# weird electricity consumption.



## Phil Pascoe (17 Nov 2021)

I have economy 7. The biggest power consumption by a mile is the immersion heater (we have no mains gas). This is set to come on at night (the reason for e7) on an electronic timer. This has a warning light as does the isolating switch nearer the tank, and both come on at night when the tank is heated. There is no question that it is not heated by day. Probably 70% of the use of the washing machine and dishwasher is at night. The main daytime use is the cooker (not everyday and for an hour max), a microwave, a kettle, an aquarium, a couple of computers (all day), a TV in the evenings and any lighting which is all led. Fridges and freezers run all the time. I checked my bill carefully for the first time and I'm using two and a half times the electricity in the daytime as the night. The number one reading is definitely the night reading, and this is the smaller usage.


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## Spectric (17 Nov 2021)

Your immersion is around 3Kw and therefore three units per hour, how long it stays on depends on the size of the tank, it's initial temperature and the setpoint but should not be on all night. Washing machines now only use cold water feed so will not draw down on the hot water and the same for dishwashers so I assume you have no overnight consumption of hot water. I would say that using more electricity during the day is more than possible, a kettle is around 2500 watts, cookers can also consume and everything else adds up and this time of year you have a lot more lights on, you should fit LED bulbs. Econ 7 was originally devised for electric storage heating where it works ok to a point.


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## Phil Pascoe (17 Nov 2021)

All my lights are LED. I worked out the immersion to about 10kwh - I can't see how we can use 25Kwh per day.


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## D_W (17 Nov 2021)

Easiest thing to do (assuming you have a smart meter and the consumption is accurate and not calculated as highest rate measured at points, etc) is to start varying consumption of things that use electricity. 

Also, point of use is easier to measure if you can get a gadget that shows what things are using. 

As an example, I have a "1800 watt" rated toaster oven. It's from china, so no surprise that it uses 1150 watts. 

Also have a vitamix that claims 11.5 amps at 120V. When it's working on a drink at high speed, it will draw over 2000 watts and gradually work its way down to 1600 (still above its rating) as the drink gets easier. I always wondered why the plug would get a little warm (almost certainly voltage drop). 

700 watt setting on the space heater actually draws 1000 continuously as long as it's running.


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## Myfordman (17 Nov 2021)

What is the ratio on previous years bills. As you have only just started looking in detail, you possibly have no idea what to expect.
If your consumption is in the proportions you say then E7 is the wrong tariff for you as the day rate is higher on the assumption that most of your consumption is at night


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## flh801978 (17 Nov 2021)

So are you using 35 units in a 24 hour period? So perhaps £7 a day if all at day rate £5.50 with 10kw at night rate?
That doesn’t sound too bad to be honest
Try reading the meter during the day and again after 2 hours see how much you have used?


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## Spectric (17 Nov 2021)

Another way is to go back to basic physic's and work out the energy required to raise the water temperature from a to b. 

Say your tank is 200 litres and is at 30°C and you want it 60°C.

200 x 4 x ( 60 - 30 ) / 3412 which is 7Kw . So not mater if the element is 1Kw or 12Kw you will use 7Kw.

Another thing is to check your meter, turn everything off and make sure the light on the meter does not flash or readings change over a period of say 30 minutes to ensure you do not have any unknown loads connected.


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## Doug71 (17 Nov 2021)

I just checked my usage out of curiosity. My heating and hot water are oil so the electric is just for electrical things.

I used 446 units last month so about 14.4 units a day.


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## Sideways (17 Nov 2021)

Family of four, small detached house. Gas heating and hob. Electric lights, oven and other usual white goods.
I looked fairly carefully at my last 12mth utilities when I was shopping for a new fixed term deal in September.
We use 10kWhr a day in summer and 18kWhr a day in December & January
I blame a lump of that on the tumble dryer.
HTH.


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## Phil Pascoe (17 Nov 2021)

Originally the usage was 45% day, 55% night - it was just viable to stick with economy 7. Octopus have confirmed that the No.1 reading is the night reading, so I'll read the meter at 7.30am to see what has been used over night. I'm still sure they are the wrong way around. The meter was changed a couple of years ago and the fitter left a card saying which was which but it's faded to the point I can't read it.
I fancy there is a bit of b.s. involved - they've informed me that my night rate is 23.00 - 00.00 and 01.00 - 7.00. I was told by the last supplier it was 00.30 - 07.30 and the one before it was 00.00 - 07.00. All GMT - the meter is not computerised and has not been touched so surely it changes over at the time it was originally set to change over?

My last month was 212 units by night and 527 units by day. I used Water Heating Calculator for Time, Energy, and Power to work out the consumption of the immersion - I can't see 212 units a month being adequate even if nothing else was used at night. The meter reads only whole units so unlike an old analogue meter it's not easy to see at a glance what's happening.


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## mikej460 (17 Nov 2021)

Phil are you sure the immersion timer is set correctly i.e. 11pm not 11am? I've done this once


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## Phil Pascoe (17 Nov 2021)

If I use too much hot water during the day it runs cold, and there is an indicator light on both the timer and the isolator switch (that was my first thought as well).


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## Just4Fun (17 Nov 2021)

Turn everything off. All appliances, including the fridge & freezer - it won't matter for a short time. Then confirm that your meter is not registering any usage. If the meter still shows usage when you think you have everything turned off, you have something using power that you are not aware of so find out what.

Next turn things on one appliance at a time and try to judge which really starts your meter spinning.


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## MikeH (18 Nov 2021)

Shower? Do you use one rather than a bath and if so is it electric. They have a very high power draw.


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## Terrytpot (18 Nov 2021)

Having had to rely upon an immersion heater as our sole source of hot water in the recent past I feel it could be prudent to check that 
1) the heater is functioning exactly when you expect it to..I had to replace one that started ignoring its set timings and operating when it felt like it..
2) more likely and also experienced historically is the immersion heater itself failing leading to it functioning for a much longer period of time to achieve what it would normally do much quicker. The thermostat on them is particularly vulnerable and if you live in a hard water area that doesn’t help either. Damhik but when you’ve had to replace them 4 times you start to dislike them, we eventually got ours plumbed in properly to heat water via our gas boiler.


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## Phil Pascoe (18 Nov 2021)

No, a bath from the immersion. The shower is mains power hot water from the immersion.

Ten units used overnight, so that's about par I would think. I'll see how the day goes.

The tank is three years old, a s.s. mains pressure one, the element (and thus the thermostat) is about four months old.


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## flying haggis (18 Nov 2021)

MILs meter has printed on it which is day and night displays so check that the meter might have the same. check the elec co haventswapped night/day readings. they seem to do it regularly! damhikt.


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## Woody2Shoes (18 Nov 2021)

"This is set to come on at night (the reason for e7) on an electronic timer"....
Do you really mean this?
The thing is, "off peak" electricity is a moveable feast. Your timer may be switching heavy loads on when the tariff is not in operation. In Scotland, certainly, and I know it's the other end of the country, e7 loads can be switched on (by radio signals, not an onsite timer) at variable times - depending on the mix of generation and demand.

I would try and study the timing of your (presumably radio controlled) e7 meter activity.


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## Phil Pascoe (18 Nov 2021)

It's set within the parameters of (all?) suppliers - 1.00am to 7.00am. I'm not aware of one charging full rate between these hours. It's not really the night time charges that concern me, it the daytime ones. I'll have look this evening for today's units.


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## xraymtb (18 Nov 2021)

Have you calculated what the bill would be on a single rate rather than E7? E7 being designed for storage heaters I'm not sure you would see any benefit without them. You can contact the supplier and ask to be billed on single rate instead and run the immersion when it suits you.


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## DBT85 (18 Nov 2021)

try one of these if you don't mind spending. monitors every circuit assuming you can get it in your CU.



https://www.amazon.co.uk/EMPORIA-ENERGY-Emporia-Electricity-Metering/dp/B08CJGPHL9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=energy+monitor+each+ciruit&qid=1637230639&sr=8-1


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## Jonm (18 Nov 2021)

I have gas central heating and hot water, never use the immersion heater. No electric showers.

Just checked my electricity usage, average of 9.94 kWh per day over the last two years. That includes, cooker, kettle, fridge, freezer, tumble drier, toaster, Fan heater (occasional use) led lighting, power tools, tv etc. Two of us in the house.

Gas usage on hot water seems to be 1.43 m3 per day or 16 kWh per day. Given there is boiler efficiency to take in to account, that probably equates to about 13.5 kWh equivalent electricity usage. I do not have a smart gas meter so there may possibly be some central heating in this figure.


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## Jonm (18 Nov 2021)

Phil Pascoe said:


> My last month was 212 units by night and 527 units by day.


Phil, making the comparison to my daily usage (see my above post)

You, 17.6 day, 7.1 night, total 24.7
Me, 10.0 “day”, 13.5 “night”, total 23.5

Our total usage is similar. My “day” is total electricity usage and “night” is hot water to give an approximate comparison to your pattern of usage. Given that you run washing machines and dishwasher at night, it suggests that your day and night is the wrong way round.


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## Spectric (18 Nov 2021)

Regards your hot water cylinder, is it a single or twin immersion heater and do you easily run out of hot water? Reason I ask is that mine has two, not used as I have gas but one gives whole tank and the other just a small amount if needed to top up during the day. Also what are your unit rates, the extra you pay on the normal rate for having econ 7 may outweigh any savings. Econ 7 works if you have say ten 3.5Kw storage heaters running overnight, not that they deliver all of that energy back as heat!!


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## Geoff_S (18 Nov 2021)

Sideways said:


> Family of four, small detached house. Gas heating and hob. Electric lights, oven and other usual white goods.
> I looked fairly carefully at my last 12mth utilities when I was shopping for a new fixed term deal in September.
> We use 10kWhr a day in summer and 18kWhr a day in December & January
> I blame a lump of that on the tumble dryer.
> HTH.


Yea, that's about us as well. It's a bargain really.


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## Phil Pascoe (18 Nov 2021)

I've worked out both prices every time I've changed supplier. It always worked out 45% day 55% night which just justified e7. I'm trying to work out why the daytime consumption is so high when we haven't changed anything - in fact we use more machines by night now than we used to.
Unit costs are 10p+ at night and 17p+ at day.


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## woodieallen (18 Nov 2021)

DBT85 said:


> try one of these if you don't mind spending. monitors every circuit assuming you can get it in your CU.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.amazon.co.uk/EMPORIA-ENERGY-Emporia-Electricity-Metering/dp/B08CJGPHL9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=energy+monitor+each+ciruit&qid=1637230639&sr=8-1


Oooh, that is so cool. I can bill the missus for her use of the oven.


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## Duncan A (18 Nov 2021)

Fridges, esp. older ones use a lot of power. Are they running more than usual? Breakdown of insulation or loss of gas can cause this, and more door opening during the day could mean an increase in daily proportion of electricity used.
If your cooker has faulty controls, I suppose it also might be doing some funny things. I'd turn it off at the isolator and see what happens.
Duncan


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## Jonm (18 Nov 2021)

Phil Pascoe said:


> It always worked out 45% day 55% night which just justified e7.


You could try reading the meters, set the immersion to come on during the day, run washing machine etc during the day. After a couple of days read the meters again. That should tell you if the meter tarifs are the wrong way round because there should be a massive difference between the two electricity usages.


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## Dave the woodworker (18 Nov 2021)

How big is your aquarium. In winter my relative small one uses a fair amount of electricity at night when the heating goes off.

If your computers are Pc type with monitor and on all day these too will run up the bill.

I have now got into the habit of turning things off when not needed.

I had two Emerson heaters in the tank, one would just heat up the top section and the other the whole tank. 

Another saving is in boiling the kettle. Only put in the amount of water you actually need.

When I had e7, many years ago I ran as much as I could at night. I lived on my own, so I can appreciate that it may not be possible to run things like the washing machine, or dishwasher at night if you have a family, but if you can, you will make savings. You may need to put them on a timer.


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## Jonm (18 Nov 2021)

woodieallen said:


> Oooh, that is so cool. I can bill the missus for her use of the oven.


Then she would no doubt bill you for the meals, with electricity usage as an “expense”.


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## John Brown (19 Nov 2021)

Phil Pascoe said:


> I've worked out both prices every time I've changed supplier. It always worked out 45% day 55% night which just justified e7. I'm trying to work out why the daytime consumption is so high when we haven't changed anything - in fact we use more machines by night now than we used to.
> Unit costs are 10p+ at night and 17p+ at day.


That is so cheap these days! Our electricity jumped from 16p to 22p or thereabouts.
I looked at the cheap 5p a unit between 12:30 and 4:30 for PHEV charging, but that tariff pushed the daytime rate up much higher.


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## John Brown (19 Nov 2021)

Sorry, I realize that doesn't help with your query...


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## DBT85 (19 Nov 2021)

Jonm said:


> Then she would no doubt bill you for the meals, with electricity usage as an “expense”.


Oh I'd hope so.


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## Elmo180 (19 Nov 2021)

I am all electric, three storage heaters and hot water is currently costing me 32 units per night. Without the storage heaters I average 12 units per night. Oven kettle, microwave, TV and computers cost me an average 10 units per day. Following a very large bill caused by a failing immersion element I have been taking daily meter readings for the past 6 months.
Reading your post there should be no way that your day time electric should cost so high.
My meter has three readings. *1 = day*, 2 = night 3 is a total.
My meter has a junction box under that has two sets of wires going in (day and night). It makes a loud click when the power switches over.
Do you have a second emersion higher up in your tank? This will he running 24/7 if left switched on. A neighbour of mine left their on and had a very very large bill one quarter.

Elmo


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## 1steven (19 Nov 2021)

I monitor our electric meter most day now after a previous bill was high due to a faulty element. Will use about 8-10 units during the winter and 4-5 during the summer. We have a log burner and a Stanley oil fired range with a dolly above to dry washing. Have been all electric in previous house and found it very expensive


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2021)

I used the dishwasher and the tumble drier yesterday, and the oven and lathe for an hour. Night time units - seven, day time - twenty one. The thing I can't get my head around why this has gone so much out of kilter - it obviously makes nonsense of an economy 7 tariff. It can stay as it is though til 8/22 when the fixed contract runs out.


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## Keith Cocker (19 Nov 2021)

woodieallen said:


> Oooh, that is so cool. I can bill the missus for her use of the oven.


Don’t you eat?


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## 1steven (19 Nov 2021)

Phil Pascoe said:


> I used the dishwasher and the tumble drier yesterday, and the oven and lathe for an hour. Night time units - seven, day time - twenty one. The thing I can't get my head around why this has gone so much out of kilter - it obviously makes nonsense of an economy 7 tariff. It can stay as it is though til 8/22 when the fixed contract runs out.


Run your tumble dryer at night


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## Dave the woodworker (19 Nov 2021)

Electricity Cost Calculator
This may help to work out the individual items electric usage.

As many have said during this period of high energy costs, turning down your heating thermostats can save a lot on the bill. I have mine at 19c and I wear an extra jumper.

As an example, I have a 100 watt heater in the aquarium which in winter is on two thirds of the time (tropical fish). Probably about 16 hours, meaning 1.6kw over 24 hours.


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2021)

1steven said:


> Run your tumble dryer at night


1/ it hasn't a timer, and
2/ swmbo is convinced it's unsafe.


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## tdsoldgit (19 Nov 2021)

Just a thought. Could it be something to do with the clocks changing recently?


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2021)

No, our usage is inside the night time hours whether GMT or summer time. I'm just surprised when we're using more by night than ever before, our equipment and habits haven't changed that the daytime usage has increased.


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## HamsterJam (19 Nov 2021)

To confirm whether day/night rate are swapped, read the meter at midnight and 0700 to see whether the day units increase during the day and the night units during the night. If that’s all in order then it’s a case of finding what is drawing the extra power during the day.
Maybe you could isolate all the circuits at the consumer unit to confirm the meter stops and then turn them back on one by one until you find the circuit making the meter move quickest. This may not work if the current draw is intermittent.
Another option is an Owl energy monitor or ask your energy supplier to fit a smart meter.


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## Jonm (19 Nov 2021)

Phil Pascoe said:


> 1/ it hasn't a timer, and
> 2/ swmbo is convinced it's unsafe.


swmbo has a valid concern. Here is advice from Avon fire and rescue, says general advice so not specific to the whirlpool issue.





__





Tumble dryer safety advice - Avon Fire & Rescue Service


Avon Fire & Rescue Service.




www.avonfire.gov.uk





*General tumble drier safety advice*

Don’t leave dryers unattended when in use.
Don’t use dryers overnight, when in bed.


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2021)

To be fair, they're covering their backs and all bases. If I were at all worried about using a tumble drier it would be used at night when at least someone is in the house - I have fire alarms and extinguishers.


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## 1steven (19 Nov 2021)

Glad we do not have one


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2021)

HamsterJam said:


> To confirm whether day/night rate are swapped, read the meter at midnight and 0700 to see whether the day units increase during the day and the night units during the night. If that’s all in order then it’s a case of finding what is drawing the extra power during the day.
> Maybe you could isolate all the circuits at the consumer unit to confirm the meter stops and then turn them back on one by one until you find the circuit making the meter move quickest. This may not work if the current draw is intermittent.
> Another option is an Owl energy monitor or ask your energy supplier to fit a smart meter.


I have ascertained the readings are the correct way around. I just can't quite understand why the consumption has gone from 55% to 45% night to day to 25% - 75%. That's the odd thing -we're more careful now to use stuff at night than we used to be. Last time the meter was changed (three years ago, first since new - forty years) the fitter came to fit a smart meter (which I didn't want) and told me it couldn't be fitted as I had e7 - introducing varying rates I would have thought was the purpose of smart meters. I know how how to work out the units consumed by white goods etc. I just can't work out why the night day ratio has changed so much.


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## Jonm (19 Nov 2021)

Phil Pascoe said:


> To be fair, they're covering their backs and all bases. If I were at all worried about using a tumble drier it would be used at night when at least someone is in the house - I have fire alarms and extinguishers.


No doubt they are but swmbo thinks otherwise.

according to this article Faulty appliances cause 43 fires a week in England, research finds
with reference to number if fires caused by faulty appliances, washing machines are top followed by tumble driers.


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2021)

The most common causes for accidental appliance fires were placing household items too close to sources of heat, misuse of appliances ...
So blame the appliance. That makes sense.

... Beko came third, whose goods caused 150 fires in 2019/20. Of these, the majority were washing machines (52) and tumble dryers (29), although dishwashers (27) and fridge/ freezers (26) weren’t far behind.

... the majority were washing machines (52) and tumble dryers (29) ...

we are advised to use washing machines etc. out of peak hours, yet advised not use driers in those same hours. I suppose something that caused 42 fires would carry no advice either way.  

So a Beko drier caused about one fire every fortnight in a Country of nearly seventy million people ........... and the driers concerned probably had no maintenance. I think I'll take my chances.


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## Phil Pascoe (19 Nov 2021)

Incidentally, my night rate doesn't operate in the hours they told me it does. As I expected.


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## Geoff_S (20 Nov 2021)

OK, I'll chuck this grenade in the room ....

... have you considered or do you have a smart meter? ,,,,,,

.... and run .....


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## Phil Pascoe (20 Nov 2021)

They don't work with economy 7. As things look atm I'll go back to a standard tariff in August when the fix runs out


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## Jonm (20 Nov 2021)

Phil Pascoe said:


> The most common causes for accidental appliance fires were placing household items too close to sources of heat, misuse of appliances ...
> So blame the appliance. That makes sense.


to be fair to the article it is fairly clear that there are 8001 fires caused by cookers/ovens of which 201 were due to a faulty appliance. It does not however relate number of fires to number of appliances.

Putting it in to context, there are about 24 million households in England.
58% have tumble driers, 98% have washing machines, I assume 100% have cookers and 98% have fridges

So that is faulty appliances causing fires
washing machines 520 fires in 23.5 million households
tumble dryers 459 fires in 13.9 million households
cooker/ oven 201 fires in 24 million households
fridge/freezer 181 fires in 23.5 million households

I think it is clear from the above that tumble dryers are the riskiest but the risk is very small, no doubt reduced by keeping it clear of dust and fibres. Not something I worry about, if I did the tumble dryer would be outside under cover. Also I suspect that many of the fires follow warnings that something is wrong being ignored or not understood to be a warning. We all know from using electric machinery about not overloading and keeping airflow unblocked, to most people that is not the case. 








UK households: ownership of tumble dryers 1995-2018 | Statista


Nearly three out of five households in the United Kingdom (UK) own a tumble dryer, with figures from the UK’s Office for National Statistics showing that 58 percent of UK households own such a machine.




www.statista.com


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## Spectric (20 Nov 2021)

Tumble dryers are no more of a risk than items contain Lithium batteries, the problem with tumble dryers is people do not clean out the fluff or overload them and from risk reduction perspective I would make smoke detectors and CO monitors compulsory in all homes and a requirement of insurance.


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## Oakay (20 Nov 2021)

Jonm said:


> to be fair to the article it is fairly clear that there are 8001 fires caused by cookers/ovens of which 201 were due to a faulty appliance. It does not however relate number of fires to number of appliances.
> 
> Putting it in to context, there are about 24 million households in England.
> 58% have tumble driers, 98% have washing machines, I assume 100% have cookers and 98% have fridges
> ...


We don't have a tumble drier but in our old cupboard downstairs which used to house a boiler, I converted it to dry clothes using an air humidifier. So the water is collected in a container. It takes about 8 hours to dry a washing machine load of light clothes (maybe double for towels and jeans) with it on constantly after it has been spun-dry. I wonder how the costs and safety compare to tumble drier? Less heat involved but takes longer (and needs more handling). So it is like a room-temperature airing cupboard which copes with damp clothes. I think it is about 300 watts so a tenth of the consumption of a tumble drier (but over a longer timespell) and handles the water better, which is also good for rinsing the car without tide-marks and other soft-water applications like steam iron and topping up washer bottle in car in summer when frost protection isn't required. I'm expecting it costs about half as much to run, De Longhi DS105, have had it many years. We leave it on its humidistat all the time. We also dry in south facing conservatory on sunny days.


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## Sandyn (20 Nov 2021)

Phil Pascoe said:


> So a Beko drier caused about one fire every fortnight in a Country of nearly seventy million people ........... and the driers concerned probably had no maintenance. I think I'll take my chances.


Beko have had a few product recalls, usually indicates a design problem which may lead to fire or other hazard. They are not alone of course, many manufacturers have problems.
Unfortunately a fire caused by a Beko product caused the death of several people.The company did not react and more people died after the company knew about the fault. 
I would never trust Beko products.
Beko recalls:


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## ecokestove (21 Nov 2021)

I confess I haven't ploughed through the whole thread. We had a problem with 'mystery' electricity consumption. We tracked it down to the fact that the oven was drawing about 120 watts even when it wasn't being used. We now turn it off at the wall switch.


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## slavedata (21 Nov 2021)

Smart meters do work with Economy 7 I have one. I also have solar panels on the house. My energy is with Octopus. I installed the smart meter so that Octopus can sell the electricity I produce back to the net. The energy is priced in half hourly intervals and the price varies with demand. With this meter I get paid for all energy I sell to the net. The pre smart meter approach assumed I use half the power and half is sold. For an empty house on a sunny day that means you are giving away a lot of power for nothing.


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## Jonm (21 Nov 2021)

ecokestove said:


> I confess I haven't ploughed through the whole thread. We had a problem with 'mystery' electricity consumption. We tracked it down to the fact that the oven was drawing about 120 watts even when it wasn't being used. We now turn it off at the wall switch.


It is clearly faulty. If it were my oven I would take that as a warning and either get it repaired or replaced. They can catch fire.


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## Distinterior (21 Nov 2021)

Phil Pascoe said:


> They don't work with economy 7......



As Slavedata said,...they do now !

I have had an ongoing problem with my meter/supplier at my business premises for 2 years......
It's a very long and very frustrating story that I wont bore you with but needless to say, it has been to do with a Smart meter installation change that my energy supplier informed me they needed to undertake.
I have storage heaters in my Showroom and it took 3 different meter swops until they finally fitted one that works with the storage heaters.

However,.....Even taking the recent increases in the cost of energy into account,....my kWh usage has appeared to increase, even though I'm not using anymore power than I was prior to the initial meter swop 2 years ago....I'm not running any extra appliances or tools/ machinery than I was back then.

My conclusion thus far,.....Smart meters are only advantageous to the service provider, not the end user !!!!


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## Phil Pascoe (21 Nov 2021)

slavedata said:


> Smart meters do work with Economy 7 I have one.



Curious, as the chap who changed my meter came to fit a smart meter found I was on e7 and told me I couldn't have one anyway whether I wanted it or not. Might have been a different meter? I'd have thought the main purpose of them is to introduce infinitely variable charging.

Your Octopus tariff is "Agile"?


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## Distinterior (21 Nov 2021)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Curious, as the chap who changed my meter came to fit a smart meter found I was on e7 and told me I couldn't have one anyway whether I wanted it or not. Might have been a different meter? I'd have thought the main purpose of them is to introduce infinitely variable charging.
> 
> Your Octopus tariff is "Agile"?



As I said, ....it took a number of attempts before they finally came up with a meter that actually worked as a replacement for the E7 meter.
I had a total of 4 different meter engineers turn up at my premises before they finally managed to get it all working.

One of the annoying things was, the meter that they initially removed was also a Smart meter ( 1st generation according to them ) and they told me I had to have a 2nd generation meter fitted......This is when the problem started.

They even tried telling me there was " obviously " something wrong with my storage heaters,..... even though the heaters had been working perfectly well prior to their initial meter change.
I had no heating at all for 5 months from Oct 2020 until March 2021. No amount of phone calls or emails to them seemed to make any difference and I was just passed from pillar to post.....In the end, I cancelled my Diirect Debit with them and finally, they took action and installed a Smart meter that was compatible with my heaters. I did end up with compensation from the energy supplier due to the hassle they had put me through but only after I had threatened to go to the ombudsman.....

Edit.
One thing that struck me after talking to all these so called meter " Engineers" was, their lack of knowledge as to why the meters they kept installing would not work, even though every one of them had assured me it would now do so...!!!!


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## Oaktree11 (22 Nov 2021)

Distinterior said:


> As I said, ....it took a number of attempts before they finally came up with a meter that actually worked as a replacement for the E7 meter.
> I had a total of 4 different meter engineers turn up at my premises before they finally managed to get it all working.
> 
> One of the annoying things was, the meter that they initially removed was also a Smart meter ( 1st generation according to them ) and they told me I had to have a 2nd generation meter fitted......This is when the problem started.
> ...


I agree with your final comment. Many of the meter fitters are not skilled in the sense of having a broad technical training. They do a short, job specific training course but have no in depth technical training. If things run outside the norm they are scuppered. The guy that fitted my SMETS2 electric meter (a contractor on behalf of Octopus) had been a floor layer. Interestingly, he was authorised to break the seal on the incomer to isolate the property whereas time served, experienced and fully qualified electricians are not! The gas side of this new meter doesn’t function and they have no idea. The SMETS1 meter worked ok! John


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## ecokestove (14 Dec 2021)

Jonm said:


> It is clearly faulty. If it were my oven I would take that as a warning and either get it repaired or replaced. They can catch fire.


OK, thanks for the advice.


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