Hi,
I am on rural nightsaver electricity and on Direct Debit with Bord Gais. Have low wattage lights, dishwash, clothes wash, tumble dryer on at night as is immersion - the KWH we use at night not a problem but even this time of year I'm finding the use of KWH in day still high and can't understand what it is - the only item I can think of is we have an american fridge freezer which is about 14 years old - could this be the cause of my problem. The bill for last two months from March until present is E234. The part of bill for day is E150. It is a detached house in country also running our own well. Does anyone else thing this is high or have any light to throw on whether it could be american fridge freezer?
Just to add did have a work man here for 3 days building a shed using a circular saw -may this could account for that but bill previous to this was E254.
TIA
Angela59
Dear OP,
Please read my five energy-saving tips below:
1. Sell your tumble dryer! If it's in good nick you'll make a few quid and in the future you'll be left with no choice but to dry your clothes like those of us without tumble dryers - indoors on a line or a clothes dryer. As a result, you will see your energy bill drop dramatically. You do know that the tumble dryer is the most energy consuming household appliance, don't you?
2. Sell your dishwasher! Another high-energy consuming device that you don’t need unless you are running a bar or a restaurant.
3. Make sure your washing machine has a Grade A appliance. According to the SEAI, “an ‘A’ rated appliance will use about 55% of the electricity of a similarly sized appliance with a ‘D’ rating. Always look for the energy label and purchase ‘A’ rated appliances where possible, they can save their replacement cost over their lifetime. and benefit the environment.“ With regards to your washing, do you wash clothes every day? If so, ask yourself is it really necessary? Think of the savings, not only in energy, but also in detergent. You should always make sure your clothes are well dirty before washing. And make sure your machine is completely full and, of course, run it on a short cycle for any clothes not heavily stained.
4. Your fridge freezer. What energy rating does this have? What brand is it? I really don’t think that your fridge freezer is the main problem here, given your daily use of the tumble dryer, dishwasher and washing machine. Your fridge freezer could be eating energy but that's difficult to tell. Is your freezer always full? Remember that a half-empty or an empty freezer consumes more energy.
Do you clean the back of your fridge-freezer regularly? A build up of dirt and dust causes it to function less well and thus wastes energy.
5. With regard to your low wattage light bulbs, make sure they are cleaned and dusted regularly as dirty bulbs consume more energy. If you want to reduce your lighting consumption even further, you might want to consider investing in some LED bulbs, which are far more efficient again than CFLs.
Fyi, I have got all of the useful tips above from a book I'm reading on Eco Living. If you'd like the title, let me know.
Also worth checking out is a free guide from the SEAI, “Your guide to electricity in the home.” It can be consulted online and no doubt ordered from the SEAI directly too.
If I can be of further help, let me know!
Best of luck!
