Trying to be Green

Took my electricity reading on Saturday and it was 41634, meaning we’d only used 100 units this week.  Giving me a daily average of 14.3kWh.  Only a few weeks ago this was at 23.9kWh.  So it was the kitchen heating and our dodgy old washing machine.  I wonder how much lower I can get it?

So reading on Saturday was 41534.  Giving me a daily average of 18.3kWH per day.  Slightly worse than last week but still a lot better than the average before.  Leads me to think it is definitely the underfloor heating that is the problem.  I turned it back up last week to test but weather has been beautifully warm so don’t think it was needed much.  I have turned it back down now so I hope to have best ever reading next week.

I’m still worried that our reading is miles higher than anyone else’s though.  The electricity company have just put our direct debit up hugely.  My goal is to try and get them to move it down again soon.

My latest reading is 41407. Which gives me an average daily reading of 16.9 kWH per day. A staggering 5 kWH down per day.

Now I thought at first that this was just the washing machine and I’m sure this has had some effect BUT I changed something else and I think this is far more important (sadly). I turned the electric underfloor heating in the kitchen down 3′ and I think this is what eats all our electricity. In fact I’m sure of it.

Our bills have been getting a lot higher since Christmas. And I remember having a conversation with my mother-in-law that involved her declaring our kitchen floor too cold and recommending we get carpets. And then I turned the thermostat up loads - just to show her!

So I think its our underfloor heating thats the problem. I haven’t noticed it being any colder now that I’ve turned it down but then its warmer now and I’m not sure I’d have welcomed it in the dead of winter. I have turned it back up now for the next week so that I can check its the cause.

So I’ve been keeping track of my electricity meter readings for the last month or so in preparation for the launch of www.tryingtobegreen.com.

They’re not great at the moment and have not been improving.  Will be interesting to see if I can start to make a difference some time soon.  I will log all my readings here until the site is launched.

For info: we are a family of 4 living in a 4-bed semi with cavity wall insulation!

I am trying to find out what is the average and its incredibly hard to find out.  I just get the feeling mine is rather high.  The value in kWH is our average daily use in that period

Readings:

28/3  40651
5/4    40805  22 kWH
12/4  40959  22 kWH
19/4  41126  23.9 kWH
26/4  41288  23.1 kWH