"pete" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Aug 2010 09:20:08 +0100, sweetheart wrote:
I know this is cheeky but I wondered if anyone would be willing to give
me a
"price comparison" for their electric usage?

My house is a large 2 bedroom bungalow. I say large because we have
large
rooms and a big kitchen dining room and extra big sitting room as well
as
two double bedrooms.

There is no gas main where I am so I use all electric - economy 7

The bill for this last year has come to £1086 . That includes the
central
heating last winter. The company is British Gas - so not the cheapest I
am
sure but given its E7 none of them come in greatly cheaper for my area
(Cornwall) so I have stayed with who I know since they have been no
trouble.

My eco conscious and money miser husband thinks our bill is high and
wants
me to look for ways to cut it. I cant find any.

He wants me to stop using my washing machine which goes on once a
week - or
maybe twice if I have anything big and my usual wash is 40 degrees
although
I occasionally use the higher wash rates for bed clothes and towels.

He wants me to use the dishwasher less - I put it on every other day at
normal ( 55 degrees) wash and he wants to switch the emersion heater
off
altogether - it goes on for an hour each night to provide water for
cleaning
and washing every day.
He says our bill is high ( the DD is £26 a month ) but I cant see where
its going other than on things I need now.

'pollies if this gets posted twice

The first thing you (that's _both_ of you) need to do is establish some
hard facts. Don't just guess at where the usage or savings will come from
or you'll probably miss something significant - as well as have arguments.
Start off by getting an OWL, or similar, electricity monitor. See how
consumption changes when various things are turned on.
Although I have both gas and electricity, here are some high-level points
about my energy - that's combined gas + electricity - usage.
- half of it is used in winter for heating the house (gas c/h)
- of the other half, half is used for hot water, over the whole year.
- the final quarter is everything else: TV, computers (leave a computer
running for a year is over £100 in electricity costs), electric kettle,
gas cooker, low-energy lighting.
- leaving stuff plugged in: e.g. phone chargers, or leaving stuff on
standby makes no measureable difference to my consumption figures.

No doubt other people will be along shortly to advise you on energy/cost
saving ploys, such as solar hot-water, air/ground sources heat pumps etc.

--
www.thisreallyismyhost.99k.org/page1.php

I second the recommendation to get a whole-house electricity monitor. I like
the CurrentCost ones, not least because they also tell you the temperature.
My electricity bill has dropped since I got one.