My electricity bill has just tripled: how about yours? Alternative suppliers?

[prunus]

Ahhhh!! just checked, totally my fault, I fitted this YEARS ago and forgot that the OWL clamp just goes around the +ve cable coming in

It's all clear now

Where's my Stanley knife??

I'll soon have a foot or two of that insulation off the cooker lead

If your cooker is connected via a plug then you can use a plug-in in line power consumption meter. I've got one somewhere - they're not expensive.

e2a: I presume from your latest that yours is hardwired, sorry.

 

[gentlegreen]

Am I now right in thinking that there's no actual way of measuring how much a "thing" uses if it isn't a simply "plug in" thing

Say for example, cooker or any other "hard wired" kitchen device

Only by switching everything else off.

I can do mine because my "cooker" is a 1500 watt hotplate.

 

[teuchter]

Only by switching everything else off.

I can do mine because my "cooker" is a 1500 watt hotplate.

It makes more sense to leave everything else alone, and then switch the cooker on/off, surely. The difference will be the amount the cooker is using.

 

[prunus]

Really, well I'll go to the foot of our stairs

There will be other draws too - there may be a flue fan, there are electronics etc. These will add a few 10s of watts (a flue fan the most). But about 100W/h +/- total sounds about right.

 

[gentlegreen]

It makes more sense to leave everything else alone, and then switch the cooker on/off, surely. The difference will be the amount the cooker is using.

Yes - at least that's an option now that it's light at tea time.
In my case a challenge because I can't possibly be offline for a whole 45 minutes !!

I'm going to take a gamble on a new power tester plug since I have a load of Amazon gift credit ...
I will probably wire the ammeter permanently into my bedroom workbench.
It's ironic really that for years I've had a meter I rarely look at permanently wired into my bench lighting supply ...
Mostly it's covered so the display doesn't keep me awake ...

 

[WouldBe]

What could possibly go wrong

A large peak in electricity usage as you get zapped.

 

[prunus]

Yes - at least that's an option now that it's light at tea time.
In my case a challenge because I can't possibly be offline for a whole 45 minutes !!

I'm going to take a gamble on a new power tester plug since I have a load of Amazon gift credit ...
I will probably wire the ammeter permanently into my bedroom workbench.
It's ironic really that for years I've had a meter I rarely look at permanently wired into my bench lighting supply ...
Mostly it's covered so the display doesn't keep me awake ...

View attachment 315529

JFC Are those carrying mains supply?

 

[MrCurry]

You can deffo get low energy circulation pumps for heating circuits. I have one of these alpha 2 pumps on my system which has an LED display showing the watts it’s using. I don’t know exactly how it achieves it, perhaps monitoring temps and adjusting flow rate, but the displayed figure drops from about 18W when switched on to 8W after a while.

 

[gentlegreen]

JFC Are those carrying mains supply?

They're mains rated - well at least the genuine WAGOs are - but it's only 12 volts - I repurpose binned power cords..

 

[prunus]

They're mains rated - well at least the genuine WAGOs are - but it's only 12 volts - I repurpose binned power cords..

Well fair enough Just my sense of aesthetics hurt then

 

[existentialist]

So how does the OWL meter work then?

That's got a clamp that goes round the mains cable as it comes into the house and reads the amount of "electric" that is flowing through the cable. Is this £60 doodah doing something that a £150 meter (yeah, I know that aren't that price, but I know me) can't do?

Again, genuine question, this is why I don't like electricity as a "thing"

The mains cable coming into the house is two (fat) conductors - the clamp will be around one of those. There may be some kind of tech that does the same thing around a multi-conductor cable, but it's not something I have heard of before.

 

[existentialist]

Am I now right in thinking that there's no actual way of measuring how much a "thing" uses if it isn't a simply "plug in" thing

Say for example, cooker or any other "hard wired" kitchen device

There is, but it's non-trivial. One option would be, for example, if your cooker uses its own fused spur in the consumer unit. In such a case, you could (theoretically ) remove the case of the CU, fit the current transformer around the switched live for the cooker spur, thread the sensing wire out of the CU, and refit the case. You would need to be aware that you were fiddling around inside something with NO circuit protection (eg RCDs), and a big fuckoff copper busbar that is protected only by a 63A or 100A company fuse. I've done stuff like that, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who wasn't a) a bit brave, and b) knew what they were doing.

 

[gentlegreen]

There is, but it's non-trivial. One option would be, for example, if your cooker uses its own fused spur in the consumer unit. In such a case, you could (theoretically ) remove the case of the CU, fit the current transformer around the switched live for the cooker spur, thread the sensing wire out of the CU, and refit the case. You would need to be aware that you were fiddling around inside something with NO circuit protection (eg RCDs), and a big fuckoff copper busbar that is protected only by a 63A or 100A company fuse. I've done stuff like that, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who wasn't a) a bit brave, and b) knew what they were doing.

My company fuse is unfortunately right where one might trip and fall and hit the seal ...

 

[existentialist]

Yes - at least that's an option now that it's light at tea time.
In my case a challenge because I can't possibly be offline for a whole 45 minutes !!

I'm going to take a gamble on a new power tester plug since I have a load of Amazon gift credit ...
I will probably wire the ammeter permanently into my bedroom workbench.
It's ironic really that for years I've had a meter I rarely look at permanently wired into my bench lighting supply ...
Mostly it's covered so the display doesn't keep me awake ...

View attachment 315529

That is making my eyes bleed.

 

[Elpenor]

VAT has been taken off solar panels, insulation and heat pumps for the next 3 years, should anyone be interested.

I believe there’s also a £5k grant for heat pumps at present so they could combine nicely if you have the delta between the cost and the grant.

Not much use though except for homeowners I think.

 

[existentialist]

A large peak in electricity usage as you get zapped.

TBF, that won't last long, and will thus not have much impact on the overall power consumption

 

[existentialist]

VAT has been taken off solar panels, insulation and heat pumps for the next 3 years, should anyone be interested.

I believe there’s also a £5k grant for heat pumps at present so they could combine nicely if you have the delta between the cost and the grant.

Not much use though except for homeowners I think.

Heat pumps are pretty much a waste of time, except in certain very specific cases. They're also quite noisy.

 

[two sheds]

Heat pumps are pretty much a waste of time, except in certain very specific cases. They're also quite noisy.

depends on the heat pump

 

[two sheds]

There is, but it's non-trivial. One option would be, for example, if your cooker uses its own fused spur in the consumer unit. In such a case, you could (theoretically ) remove the case of the CU, fit the current transformer around the switched live for the cooker spur, thread the sensing wire out of the CU, and refit the case. You would need to be aware that you were fiddling around inside something with NO circuit protection (eg RCDs), and a big fuckoff copper busbar that is protected only by a 63A or 100A company fuse. I've done stuff like that, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who wasn't a) a bit brave, and b) knew what they were doing.

wouldn't you be better as suggested upthread - turn off the consumer unit switches except that one, or measure total consumption, switch the unit on and measure the difference?

 

[existentialist]

depends on the heat pump

And quite a few other factors, such as how well the building is insulated.

 

[existentialist]

wouldn't you be better as suggested upthread - turn off the consumer unit switches except that one, or measure total consumption, switch the unit on and measure the difference?

That's the approach I'm taking - I have a 100A CT on the main incoming live feed, and it's not hard to work out which device is which from the graphing. I do have a "spare" CT, and had thought about the idea of sticking it inside the CU, but I don't think the need really warrants the hassle.

 

[two sheds]

And quite a few other factors, such as how well the building is insulated.

indeed - tbh I was mainly talking about sound levels. The dual unit ones (air-air was what I was looking at) have the compressor outside so not so noisy inside. When I was looking there was just one with a really low-noise compressor inside (can't remember which it was unfortunately, I do have it written somewhere).

I'll look again in September but I've still got a load of wood left - hopefully enough for the rayburn for next winter. With luck the prices and noise levels will be lower.

 

[existentialist]

indeed - tbh I was mainly talking about sound levels. The dual unit ones (air-air was what I was looking at) have the compressor outside so not so noisy inside. When I was looking there was just one with a really low-noise compressor inside (can't remember which it was unfortunately, I do have it written somewhere).

I'll look again in September but I've still got a load of wood left - hopefully enough for the rayburn for next winter. With luck the prices and noise levels will be lower.

I'll try to find it, but I was watching a YouTube video from an installer, who was saying that it's not uncommon for neighbours to complain about the noise from air heat pumps.

 

[WouldBe]

It makes more sense to leave everything else alone, and then switch the cooker on/off, surely. The difference will be the amount the cooker is using.

But you wouldn't know whether the reading you get is just from the cooker or whether the fridge or something else has kicked in while you're doing the measuring.

 

[existentialist]

But you wouldn't know whether the reading you get is just from the cooker or whether the fridge or something else has kicked in while you're doing the measuring.

It wouldn't hurt to drop the ring main for half an hour, to avoid confounding numbers affecting the readings...

Also worth remembering that an oven that is on for (say) an hour will not be drawing current for the whole of that hour, once the thermostat starts operating - then we're into the realms of duty cycles, and integrating the power use over time.

 

[WouldBe]

With luck the prices and noise levels will be lower.

Noise levels might be lower but if lots of people jump on the bandwagon to 'save' on fuel costs then the price may go up if the manufacturers can't keep up with demand.

 

[gentlegreen]

That is making my eyes bleed.

This is my stylish bench lighting it connects to

 

[two sheds]

Noise levels might be lower but if lots of people jump on the bandwagon to 'save' on fuel costs then the price may go up if the manufacturers can't keep up with demand.

yes true, although given a bit more time you'd hope prices would come down again with economies of scale.

 

[existentialist]

This is my stylish bench lighting it connects to

View attachment 315571

Sadist

 

[MBV]

I've been offered a smart meter (2nd generation) Is there any reason not to have installed?