28 replies to this topic

[Ivan Sng]

Well I got home and went to check the meter to see how fast the wheel spins, then I realised that modern tech has prevailed and i dont have one with a wheel its electronic and just has a number, stood for while and the bloody thing didnt move. so hence cant test.

checked bill and we used 5005 units in 64 days, which is average of 78 units per day. what do you think percentage of that would be aircon, ita daikan inverter prob fairly large as the hoseu is two story but still.

Well my last bill was 63 units a day for a single storey house... so you are not far off... I have not checked my meter but will do in the weekend just in case Synergy is pulling a fast one... I almost fell off my chair when I got my bill as well..

One thing to note is that reverse cycle airconditioner cooling/heating capacity are sized for half your house... so if you get home, feel that the house is too hot, crank the air-conditioner down to super-cool mode, open up all the zones, your unit will be running full throttle... but the time your whole house is comfortable, your air-conditioner will
have exchanged lots of heat and remember that it is always less efficient to cool than heat...

And although you are at work the whole day and not using the air-conditioner, the heat is still collecting in your house, so IMO there is not much difference between energy usage for a unit that is running all day compared to a unit that is only running in the evening... because the amount of heat energy to be exchange is somewhat the same... if anything, the one running the whole day may be slightly more efficient since it was only maintaining cool temperature rather than full-throttle cooling...

What might help is that when you come home, if the air is cooler on the outside, open all your windows and doors for a few minutes before turning on the air-con...

Sorry for the long message, but I sincerely doubt that it is your MH lights...

[Cawdor]

I just looked at my bill and I have an average daily use of 34 units, DOWN from the same time last year.
I do make an effort to save energy by limiting the hours the tank lights are on (essentially they are only on during the hours I'm home) but that's essentially all I can do in terms of switching stuff off. We have evap aircon running all day and night during hot periods and my server is on 24/7.

We do have gas for cooking and water heating so that makes a difference.

[Sparky]

A more efficient way to cool your house is to set the temp to abgout 24 degrees and keep the house closed up and all blinds closed while at work and just leave it on auto the temp stays constant so there is no flat out running every day trying to cool a house that has heated up at the hottest part of the day
also check out what the voltage is at the peak times and especially on the extremely hot days
the lower voltage will cause things to run harder and longer using more power especially anything with heating or motors

feel free to pm me any enquirys and i will try to help out with more info

[ofishyfish]

We have it set to 18 degrees, the fan outside always seems to be going, this must be it. ill try the leave it running all day and up the temp to 24 the strange thing is that the bill for the same period last year was no where near this high which is what through me, Synergy must be making a killing...

thanks for everyones advice on this

[Cawdor]

Synergy must be making a killing...

Not really, because Synergy is paying tariffs to Verve and Western Power for generation and transportation of electricity, respectively. Verve and Western Power have been bleeding money for the past decade because the cost of generation and maintaining the electricity grid were higher than the money coming in through tariffs. Previous governments were incredibly stupid by not allowing a cost reflective tariff to be set over a long period of time. That lead to the situation we have now where a drastic increase is needed to cover the costs.

Western Power now had the ok to increase the tariffs to Synergy in order to become cost reflective, and of course Synergy has passed this cost on the its customers. It's not a money grab, it's a cost covering excercise.

[golden_dase]

On "Today Tonight" there's going to be a story about Perth's electricity issues and people getting ripped off or something...?

Channel 7 at 6:30pm. (TONIGHT!)

[ado]

Today Tonight?? I'll keep an eye out for the story on Media Watch next week

I'm glad you're on the track to sorting it out ofishyfish...

Good advice there from Sparky too...I have to tell that to people all the time....it WON'T get down to 18 degrees and even if it did, you would be FREEZING!!

24-25 degrees and everyone is happy!!

[sydad]

A more efficient way to cool your house is to set the temp to abgout 24 degrees and keep the house closed up and all blinds closed while at work and just leave it on auto the temp stays constant so there is no flat out running every day trying to cool a house that has heated up at the hottest part of the day
also check out what the voltage is at the peak times and especially on the extremely hot days
the lower voltage will cause things to run harder and longer using more power especially anything with heating or motors

feel free to pm me any enquirys and i will try to help out with more info

Hey Sparky, It is clear that any voltage drop will result in a proportional current flow, but does the meter (which I understand to be a watt-hour meter) see or record this current variation as an increase in "power usage"?

There is, as far as I can see, not a lot that can be done about voltage drop; so apart from noting such an event, do you have any suggestions other than turning off appliances that may become less efficient.

Syd.

[ado]

That's a good question Syd.
Sparky hasn't put his bit in yet, but I'll have a quick go...I was a sparky before my current job.

To tell the truth, I'm not really 100% sure of the answer. I would think not, as like you said power usage (Watts) is a function of Volts and Amps which are inversely related in this instance. But voltage drop can have many other nasty effects, such as overheating your appliances/cabling due to the increased current.
I would think that voltage drop shouldn't be an issue for the majority of homes, as WP must maintain the voltage at 240V plus/minus I think 10%. If it's worse than this, they will have to come around and fix it.
But it can be an issue especially if you live close by a large industrial area that starts up all their equipment at a similar time.


Ado