Hello,
Since moving into a new rental apartment our bills (gas and electricity) have been incredibly high, 4 times higher in the case of the gas and about twice as high with the electricity. I think there is a fault with the gas boiler which we are going to get the landlord to fix but I'm having more difficulty diagnosing the problem with the electricity.
I bought an OWL energy monitor and with everything switched off that I can (including fridge freezer etc) the place seems to be using 50-60w of power at all times. The only thing I can think of is the alarm but I doubt it would draw that much power. There is also a loud buzzing/humming sound from a grey plastic box beside the immersion which is also hot to touch; perhaps this is faulty and using a bit of power.
I think the one of the main draws of the power is that the fridge freezer is old and uses about 190w constantly, this alone is going to cost about €24 a month. Do you think it reasonable to ask the landlord to get a more efficient one? The problem is it is built into the cupboards and would be expensive to replace, the landlord is a nice man but seems to be very relaxed in terms of maintaining the place or getting repairs done. Hence I'd imagine the problems with the gas boiler, are due to the fact it has never been serviced.
Any advice re the background power usage would be much appreciated. I want to be able to identify what the problem is before contacting the landlord about this, as a vague complaint that my electricity bill is too high is not going to be much good.
Thanks
Since moving into a new rental apartment our bills (gas and electricity) have been incredibly high, 4 times higher in the case of the gas and about twice as high with the electricity. I think there is a fault with the gas boiler which we are going to get the landlord to fix but I'm having more difficulty diagnosing the problem with the electricity.
I bought an OWL energy monitor and with everything switched off that I can (including fridge freezer etc) the place seems to be using 50-60w of power at all times. The only thing I can think of is the alarm but I doubt it would draw that much power. There is also a loud buzzing/humming sound from a grey plastic box beside the immersion which is also hot to touch; perhaps this is faulty and using a bit of power.
I think the one of the main draws of the power is that the fridge freezer is old and uses about 190w constantly, this alone is going to cost about €24 a month. Do you think it reasonable to ask the landlord to get a more efficient one? The problem is it is built into the cupboards and would be expensive to replace, the landlord is a nice man but seems to be very relaxed in terms of maintaining the place or getting repairs done. Hence I'd imagine the problems with the gas boiler, are due to the fact it has never been serviced.
Any advice re the background power usage would be much appreciated. I want to be able to identify what the problem is before contacting the landlord about this, as a vague complaint that my electricity bill is too high is not going to be much good.
Thanks