Excessive power consumption on EHU.

I am currently on site in Spain, I am on EHU with a daily allowance of 2kw. I received a bill for November of 94€ which equates to 409kw total usage, which means I am using approx 13.5 2w per day. I moved pitch yesterday, nothing to do with the EHU. I have been on the pitch approx 24hrs and have had 14kw of usage. I have talked with other campers and nobody is using anything like this amount normal usage seems to be 2 - 3kw. Does any body know what could be causing the large usage. I am not using the microwave or water heater. The fridge is on set at number 3, I am using the telly at night. I also just recently have been using the heating but just for a couple of hours in the morning.

Latest, site electrician came round with a meter. We checked by unplugging or switching stuff off, turns out it was the fridge which I have now put on gas. We also checked my neighbours who also has his fridge on electric but his is only drawing .1 of an amp mine was pulling .5 of an amp. Anyway I'll run the fridge on gas for a week and then check the usage.

2kwh is a 'very' small allowance. Your fridge at .5 amp would be using 2.5kwh if taking power for just 20 hrs. 
Don't know what the gas Vs elec prices are like but you may end up with gas costing you more?

Hi  

Jaytee wrote: Your fridge at .5 amp would be using 2.5kwh if taking power for just 20 hrs.

Still doesn’t add up to me!

The fridge should be off for much of the time but even if it was on 20 hours a day that still leaves 11.5kWh unaccounted for.

What is the power of the heater ? (Guess 2kW - probably less) for two hours = 4kWh

TV say 100W for 4 hours = 0.4kWh

Kettle (if you use one)  Say 1L five times a day =  0.5kWh

Allow 50W  for say 6 hours lighting = 0.3kWh

Gives a bit under 8kWh.

I can’t see that turning of the fridge will lead to any great reduction in cost.

Brod

i cant account for the excessive usage but two tips i got when i first did a long term stint in spain was...

a) turn off my mains batter charger and let the solar panel charge it up....taking care of tv, water pump, ipad charging etc all from 12v.
b) for all other stuff use gas if possible....fridge, hot water, heat etc and use local cheap bottled gas....like all the locals do...

even though you havent got to the bottom of the problem, perhaps 
the above will keep costs down until you do...

good luck with the investigation.

brodco wrote:Hi  

Jaytee wrote: Your fridge at .5 amp would be using 2.5kwh if taking power for just 20 hrs.

Still doesn’t add up to me!

The fridge should be off for much of the time but even if it was on 20 hours a day that still leaves 11.5kWh unaccounted for.

What is the power of the heater ? (Guess 2kW - probably less) for two hours = 4kWh

TV say 100W for 4 hours = 0.4kWh

Kettle (if you use one)  Say 1L five times a day =  0.5kWh

Allow 50W  for say 6 hours lighting = 0.3kWh

Gives a bit under 8kWh.

I can’t see that turning of the fridge will lead to any great reduction in cost.

Brod

It's a bit confusing as to what the 2kw refers to. Is that total usage over 24 hrs as in 2 kWh or is it 2 kw as in 8amps? I thought it was 2kwh per 24 hence my reply .
It's surprising how much time the fridge is drawing current especially in a warm climate.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A useful table of power and current consumption at the link above.

With the original bill you were taking on average 0.56Kw every hour. Is there any appliance in the list that you haven't considered?

Hi  

Jaytee wrote:It's a bit confusing as to what the 2kw refers to. Is that total usage over 24 hrs as in 2 kWh or is it 2 kw as in 8amps? I thought it was 2kwh per 24 hence my reply .

That’s how I read it as well, especially as the total is described as 409kW. If it’s not kWh it means the campsite has a 1800 Amp supply!  

Jaytee wrote:It's surprising how much time the fridge is drawing current especially in a warm climate.

Point taken but is it that hot at this time of the year, even in Spain? What I’m not convinced about is the assertion that the excess consumption is due to the fridge. If the fridge was on all the time it still wouldn’t take a significant portion of the 13.5 kWh per day (well a bit under 3kWh by my reckoning).

Brod

I use 10kw of electric a day in my house on average that is with 2 freezers a washer tv electric shower fridge lights etc

The only other users are TV for 3 or 4 hrs, the kettle 2 or 3 times and I now have the heating on at  night set at EL1 which draws 900w with the fan set on Eco. The 2kw I was talking about is a free daily allowance, anything above you pay for. I'm not using hot water or the microwave. The fridge is now on gas. I have a solar panel so would it be advantageous to switch off the charger during the day. I have probably been using the same amount of electricity in the past but never noticed it as I was not paying for it.

you are doing all the right things to minimise usage but, if you have some time (and inclination) for a bit of simple investigation and ypu have means to measure daily supply, try this....
on successive days (say) remove one electrical device from usage...
so, day one, just use the kettle on gas (buy or borrow one for a day) tather than your electric one...what wattage is it rated at....not a domestic 3kw jobbie...?
next, remove electric heating from the equation, run on gas at ECO.
apart from the fridge (which is a continuous drain) the kettle and heating will be biggest 'occasional' users.
measure each day to look for any 'significant' change.
also, is your TV 12v? if it has this option, try it and check usage.
alternatively, avoid the tv for one day/night (try the pup, lol) to check that this isnt the culprit.
BTW, 900w running overnight (say 50% due to thermostat) will be around 4kw on its own....
plenty of 'investigation' to toy with...
good luck.

ps....normally, an ACSI site would include 4kw of electric, are you on a private site, or in a different scheme?

Hi 

greycaster wrote: I now have the heating on at night set at EL1 which draws 900w with the fan set on Eco.

 
Hang on that’s not what you said initially:
 

greycaster wrote: I also just recently have been using the heating but just for a couple of hours in the morning.

 

bolero boy wrote:
the kettle and heating will be biggest 'occasional' users
just use the kettle on gas (buy or borrow one for a day) tather than your electric one...what wattage is it rated at....not a domestic 3kw jobbie...?

 
I agree about the heating being a likely contributor, don't agree about the kettle though, unless you drink an awful lot of tea (that'll be me then) . An electric kettle being one of the nearest devices to 100% efficient you’ll likely to get, especially if it’s plastic.
 

It doesn’t matter about the wattage either since heating X litres of water takes a defined amount of energy. A higher wattage kettle is just on for a shorter time (assuming the campsite supply allows 3kW).

Brod

Brod, yes i realised that, daft suggestion really.....lol.
however, in the absense of any other 'scientific evidence' i reckon a practical approach of removing items and measuring the effect might, at least, give a clue.

brodco wrote:Hi 

greycaster wrote: I now have the heating on at night set at EL1 which draws 900w with the fan set on Eco.

 
Hang on that’s not what you said initially:
 

greycaster wrote: I also just recently have been using the heating but just for a couple of hours in the morning.

 

bolero boy wrote:
the kettle and heating will be biggest 'occasional' users
just use the kettle on gas (buy or borrow one for a day) tather than your electric one...what wattage is it rated at....not a domestic 3kw jobbie...?

 
I agree about the heating being a likely contributor, don't agree about the kettle though, unless you drink an awful lot of tea (that'll be me then) . An electric kettle being one of the nearest devices to 100% efficient you’ll likely to get, especially if it’s plastic.
 

It doesn’t matter about the wattage either since heating X litres of water takes a defined amount of energy. A higher wattage kettle is just on for a shorter time (assuming the campsite supply allows 3kW).

Brod

I would turn off the heating completely and check consumption, as is said above kettles/microwaves are on for minutes heating can be left on for hours and with a fan can easily dissipate the heat nearly all of the electricity used ends up as heat so it has to go somewhere.

How much are you paying for the electricity and how much for gas ? For me on 6kg cylinders in the UK it is cheaper to use hook up in most cases.

I think that it's, first, important to understand the difference between kW and kWh.

I'm often slack with SI units and energy/power terminology, but in this case it's quite important as brodco rightly points out with his 409kW comment.

2kW is a considerable amount of power, and is a continuous measurement. Over a 24hr period it would equate to 48kWh

2kWh is therefore only 1/24th of the potential usage of a continuous 2kW over a 24hr period, or a continuous 83W.

Not a lot in other words, a single 100W light bulb would use 2.4kWh if left on all day (and night of course).

(Should I re-read this to spot any hilarious and humiliating mistakes? Nah, go for it Kim)

EDIT: I think that the fridge/freezer element will probably be 120W, so could easily account for the whole 2kWh, and more, if the fridge is struggling due to outside temp/being opened/contents being added to, and therefore on continuously.

In one month I have used 349kw at a cost of 0.40€ per kw. And also 60kw that was free, in total 409kw in one month. I have checked with Thetford and my fridge uses 2.6kw in a 24hr period. What set me off on this was I asked a couple of neighbours and they reckon 2kw per day is enough, I'm now finding this hard to believe. I'll see how I get on with fridge on gas and the charger off during the day. I have an underslung 25 ltr tank, cost of LPG in Spain 0.64€.

greycaster wrote:In one month I have used 349kw at a cost of 0.40€ per kw. And also 60kw that was free, in total 409kw in one month. I have checked with Thetford and my fridge uses 2.6kw in a 24hr period. What set me off on this was I asked a couple of neighbours and they reckon 2kw per day is enough, I'm now finding this hard to believe. I'll see how I get on with fridge on gas and the charger off during the day. I have an underslung 25 ltr tank, cost of LPG in Spain 0.64€.

If my back of an envelope calculations are right that would mean your cost per kWh for gas is less than 0.10€  so you may be better off using gas even allowing for the inefficiency for some uses.
Also I might look into getting a refillable tank I pay about £1.80  a litre for 6kg propane bottles!!

PS All the above maybe miscalculated but just filling time to put off doing chores.

greycaster wrote:In one month I have used 349kw at a cost of 0.40€ per kw. And also 60kw that was free, in total 409kw in one month. I have checked with Thetford and my fridge uses 2.6kw in a 24hr period. What set me off on this was I asked a couple of neighbours and they reckon 2kw per day is enough, I'm now finding this hard to believe. I'll see how I get on with fridge on gas and the charger off during the day. I have an underslung 25 ltr tank, cost of LPG in Spain 0.64€.

Just in case FYI, you can only put ~20ltrs of lpg into a 25ltr tank and mine has used when the red light shows 11ltrs, the gauge is not very accurate.

greycaster wrote:In one month I have used 349kw at a cost of 0.40€ per kw. And also 60kw that was free, in total 409kw in one month. I have checked with Thetford and my fridge uses 2.6kw in a 24hr period. What set me off on this was I asked a couple of neighbours and they reckon 2kw per day is enough, I'm now finding this hard to believe. I'll see how I get on with fridge on gas and the charger off during the day. I have an underslung 25 ltr tank, cost of LPG in Spain 0.64€.

thats €160 a month for electric! 13.5kw per day....7 times the amount ypur neighbour is using.
i suspect they are using gas (cheap bottled 13kg ones) for as much as they can.
until you find what is eating electric, i suggest you ise ypur refillable and/or try and rig up a conmection to a stand alone Repsol/Cepsa tank to negate going off site to fill....unless you are out in your van anyway.