Bulbs blowing,huge bill...

ger vallely

I'm wondering if anyone here could shed some light(Oh how I make myself laugh!!) on this here issue? I live in a 30 year old bungalow.Most every week at least one sometimes 3-4 bulbs might blow. When the shower is turned on the lights dim,quite considerably,once it's turned off they brighten again. The last electricity bill we recieved was for €300!!We don't over use any major appliances. As normal we are out working,kids at school so there's virtually no electricity use during the day.There's only 4 of us in the house. I'm wondering if there might be some sort of 'surge' or any other reason for these things to happen. I just don't want to get an electrician,pay them €50 and have them say they can't help.Any ideas or advice would be really appreciated,thanks.

Solair

Turn EVERYTHING off and check to see if the meter is still counting.

ger vallely

Wow, thanks for the swift reply! Do you mean to just switch appliances off or turn off the whole lot of the electricty to the house?Should the meter stop straight away? If it's still moving I guess that means we have some sort of problem...Thanks again.

Diggerdunne

turn off the main switch and see if the meter stops turning. if so then turn it back on and then turn off everything electrical that u can think of and then see if it stops.. if not u then have to investigate and see if u have any pumps or outdoor equipment that maybe constantly running eating up your electricity...

Gerard93

The last electricity bill we recieved was for €300!!

Its possible that your last bill was based on estimated readings, check this with previous bills etc and check current meter reading and the last reading on the bill, it will give you an indication of useage since your last bill.

Can't help you on the bulbs blowing or when the shower goes on lights dim..

M cebee

shower dimming lights is usually esbn voltage drop

if it's 'serious' you can ring them after you get it checked

-it can also be an issue at consumer unit or even meter,cut-out

daludo

lights dimming due to current drawn by el shower,happens a lot.bulbs prob blowing due to constant fluctuations in voltage.are there any big users of electricity living near u?eg,farms,welders etc.

ger vallely

Thanks so much again for the advice. Getting work done(not electrical unfortunately) in the kitchen,so when this is finished I'll turn off the mains and see what happens. We do live near farms,could that really affect the lights?The last bill was not an estimate.I rang to discuss it and the girl was also shocked at the usagae. She confirmed by going through previous bills that it was way over our usual usage.But she said it was up to us to figure it out! I found that odd. We don't have any pumps or things like that running constantly-or at all as a matter of fact. It's just a regular house,tv at weekends,shower,fridge, computer,nothing extreeme. It will be the weekend before I can turn off the mains so I'll report back! Thanks.

cynder

WIHT your last ESB bill would that include Christmas lights, our bill jumped by 40 euro, put that down ti extra use of lights over winter, and xmas decorations.

Skerries

maybe get an electricity monitor and turn everything off and one by one turn them back on to see which are the biggest culprits
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9365715/Trail/searchtext%3EELECTRICITY+MONITOR.htm
http://www.shopireland.ie/electronics/detail/B002C76WTW/owl-cm119-cm-119-energy/

Going Forward

Our most recent bill today was for 230, which I thought was heavy. Two adults 3 kids.
2200sq ft no electric heating, but using dw everyday and td and wm every second day.

Have noticed a few of the so called long life bulbs giving up the ghost lately, but nothing extreme like voltage drops.
Hevent yet checked older bills.

dak

I got an electricityy monitor after the last bill based on actuals was €363 for 2 months 2 adult 3 kids. Largest Culprits I found

Electric shower 9.5Kw Houre = nearly €1:80 for an hour
Kettle/ Washmachine/ Tumbler dryer = all 3 to 4kw per hour

HD boxes in standby 300 watts. Leave it on all day and it soon adds up .

We have a lot of 12volt 50watt spotlights - also heavy on juice. I have just changed them all to 35W . IKEA a great spot for bulbs . 2 x 35watt halogens €1.95. I also changed to LED tablelamps . IKEA had ones that are flexible with an LED diode. Kids can use them as study lamps but if you point them straight up they make great uplighters.

Best advise . unplug every thing thats not in use and educate the kids to turn off when not in use !

M cebee

dak wrote: »

I got an electricityy monitor after the last bill based on actuals was €363 for 2 months 2 adult 3 kids. Largest Culprits I found

Electric shower 9.5Kw Houre = nearly €1:80 for an hour
Kettle/ Washmachine/ Tumbler dryer = all 3 to 4kw per hour

HD boxes in standby 300 watts. Leave it on all day and it soon adds up .

We have a lot of 12volt 50watt spotlights - also heavy on juice. I have just changed them all to 35W . IKEA a great spot for bulbs . 2 x 35watt halogens €1.95. I also changed to LED tablelamps . IKEA had ones that are flexible with an LED diode. Kids can use them as study lamps but if you point them straight up they make great uplighters.

Best advise . unplug every thing thats not in use and educate the kids to turn off when not in use !

the white goods are only 2-3
the showers are usually less than 9.5 here at 230v-depending on model

hd box on standby 300 watts?

dak

M cebee wrote: »

the white goods are only 2-3
the showers are usually less than 9.5 here at 230v-depending on model

hd box on standby 300 watts?

My white goods are 3 to 4kw .. I'm sure a lot are 2 to 3 also but it will depend on model , spec and age.

Showers in Ireland are usually 8.5kw ie Triton but I replaced my last worn out 8.5 with a 9.5KW

On UPC boxes you can alter power consumption on standby . Mine was on high power usage while in standby but I have changed the setting to lowest.. in fact I unplug it when not in use !

Mr Digger

HD boxes in standby 300 watts . :eek:

We have a lot of 12volt 50watt spotlights - Swap out for 3w LED :P

sincere113

Sky HD Box spec taken from here;-

http://www.sky.com/helpcentre/export/sites/www.sky.com/helpcentre/__PDF/8378_SkyxHD_Manual_Online_2610.pdf_1314843347.pdf

Specifications
DRX890 Specifications
Operating voltage: 230V AC; 50Hz
Power consumption: 45W (max.) / LNB switching +13/+18VDC 275mA MAX/22kHz
Weight: 4.1kg (packed)
Dimensions: 346mm x 255mm x 73mm (inc. rubber feet and connectors)
UHF modulator: CCIR PAL System I; Ch. 21 to 69 (factory setting is 68)
Operating temp. range: +5°C to +45°C
Storage temp. range: -20°C to +60°C
Hard disk capacity: 500GB (250GB personal storage space)
Connectors
MAINS INPUT: IEC 60320 2-pin
DISH INPUT 1: female F-type 75Ω (950-2150 MHz)
DISH INPUT 2: female F-type 75Ω (950-2150 MHz)
TELEPHONE LINE: RJ11, V90
RS-232: DB-9 female, data communications equipment
(DCE) / EIA/TIA-232-E ITU-T V.28 115.2 kbit/s (max.)
AERIAL IN: IEC 60169-2 female
RF OUT-1: IEC 60169-2 male
RF OUT-2: IEC 60169-2 male
DIGITAL AUDIO OUT: OPTICAL and COAXIAL digital-audio sockets for 5.1 surround sound
AUDIO OUT (L and R): Phono sockets (RCA)
COMPOSITE VIDEO OUT: Phono sockets (RCA)
USB 2.0 : (for future connectivity) front and rear connectors
SCART: SCART (composite video out; RGB out)
: 1.1 type A
ETHERNET: (for future connectivity) RJ45, IEEE802.3 10-BASE-T and 100BASE-TX
SATA: external HDD interface, SATA 1.0a
The following specifications are for the Sky±HD box made by BSkyB, Pace, Samsung and Thomson. Specifications may change without notice.
Hereby, BSkyB declares that this set-top box is in compliance with the essential requirements and other relevant provisions
of the following Directives: 2006/95/EC (LVD Directive); 2004/108/EC (EMC Directive); 1999/5/EC (R&TTE Directive).
If you connect earthed equipment to the RS-232 port, you must use an approved screened cable.
The model number, serial number and electrical rating of this set-top box are on a label on its base and rear.
BSkyB, Grant Way, Isleworth, Middlesex TW7 5QD
DRX780 Specifications
Operating voltage: 230V AC; 50Hz
Power consumption: 45W (max.) / LNB switching +13/+18VDC 275mA MAX/22kHz
Weight: 5kg (packed)
Dimensions: 399mm x 295mm x 81mm (inc. rubber feet and connectors)
UHF modulator: CCIR PAL System I; Ch. 21 to 69 (factory setting is 68)
Operating temp. range: +5°C to +45°C
Storage temp. range: -20°C to +60°C
Hard disk capacity: 320GB (160GB personal storage space)
300GB (160GB personal storage space)
Connectors
MAINS INPUT: IEC 60320 2-pin
DISH INPUT 1: female F-type 75Ω (950-2150 MHz)
DISH INPUT 2: female F-type 75Ω (950-2150 MHz)
TELEPHONE LINE: RJ11, V90
RS-232: DB-9 female, data communications equipment
(DCE) / EIA/TIA-232-E ITU-T V.28 115.2 kbit/s (max.)
AERIAL IN: IEC 60169-2 female
RF OUT-1: IEC 60169-2 male
RF OUT-2: IEC 60169-2 male
DIGITAL AUDIO OUT: OPTICAL and COAXIAL digital-audio sockets for 5.1 surround sound
AUDIO OUT (L and R): Phono sockets (RCA)
USB 2.0 : (for future connectivity) front and rear connectors
VCR/DVD SCART: SCART (composite video in/out; RGB in/out)
TV SCART: SCART (composite video out; RGB out)
: 1.1 type A
ETHERNET: (for future connectivity) RJ45, IEEE802.3 10-BASE-T and 100BASE-TX
S-VIDEO OUT: 4-way mini-

Mr Digger

@sincere113, Thats put that to bed...unless he has 6 or 7 of them

Diggerdunne

its great to see a sky box is only 45w but he is talking about a UPC box

trad

OP you live in a 35 year old bungalow. Chances are you have a 35 year old ESB meter.

The ESB are quitely replacing the old spinningtop type meter with an electronic unit.

I took issue with them, after a year and a half I got €500 back off them and am happy enough with my bill since.

Get them to change your meter.

M cebee

13amp appliances about 3kw max
nowhere near 4

shower maybe 9.5 if its 230v 9.5

upc box standby shouls be a few watts-no way near 300

dak

M cebee wrote: »

13amp appliances about 3kw max
nowhere near 4

shower maybe 9.5 if its 230v 9.5

upc box standby shouls be a few watts-no way near 300

Hi M cebee . I don't want to get into an arguement over the detail . The usage was based on viewing an energy monitor and watching it spike when the variance appliances were turned on . Not an exact science I know and the reading for the white appliances could have been overstated if the fridge for example cut in . I agree that 3kw is the max loading on a 13amp fuse .

Shower is correct and I will test the HD box a few times to see what the avg test result is .

I'm not an electrician ..just a householder trying to cut down the electricity bill.

I assume you are a sparkie M cebeee and if you are would you know where I would get GU10 fittings for 5w LED spots ( non dimming ones) . Ikea selling 5W LED spot bulbs for €8 compared to €20 on electricity Ireland site. Can any LED's be used with a dimmer switch ?

dak

M cebee wrote: »

13amp appliances about 3kw max
nowhere near 4

shower maybe 9.5 if its 230v 9.5

upc box standby shouls be a few watts-no way near 300

Hi M cebee . I don't want to get into an arguement over the detail . The usage was based on viewing an energy monitor and watching it spike when the variance appliances were turned on . Not an exact science I know and the reading for the white appliances could have been overstated if the fridge for example cut in . I agree that 3kw is the max loading on a 13amp fuse .

Shower is correct and I will test the HD box a few times to see what the avg test result is .

I'm not an electrician ..just a householder trying to cut down the electricity bill.

I assume you are a sparkie M cebeee and if you are would you know where I would get GU10 fittings for 5w LED spots ( non dimming ones) . Ikea selling 5W LED spot bulbs for €8 compared to €20 on electricity Ireland site. Can any LED's be used with a dimmer switch ?

M cebee

dak wrote: »

M cebee wrote: »

13amp appliances about 3kw max
nowhere near 4

shower maybe 9.5 if its 230v 9.5

upc box standby shouls be a few watts-no way near 300

Hi M cebee . I don't want to get into an arguement over the detail . The usage was based on viewing an energy monitor and watching it spike when the variance appliances were turned on . Not an exact science I know and the reading for the white appliances could have been overstated if the fridge for example cut in . I agree that 3kw is the max loading on a 13amp fuse .

Shower is correct and I will test the HD box a few times to see what the avg test result is .

I'm not an electrician ..just a householder trying to cut down the electricity bill.

I assume you are a sparkie M cebeee and if you are would you know where I would get GU10 fittings for 5w LED spots ( non dimming ones) . Ikea selling 5W LED spot bulbs for €8 compared to €20 on electricity Ireland site. Can any LED's be used with a dimmer switch ?

im not arguing

just getting facts straight

people read these threads

cast_iron

M cebee wrote: »

upc box standby shouls be a few watts-no way near 300

From UPC's HD box's instruction manual:

Nominal power consumption: 28w max
Standby power consumption: 15w max
Low Power Standby Mode: 0.75w max

Interesting to see the the low power standby mode is 20 times lees than the standard standby mode.

cast_iron

M cebee wrote: »

even 15 is high enough
does low power standby cut in automatically or what

There's a hard drive amongst other things in it I suppose.

The low power standby is a setting you can activate. I think the start up time of the box is a bit longer on the lower setting, and that's about it.
You can also set it to automatically switch to standby if inactive, with a night time only option on that, so that it won't knock off if you are watching golf or something over a few hours.

M cebee

cast_iron wrote: »

M cebee wrote: »

even 15 is high enough
does low power standby cut in automatically or what

There's a hard drive amongst other things in it I suppose.

The low power standby is a setting you can activate. I think the start up time of the box is a bit longer on the lower setting, and that's about it.
You can also set it to automatically switch to standby if inactive, with a night time only option on that, so that it won't knock off if you are watching golf or something over a few hours.

yes I deleted that after I realised it had been answered already

Bruthal

trad wrote: »

OP you live in a 35 year old bungalow. Chances are you have a 35 year old ESB meter.

The ESB are quitely replacing the old spinningtop type meter with an electronic unit.

I took issue with them, after a year and a half I got €500 back off them and am happy enough with my bill since.

Get them to change your meter.

The very old meters magnetically saturate at a lower load than modern houses often demand, with the result that having it replaced with a new modern one, can cause the bill to be higher, reflecting its true reading.

Probably older ones than from the 70`s though.

M cebee

dak wrote: »

M cebee wrote: »

13amp appliances about 3kw max
nowhere near 4

shower maybe 9.5 if its 230v 9.5

upc box standby shouls be a few watts-no way near 300

Hi M cebee . I don't want to get into an arguement over the detail . The usage was based on viewing an energy monitor and watching it spike when the variance appliances were turned on . Not an exact science I know and the reading for the white appliances could have been overstated if the fridge for example cut in . I agree that 3kw is the max loading on a 13amp fuse .

Shower is correct and I will test the HD box a few times to see what the avg test result is .

I'm not an electrician ..just a householder trying to cut down the electricity bill.

I assume you are a sparkie M cebeee and if you are would you know where I would get GU10 fittings for 5w LED spots ( non dimming ones) . Ikea selling 5W LED spot bulbs for €8 compared to €20 on electricity Ireland site. Can any LED's be used with a dimmer switch ?

I would get the led bulbs and fittings at a electrical wholesaler
the philips master led range is popular here

ger vallely

Wow,lots of information there!I'll definitely try the halogen and LED lights,worth a try anyway. Any appliance we don't use regularly is always unplugged until required.Computer,t.v, well that's it-we're not a family of major energy users. The meter is of the old style spinning type. Though if changing it will increase our bill I think I just might leave it as such!I am aware that electricity bills increased but this is a tad beyond a joke.Another bill due in a few weeks so it will be interesting to see what it's for.Seems it's not just myself who is more than a little concerned with quite pricey bills.Thanks so much for all the info and advice.

heate

300w! That's a lot for standby. Would make me question my leaving everything either in standby and chargers etc plugged in!
Though my electricity bill is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of Swiss living costs! 300w sounds ridiculous I've a UPC my UPC Hd on standby constantly what a waste it seems

dak

heate wrote: »

300w! That's a lot for standby. Would make me question my leaving everything either in standby and chargers etc plugged in!
Though my electricity bill is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of Swiss living costs! 300w sounds ridiculous I've a UPC my UPC Hd on standby constantly what a waste it seems

Apologies Heate. I got that one totally wrong. Someone must have switched a light on in the house when I was checking the change in consumption . Its more like 25w after testing it a few times. Still leaving it in standby 24/7 is costing €40 euro a year .

heate

dak wrote: »

heate wrote: »

300w! That's a lot for standby. Would make me question my leaving everything either in standby and chargers etc plugged in!
Though my electricity bill is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of Swiss living costs! 300w sounds ridiculous I've a UPC my UPC Hd on standby constantly what a waste it seems

Apologies Heate. I got that one totally wrong. Someone must have switched a light on in the house when I was checking the change in consumption . Its more like 25w after testing it a few times. Still leaving it in standby 24/7 is costing €40 euro a year .

I may just switch mine off its part of my broadband package I don't actually watch Swiss tv anyway. €40 for old rope so!

Bruthal

dak wrote: »

heate wrote: »

300w! That's a lot for standby. Would make me question my leaving everything either in standby and chargers etc plugged in!
Though my electricity bill is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of Swiss living costs! 300w sounds ridiculous I've a UPC my UPC Hd on standby constantly what a waste it seems

Apologies Heate. I got that one totally wrong. Someone must have switched a light on in the house when I was checking the change in consumption . Its more like 25w after testing it a few times. Still leaving it in standby 24/7 is costing €40 euro a year .

Energy monitors are not an accurate way to measure the consumption of low wattage items. They sometimes dont respond to something much smaller than 40 or 50 watts.

So if for example a 50 watt light is switced on, and the monitor does not register it, then you switch on the UPC box, its 25 watts plus the 50 the monitor didnt respond to, suddenly comes up as 75 watts.

This can be misleading.

They also seem to stick at times for a lot longer than the 5 seconds etc they usually take readings at, further confusing what is truely being read when a small item is switched on. This probably depends on how good a signal its getting from the sensor transmitter.

Any items like sky boxes, set top boxes etc are all low wattage. An electric shower for example, uses about 300 times the wattage that a UPC box uses. So for a 10 minute shower, you can use the UPC box for about 50 hours continuous.

So items like UPC boxes etc probably need to be put into perspective when talking about €300 euro bills. The 28 watt UPC box on 24 hours a day for an entire billing period would cost about €7.

It also says 28 watts max according to an earlier post. Its likely the nominal is below this.

manatoo

cast_iron wrote: »

There's a hard drive amongst other things in it I suppose.

The low power standby is a setting you can activate. I think the start up time of the box is a bit longer on the lower setting, and that's about it.
You can also set it to automatically switch to standby if inactive, with a night time only option on that, so that it won't knock off if you are watching golf or something over a few hours.

Has anyone else here noticed that switching on the low power standby option causes the hard drive to be constantly active when the device is on standby? That's what I found with mine so I switched it back to normal standby in which case it's silent when on standby. Doesn't make sense but that's what I found and no it wasn't recording something when I checked

cast_iron

No. I noticed the opposite. The hard drive runs when the box is active - this allows you to pause live tv.
In standby, it was very quiet. Maybe it updates itself or does self check or something every now and again. I think I have heard it once or twice while on standby before, bit I'm not sure on that.

Solair

A set top box does not use 300W !! If it is, there's something seriously wrong with it! They typically use considerably less than 100W when they're running.

Tumble dryers will use typically about 2500-2800W. You can get more efficient models that use heat-pumps.

Washing machines typically use about 1600-2000W, but only while heating, which is only a relatively short period of the wash. They'd only use about 500W max while tumbling / rinsing etc.

The usual huge drains are water-heaters and electric showers.

No plug-in appliance goes beyond 3000W as the fuse in the plug will not allow more than roughly that kind of current to flow.

Lighting, particularly recessed spots can be enormously expensive to run. If you've an array of halogen spots in the ceiling they can easily use several hundred watts.

Alun

Solair wrote: »

A set top box does not use 300W !! If it is, there's something seriously wrong with it! They typically use considerably less than 100W when they're running.

I tested my standard (i.e. non-HD) UPC box and it used 20W while in standard "standby" mode and about 25W when running, hardly any difference. I never used the low-power standby option.

dingding

OP, you can get plug in energy monitors that you plug into a wall socket and then plug the appliance into them. These would be more accurate for measuring the usage of individual devices.

My i5 PC uses about 55 watts, but can spike at 85 when it is busy processing and all the cores are running. i.e. When you go to open office.