill was up $175 higher and I was at a loss as to why so I checked the meter to find and I was overcharged by 1000KWhrs peak.


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## newguy (4/10/08)

Rob2 said:


> Have you done the math on that dr K? Most power lines in Australia are bare copper, why do your electrons not leak out of these? Air is an insulator, combined with the insulation already on the cables it seems unlikely that this would give you a high electricity bill. Not to mention all the RCD's that would be tripping of due to this leakage.
> 
> If you believe this to be true the you should test the insulation resistance of your installation which will give you the overall resistance of your wiring (with everything unplugged of course) then P=VI and you could calculate these "leaks".
> 
> What do the green house gases do exactly?



I'm still not sure if Dr K's post was a deliberate troll or not - that's why I didn't respond.  To anyone who thinks that electrical lines can somehow "leak" - they can't. Reminds me of one of my first summer jobs in university, testing earth grounds on farms. Where I'm from, the power system works on an earth ground basis for the return path - there are no separate ground lines in use. Almost to a man, whenever a farmer asked us what we were doing, they'd pipe up with "is it leaking, because my power bill is too damn high!" <_<


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## Weizguy (4/10/08)

newguy said:


> I'm still not sure if Dr K's post was a deliberate troll or not - that's why I didn't respond.


Oh, Doktor K... You've done it again!

Maybe you should be more obvious when the p!ss you are taking?


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## sinkas (4/10/08)

dr K said:


> The apparent increase in electricity consumption we are seeing is direct result of greehouse gases. Imagine the power lines etc a great big pipe , the size, construction and speed at which the electricty moves around makes it pretty efficient, until it goes past your meter. When it gets in your house the wiring uses old technology and materials that were designed before the increase in greenhouse gas emmission. Essentially the insulation, due to increased GHG is just not properly insulating and your electricity is leaking out into the atmosphere, turning your apliances off does not help as the power still runs to them and leaks out of the cables, imagine a plumbing sytem full of thousands of miniscule leaks...that is where your electricity is going.
> 
> K




What?

What type of Dr are you?

Spin Dr?


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## Weizguy (4/10/08)

sinkas said:


> What?
> 
> What type of Dr are you?
> 
> Spin Dr?


At the risk of being off-topic, I believe that he is a "Spun" Doctor.

My electricity bill here has been 20% lower since I took his advice, though. :lol:


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## Phrak (4/10/08)

I've just been doing a bit of searching - seems there's FINALLY a comparison website for energy plans.

Unknown where their revenue comes from - commission maybe?

It seems I can save up to $250 a year, according to http://www.goswitch.com.au

ahh, just found where their revenue comes from:
http://www.goswitch.com.au/FreeText.aspx?tName=Survey
"*About GoSwitch*
www.GoSwitch.com.au is a new online service that has been developed to help Australians pay less for electricity and gas. GoSwitch is free for consumers and they are under no obligation to switch energy companies when they use the website. If customers switch energy supplier, GoSwitch receives a small fee from retailers it has a commercial relationship, but this is not added to the price paid by the consumer."


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## Goofinder (4/10/08)

Phrak said:


> Averaging 72kWh/day


Wow, you must have a lot of stuff running there... my power usage averages around 6.2 kWh/day , except over summer when the air conditioner gets a bit of a workout and it gets up to about 6.8. That's with everything electric except the hot water. But then I live in a townhouse with only one fridge + TV and a wife who has been trained to adjust her clothing rather than turn on the heater/air con.


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## oldbugman (4/10/08)

Phrak said:


> Looks like some upgraded/replacement insulation is in order.



Jee, ever heard of one of these


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## rclemmett (4/10/08)

Les the Weizguy said:


> Oh, Doktor K... You've done it again!
> 
> Maybe you should be more obvious when the p!ss you are taking?




Me feels a tad silly <_< . I guess someone had to look silly though.


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## SJW (4/10/08)

Well I don't know what the hell u guys are doing but as I said before I have a very large house, pool, 4 fridges, ducted air, and 2 kids and I have never had a bill over $230.


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## mickoz (4/10/08)

Goofinder said:


> Wow, you must have a lot of stuff running there... my power usage averages around 6.2 kWh/day , except over summer when the air conditioner gets a bit of a workout and it gets up to about 6.8. That's with everything electric except the hot water. But then I live in a townhouse with only one fridge + TV and a wife who has been trained to adjust her clothing rather than turn on the heater/air con.



Must be fun around your place in summer  Naked women woohoo!


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## Doogiechap (4/10/08)

dr K said:


> The apparent increase in electricity consumption we are seeing is direct result of greehouse gases. Imagine the power lines etc a great big pipe , the size, construction and speed at which the electricty moves around makes it pretty efficient, until it goes past your meter. When it gets in your house the wiring uses old technology and materials that were designed before the increase in greenhouse gas emmission. Essentially the insulation, due to increased GHG is just not properly insulating and your electricity is leaking out into the atmosphere, turning your apliances off does not help as the power still runs to them and leaks out of the cables, imagine a plumbing sytem full of thousands of miniscule leaks...that is where your electricity is going.
> 
> K



Too much Kannabis :lol: .


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## staggalee (4/10/08)

SJW said:


> Well I don't know what the hell u guys are doing but as I said before I have a very large house, pool, 4 fridges, ducted air, and 2 kids and I have never had a bill over $230.



I just want to get this right- you`ve got a 55 square home with 60,000l. pool, ducted aircon, 4 tv`s, 4 fridges and whatever and you`ve never had a power bill over $230.00 for the quarter.
Is that right? :mellow: 

staggalee.


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## Phrak (4/10/08)

staggalee said:


> I just want to get this right- you`ve got a 55 square home with 60,000l. pool, ducted aircon, 4 tv`s, 4 fridges and whatever and you`ve never had a power bill over $230.00 for the quarter.
> Is that right? :mellow:
> 
> staggalee.


If it was <$230 per *month*, that would be perfectly believable.


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## staggalee (4/10/08)

Yeah...it`s odd tho that the blokes paying $700 to a grand plus a quarter didn`t turn a hair or query it when they saw that.

staggalee.


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## bugwan (4/10/08)

SJW said:


> Well I don't know what the hell u guys are doing but as I said before I have a very large house, pool, 4 fridges, ducted air, and 2 kids and I have never had a bill over $230.



Same here SJW. We're sans pool, but I have a wife who's always too cold/hot, so the reverse-cycle runs constantly... :angry: Biggest quarterly bill ever was less than $300...


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## Ducatiboy stu (4/10/08)

Bloody Dishwasher....twice a day 

And for some strange reason...the Missus has to use the clothes dryer ... just because it is there..and no other reason..





















Was given a reason...... came with a solicitors letter...


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## FarsideOfCrazy (4/10/08)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Bloody Dishwasher....twice a day
> 
> And for some strange reason...the Missus has to use the clothes dryer ... just because it is there..and no other reason..
> 
> ...



Cut the cord


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## SJW (4/10/08)

> I just want to get this right- you`ve got a 55 square home with 60,000l. pool, ducted aircon, 4 tv`s, 4 fridges and whatever and you`ve never had a power bill over $230.00 for the quarter.
> Is that right?
> 
> staggalee.



Yep + a dishwasher thats on everyday. I got the pile of bills right next to me for the past 2 years we have been here. I must say though that I have the kids and Mrs trained well with lights and stuff. The house is full of those low voltage lights that really suck up the power so we tend to use low energy lamps more around the house. 
We also have gas hot water and cooking.

Steve


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## QldKev (5/10/08)

Ours it always just over the $400 mark. 
4 fridges / freezers
Heaps tvs
3 computers
dish washer 1 to 2 times a day
clothes dryer - I once said for her not to use the dryer for all the clothes; response was your quite welcome to hang them out dear. She gets to use the dryer no questions now. I worked out its only about 50c a load.
Hotwater / cooking all on power.
Only master bedroom aircon
Fluro type lighting in nearly every room.
Ceiling fans, at least 2 of them run nearly all the time
3 x Exhaust fans, that 2 off them actually run most the time.
Small Fish tank
Heaps and heaps of things that sit idle in standby mode.

I actually put a large % to the computers. Mine has a GFX card that draws over 100w and a PSU 600w, and my sons GFX card is 180w also with a 600w PSU, my other sons is running a resonable GFX card/ set too.. The computer room gets really hot, with 3 computers and often 3 people in there. We have a 40w fax, 60w fan, and a 180w fan (industrial) to help cool it, even this time of the year we are finding we have to run both of the smaller fans all day. Due to different work/school arrangements most times someone is in there, so it does get a good work out.

Overall compared to some bills I think $400 isn't too bad after all.


QldKev


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## paul (5/10/08)

Given that your graphics card gets its feed from the power supply I wouldnt think that you can add that to consumption. 

Most of the time your computer and drives are sitting idle so the power consumption wouldnt be the 660w that the psu is rated at. Im only guessing but if your psu is rated at 600w it could run 5 hard drives, and couple of burners. If all of this was running you would be using maybe 500W of it. At idle is might only be using maybe 60w. (This is all a guess).

Im going to buy one of these meters from Jaycar just to put on the wifes TV. It says 300w on the back and she turns it on when she gets up at 7am and leaves it on until midnight when she goes to bed.

My power bill is between $500 and $600 per quarter.


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## Phrak (5/10/08)

Likewise. I'm buying a couple of those usage meters. One for the AV gear, one for the PC gear. See how we go...

I still reckon the house's insulation needs an upgrade for next Winter.


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## bigfridge (5/10/08)

Les the Weizguy said:


> Oh, Doktor K... You've done it again!
> 
> Maybe you should be more obvious when the p!ss you are taking?



Les, you can always tell with the good Dr - it is in every post ...... 

When he is being serious, he uses his other login - Daren :lol:


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## justsomeguy (6/10/08)

Simple solution for the clothesdryer thing. Don't plug it in.

When we moved into our current place I put the dryer on top of the upright freezer just to get it out of the way. Never bothered to plug the thing in so we've not used it all winter. SWMBO ain't so happy about it because she doesn't have the convenience of just chucking clothes in it rather than spending 10 minutes hanging the stuff on the line. I can live with that.

For those of you using an electric hotwater system two things:

1. Check that the thermostat hasn't burned out. If it has then the thing will be running 24/7 and really chew the juice.

2. Turn the thermostat down. Most are running really hot when you can really get away with running them a few degrees lower.

And as others have said 'check your bill reading matches your meter reading'. Most of the companys make a guestimate of the usage and don't do a proper reading for all bills.

gary


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## Peter Wadey (6/10/08)

Phrak said:


> ...
> Perhaps I'm just paying too much per kWh? :unsure:



Phrak,
I was going to reply to Doc's post the other day, but deleted it.
Your's has got me typing again.

Your problem is not the rates - you are consuming too much!
Let me tell you, you will get a very rude shock when they install a Time Of Use meter.
I can only hope it will shock you sufficiently to make you think about what your doing to our planet.

For the record, we have no town gas in our street, so it's all electricity here.
Like you I have a stay at home wife with 2 kids under 5.
We too have ducted reverse cycle.
We also have:
1 x in-ground pool to maintain
2 x fridges
1 x 160l tucker box
1 x 700 litre keg freezer - which I will downgrade
1 x fermentation fridge, that does not run all the time
The brewery's HLT is also electric.
We have a modest range of household appliances.

Our Autumn 08 bill (March, Apr, May) was $206 for 20kWh/ day, inc. off peak hot water. 
Our Winter 08 bill (June, July, Aug) was $278 for 25kWh/ day, inc. off peak hot water.
These can be improved on.

Yes, insulate where you can. I put roof bats in as soon as we bought the house. We also installed whirlybirds
We face East, so I also put canvas blinds on front & back, to reduce the load in summer. 

I also built an undercover washing line to supplement the Hills Hoist to cope with the increased washing due to kids.
This means that the drier tends only to be used during extended wet weather in Winter.

I implore you (and the other heavy users, some of which seem to take some pride in their 'accomplishments') to turn your usage around.

Rgds,
Peter


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