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sinca123
Rank 2
February 25, 2023
Solved

High electricity usage - what could it be?

  • February 25, 2023
  • 62 replies
  • 1676 views

My apartment is on electricity only! why my electricity  heating using 10KW to run in 50 minutes! It cost me 4£ to run for only 50 minutes! 

Best answer by M.isterW

Updated on 18/08/25 by Ben_OVO

If your property runs purely off electricity and not gas, then you may have electric heating / radiators, possibly storage heaters, and maybe an immersion tank to heat the water. A lot of this sort of kit can use a lot of electricity, especially if it’s quite old. If you’d like tips on the most cost efficient ways to use your appliances, it's worth doing a quick Google search of ‘energy saving tips in (your local area). You should find that there will be organisations who will offer this sort of advice, often for free. You may also be able to get this advice from your local council.

 

If you’ve got a smart meter The ‘Usage’ pages of your online account / app are really useful to see what times of the day your electricity usage is highest, which helps you to get an idea of what is causing the higher usage. For the most accurate data you’ll need to have your smart meter set to send us half-hourly meter readings. Below are guides for changing your smart meter reading schedule online, and using the ‘Usage’ pages 👇

 

 

You have something that's heating the water that feeds the radiators, likely an electric boiler. You probably have a hot water cylinder heated by an immersion heater.

 

To reduce the cost of your hot water you can find a tariff that offers cheaper electricity at certain times (normally overnight) and use a timer on your immersion heater.

 

Reducing the cost of your heating is harder because it doesn't look like you have any way of storing the heat. If you can find your boiler and tell us what it is we might be able to suggest some options.

62 replies

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M.isterW
Rank 6
M.isterW
Rank 6
February 25, 2023

There's something in the house (probably some sort of boiler or heaters) that's using the electricity. We're just waiting for @sinca123 to answer the other questions about what heating they have.

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
S
Rank 2
sinca123Author
Rank 2
February 25, 2023

there is no any other heaters just radiators each room, water is running on electricity , when im switching on the heating its showing me 9,5 KW of usage when im switching on the water then its even more around 13KW in an hour 

S
Rank 2
sinca123Author
Rank 2
February 25, 2023

meybe there can be some issues with boiler or smart meter? i really dont know , heating is running maximum 3 /4hour a day and im paying more than 500£ each month

M.isterW
Rank 6
M.isterWSolved
Rank 6
February 25, 2023

Updated on 18/08/25 by Ben_OVO

If your property runs purely off electricity and not gas, then you may have electric heating / radiators, possibly storage heaters, and maybe an immersion tank to heat the water. A lot of this sort of kit can use a lot of electricity, especially if it’s quite old. If you’d like tips on the most cost efficient ways to use your appliances, it's worth doing a quick Google search of ‘energy saving tips in (your local area). You should find that there will be organisations who will offer this sort of advice, often for free. You may also be able to get this advice from your local council.

 

If you’ve got a smart meter The ‘Usage’ pages of your online account / app are really useful to see what times of the day your electricity usage is highest, which helps you to get an idea of what is causing the higher usage. For the most accurate data you’ll need to have your smart meter set to send us half-hourly meter readings. Below are guides for changing your smart meter reading schedule online, and using the ‘Usage’ pages 👇

 

 

You have something that's heating the water that feeds the radiators, likely an electric boiler. You probably have a hot water cylinder heated by an immersion heater.

 

To reduce the cost of your hot water you can find a tariff that offers cheaper electricity at certain times (normally overnight) and use a timer on your immersion heater.

 

Reducing the cost of your heating is harder because it doesn't look like you have any way of storing the heat. If you can find your boiler and tell us what it is we might be able to suggest some options.

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
    S
    Rank 2
    sinca123Author
    Rank 2
    February 25, 2023

    yeah i got electric boiler but thats strange as all other neighbours who lives next doors and got same electric heating are paying twice less than i do 

     

    M.isterW
    Rank 6
    M.isterW
    Rank 6
    February 25, 2023

    The smart meter display is showing the correct figures as your boiler will use 9kW when it starts up. The only option you have for reducing your heating costs is to use less heat. Lower the thermostat and TRV settings, reduce drafts, close curtains at night etc.

     

    Electric boilers are really expensive to run. I'm sorry I can't offer any better suggestions.

    1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
      Tim_OVO
      OVO Staff
      Tim_OVO
      OVO Forum Legend
      February 27, 2023

      @sinca123 you might also consider reaching out to the Centre for Sustainable Energy - advising households on changes they can make to their home to reduce usage is their area of expertise and it’s free!

      Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
      B
      Newcomer
      BGLUK
      Newcomer
      April 1, 2023

      For years our Electricity consumption has been around 8-12KWH average per day.

      Our Smart meter has issues and hardly updates OVO - on the 4th of March it updated them and at the end of March after no more updates I updated them manually.

      Now March is showing almost three times the daily KWH usage at around 27KWH!

      I’ve contacted OVO who will email some meter test and was wondering what thoughts on this may be? BTW We have an original generation Smart Meter.

       

      Thanks

      Bryan

       

       

       

      BPLightlog
      Super User
      BPLightlogSuper User
      Super User
      April 1, 2023

      Hi @BGLUK presumably the meter readings do correspond to these kWh readings? Do you see a big jump from 3rd to 4th and onwards?

      If there were no meter readings from early March these may well have been estimated. If you’ve supplied an actual reading late March they should update. 
       

      Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
        B
        Newcomer
        BGLUK
        Newcomer
        April 1, 2023

        Yes the meter readings when I checked on the 31st March are what were displayed. 
        and the increase appears to have occurred directly after the last Smart meter update was sent. (4th March)
        Some context  - two adults - one wfh one in the office, three bedroom end terrace, energy saving fridge freezer, washing machine, one TV, one computer two monitors, induction hob, smart led bulb, some smart speakers etc, gas boiler. No dishwasher or tumble dryer. In home activity has not changed in regard to electricity usage - so this electricity usage leap seems shocking (pun intended)

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