# Meter Readings For A Month



## Nicksmith (Jan 5, 2015)

Hi folks,just wondering if anyone can say if this is about average. Electric meter reading on 15th October 10861. Meter reading today 2nd November 11282. So I've used 421 units of electricity in 18 days. Seems a bit much what do you think.
Thanks
Nick.


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2015)

Nicksmith said:


> Hi folks,just wondering if anyone can say if this is about average. Electric meter reading on 15th October 10861. Meter reading today 2nd November 11282. So I've used 421 units of electricity in 18 days. Seems a bit much what do you think.
> Thanks
> Nick.


We have a brand new installation with a smart meter, 3 phrase electric supply and 10Kw potencia.

Last month we used 800 units of electric - nearly double the amount of consumption compared to the UK. I sometime feel we are being ripped off but I don't know how to measure the true consumption of electric on 3 phrase power.

I don't think your the only one who feels a bit suspicious either!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Nicksmith said:


> Hi folks,just wondering if anyone can say if this is about average. Electric meter reading on 15th October 10861. Meter reading today 2nd November 11282. So I've used 421 units of electricity in 18 days. Seems a bit much what do you think.
> Thanks
> Nick.


Firstly, are you sure that both readings are 'actual' and not estimated?

Did you take the readings yourself?


Lastly, how can we say what's average when we don't know what appliances you use, for how long, how many there are of you, the size of the property etc. etc.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

With electric apparently considerably dearer than at home what I have read on here is to expect for " average use" ( 3 bed house, heating, tv etc) around €120 a month bills. Is that about right? Thanks


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Well, Nick. we use on average around 420kwh in every two month billing period, so your usage is an awful lot more than mine. However, as I've said in other threads, we have a gas cooker and use gas for almost all our heating (when we need it), we don't have a dishwasher, we don't have a swimming pool so no pump to run. So if you have an electric oven and hob plus some or all of those other things, then your consumption is bound to be more.


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## Nicksmith (Jan 5, 2015)

snikpoh said:


> Firstly, are you sure that both readings are 'actual' and not estimated?
> 
> Did you take the readings yourself?
> 
> ...


Hi sorry I should have said. It's a 2 bed with a pool,cooker is gas,got air con but haven't used it,hot water is electric and just the usual things like tv ect. Yes I took the readings myself and it's just the two of us. The pools getting emptied for the winter in 3 weeks so I expect that will make a difference also haven't had any electric heaters on as we've got a wood burner which we've had on a few times.
Thanks
Nick.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Nicksmith said:


> Hi sorry I should have said. It's a 2 bed with a pool,cooker is gas,got air con but haven't used it,hot water is electric and just the usual things like tv ect. Yes I took the readings myself and it's just the two of us. The pools getting emptied for the winter in 3 weeks so I expect that will make a difference also haven't had any electric heaters on as we've got a wood burner which we've had on a few times.
> Thanks
> Nick.


I would say, in that case, that it's way too high (unless you've had the pool pump on continuously and the electric heater has a fault).


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

All electric 8 room bungalow, no pool, no heating, no air conditioning, last month cost €52.51

However we live in the Canaries, here I believe prices differ from European Spain.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Hepa that's amazing value.
My estimate would def be more than double that for average 3 bed with electric heating


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## smitty5668 (Feb 25, 2015)

seems quite high for what you have nick.


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## Nicksmith (Jan 5, 2015)

Just done a bit of research on the pool and I decided to turn the pool pump of as its not getting used and it's getting emptied in two weeks anyway so I will just give it a quick clean everyday until it gets emptied.Im going to read the meter every 7 days and we will see what the difference is after a couple of weeks.Will let you know what difference it makes. 
Nick.


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## spooksie (Nov 3, 2015)

check to see if your neighbours are robbing your electric. Had 2 neighbors do it to me a few times.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Nicksmith said:


> Just done a bit of research on the pool and I decided to turn the pool pump of as its not getting used and it's getting emptied in two weeks anyway so I will just give it a quick clean everyday until it gets emptied.Im going to read the meter every 7 days and we will see what the difference is after a couple of weeks.Will let you know what difference it makes.
> Nick.


Good idea. I was getting so confused with both water and electricity bills that I started reading both meters every day and putting them on a spreadsheet. Bit OTT perhaps but if you miss the odd day it doesn't matter. It soon becomes apparent if something is amiss - for instance, I noticed a big increase in water consumption once and soon found a huge leak in the irrigation system - would have been leaking for weeks if I hadn't spotted it.


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## Nicksmith (Jan 5, 2015)

spooksie said:


> check to see if your neighbours are robbing your electric. Had 2 neighbors do it to me a few times.


Hi,how do I do that.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Rabbitcat said:


> Hepa that's amazing value.
> My estimate would def be more than double that for average 3 bed with electric heating


No heating needed, however I do have a pullover


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Nicksmith said:


> Hi,how do I do that.


Turn off every single electrical appliance in your home for an hour, check the meter at the start and finish of the hour. If power has still been used, there are different possible reasons

A neighbour could have tapped into your supply
The meter could be faulty
There might be electrical "leakage" - yes, seriously.
How to Discover an Electrical Leakage at Home | eHow

When my old meter was changed for a smart meter, I noticed that our consumption was supposedly going up by exactly 16kwh each and every month, which seemed highly suspicious to me. I put in a complaint to Endesa who did send a technician to check it, he claimed there was nothing wrong with the meter, but strangely enough after his visit the consumption stopped going up.

Numerous problems with smart meters have been experienced in countries all over the world, just Google it.


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## Nicksmith (Jan 5, 2015)

Lynn R said:


> Turn off every single electrical appliance in your home for an hour, check the meter at the start and finish of the hour. If power has still been used, there are different possible reasons
> 
> A neighbour could have tapped into your supply
> The meter could be faulty
> ...


Thanks, do that tomorrow.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

I've mentioned in previous posts that I've been on a bit of a mission to find out where all my electricity has been going and I've also got a nice big Excel spreadsheet that covers just about anything you can think off utility wise. What I can tell you is:

a) Your pool pump (depending on the power of the pump, I'll assume 750w) will double your electricity bill if left running 24/7. I'm not closing or emptying mine as the cost to refill (about €300) is money down the drain compared to the minimal cost of keeping it clean from September to June. I'm now running mine for 2 hours at night (cheap rate) and may even go down to 1 just to see if it stays clear, I can always clear it up and go back to 2 hours if it's not enough.

b) 421 units in 18 days is roughly 23.5 a day or 1402 per bi-monthly bill. This is not far off what I have been getting for the past few years (average 1515 over last 8 bills) but you will need to list everything you have and how often it is on before you can start to make some savings. I've bought two different electricity monitors, one for the house and one for a socket and both have been useful in identifying where excess electricity if being used. I've not got my daily average down to 13 units and that includes two boys who are plugged into the Matrix via their laptops (plus lights) which also adds up.

c) Check your bulbs. If you haven't already, swicth everything out for low voltage (preferably LED, much brighter,last longer but do cost a little more than other low voltage lights). I've also discovered my strip lights are using 100w when they should be using 32w or 58w so I need to find out why they are doing that. 

d) Do you have a back-up fridge and separate freezer? I did and found they were adding 4 units to the bill every day. They are now off and we have managed to condense everything into one fridge/freezer (house of 6 so not easy).

Anyway, have to run so hope that helps.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

Nicksmith said:


> Hi sorry I should have said. It's a 2 bed with a pool,cooker is gas,got air con but haven't used it,hot water is electric and just the usual things like tv ect. Yes I took the readings myself and it's just the two of us. The pools getting emptied for the winter in 3 weeks so I expect that will make a difference also haven't had any electric heaters on as we've got a wood burner which we've had on a few times.
> Thanks
> Nick.


I'm not so rushed today so looking at your post again. I'm also on a 3 phase line with a 13.85k/Wh supply which we are in the process of lowering it to 9.8k/Wh but as per the Spanish way, it's like pulling teeth to get the ball rolling. I have electric cooking but gas heating (no aircon) so for spring to autumn my bills could be about the same as yours (if you exchange hot water for gas cooking). If it's a two bed and just the two of you my bills would be higher than yours so just factoring those in, your consumption of 23ish units a day is too high. This leaves the pool pump which it looks like you have had running 24/7. 

I've had a closer look at my numbers and I'm currently using 14 units a day. I had a day when I accidentally left the pump running for 10 hours when I was vacuuming it and my day units went from an average of 6 to 18. My house monitor shows the total power being used for the pump jump from 400w to 1.6k/Wh which is another thing I need to look at as it is supposed to be a 750w pump, not a 1.2k/Wh pump.

If you have now switched off the pump, take a reading first thing in the morning and then again the following morning and I'm sure you will see the units used being nearer 10 than 23. 

On a side note, why are you emptying the pool? It doesn't sound like it is something you are doing yourself but has been arranged for you. Have they explained why they are doing it? When I drained and refilled roughly 30/35k litres (to lower my CYA.....that's another story) the water bill jumped €300! If you are footing the bill for refilling you might want to look into various methods of filling it (tap/tanker truck/well) and as I said, the reason for emptying in the first place. Also, where is the waste water going? Some councils don't want you emptying it just anywhere as it can effect the water table.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Desiato instead of in units can you give us some figures in Euros, what's your basic monthly outlay for electric


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

Rabbitcat said:


> Desiato instead of in units can you give us some figures in Euros, what's your basic monthly outlay for electric


The Euro figure is affected by the potencia and the night/day rate so these variables can confuse matters but the units are the same for me, you, him so on one level comparing units is a good barometer. Looking at my last 8 bills from 30th April 2014 to 27th August 2015 my average bi-monthly bill was £386.04 which I think makes me top of the pile for ridiculously high electricity bills; especially when you add in I have gas for heating and hot water 

I've turned everything off whilst holding the house monitor and saw it reading 20 watts with just the oven clock and an old sprinkler system clock ticking away to themselves which rules out someone else leeching my electricity. I've still got leakages and faults to cover but when the potencia is lowered and the recent rates of 14 units a day (instead of 25 as it was in July) kick in, I'll let you know what it comes down to.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

At near €200 a month- without heating- it does seem very high


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

Rabbitcat said:


> At near €200 a month- without heating- it does seem very high


This year I took full ownership of the pool and did some serious research at the TroubleFreePool website and it's made a big difference to the electricity bill (and the pool). Last July and August I had the pump running almost 24/7 and the bill was €495. This year I had it running 4 hours a day and the bill for the same period was €340. Still high but quite a saving on the previous year. September/October's bill will be here shortly and I have my fingers crossed it will be the first bill under €300 (I've got records back to June 2011).


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Desiato said:


> ... I've also discovered my strip lights are using 100w when they should be using 32w or 58w so I need to find out why they are doing that.
> ...


Strip lights use a bit more leccy when first turned on. In fact most energy saving lamps do but strip lights are the only type where the extra used is at all significant.


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## Nicksmith (Jan 5, 2015)

Hi and thanks for the replys.Heres an update..... Been reading my meter at 9pm every night so anyway turned the pool pumps off 9pm Tues then read the meter had used 21 units that day.Read it again 9pm Wed and I had used only 10 units so looks like I need to have a look at the pool pump as it's basically doubling my usage. Not sure why the pools getting emptied my landlord doesn't live in Spain but after talking to him on the phone last week I got the impression he empties it every winter,I will obviously have to speak to him about the reasons and who pays to refill it.
Nick.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

Nicksmith said:


> Hi and thanks for the replys.Heres an update..... Been reading my meter at 9pm every night so anyway turned the pool pumps off 9pm Tues then read the meter had used 21 units that day._*Read it again 9pm Wed and I had used only 10 units*_ so looks like I need to have a look at the pool pump as it's basically doubling my usage. Not sure why the pools getting emptied my landlord doesn't live in Spain but after talking to him on the phone last week I got the impression he empties it every winter,I will obviously have to speak to him about the reasons and who pays to refill it.
> Nick.


He shoots he scores!  10 units a day 

Yep figured it had to be the pool pump and I know what the landlord will say about the pool being emptied as well. 

Without boring the pants of you, the usual way to maintain a pool is to fill a floater with chlorine tablets and when they have dissolved, replace them. The problem is that the chlorine tablets come with stabilizer (CYA - Cyanuric acid) which you also need but only up to a point. Your chlorine will get used up by algae or will evaporate but your CYA won't, it just keeps on growing and growing. The more CYA you have in your pool the more chlorine you need to balance it and to keep your pool algae free but most people don't know that and this is where other 'anti algae' products come into play. 

In short, the only way to get rid of the CYA build up is to drain or part drain the pool. The only way to add chlorine to a pool that doesn't include CYA is to add bleach or liquid chlorine but this is where it gets to be a hassle because during the summer months, you have to add it daily because you can lose 3/4ppm a day and if your ideal level is 6, you can see the problem. 

Tablet slowly release their chlorine so you have a constant addition but the price you pay for this convenience is the added CYA and the partial drain. You pays your money you takes your choice.

Trouble Free Pool


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