Power - what is your base load?

irishchris · 18-02-2022 08:26AM

Anther way of identifying what different appliances are using are these type of smart plugs. Have several around the house and can be used for timers or remote on/off as well as power monitoring

Used these initially before PV install to get to grips with what each of the main house load devices used.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08LZWBTR6/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_VBPGWBCQ0FKVVK35AQFF

Mr Q · 19-02-2022 10:12PM

PXL_20220219_204912153.jpg

Had a look today to see my own base load properly. With the heating system powered down, heatpump, it is showing 42 watts.

The sewage treatment plant wasn't running as it comes on and off but it would average 19 watts an hour if it matches the spec sheet. Fridge freezer would be the same and use about 14 watts an hour.

So 75 watts baseload for the basics with all computers, TVs etc powered off

bumblebee22 · 21-02-2022 10:01PM

75w is really very good number, mine float arend 300w, cctv, router, ps4, fridge, freezer and 2 tv on stand-by. MY its time for smart plugs.

21-02-2022 10:16PM

I must check mine sometime, it's gotta be super-low since I average like 8 units a day use when not using a fan heater. I'm not careful about it either. :D

Ginger83 · 22-02-2022 03:56PM

I got down to 161 watts and we seem to be using 12 or 13 units per day without using tumble dryer

markpb · 22-02-2022 04:19PM

I can't easily find my base load anymore :( Between the EV charging for 3+ hours a night, the washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher running at various times and the Solis-attached battery charging on winter nights and then babies waking up for the day at 5am, there's no chance of a lull time anymore.

22-02-2022 07:04PM

My base is about 500w.

I've 3 chest freezers and 2 fridges running.

paulbok · 14-03-2022 10:39AM

Around 250w.

Not bad considering theres 2 pcs on full time, a power hungry Cisco switch, 2 other switches, 3 routers, 2 fridges, a number of Alexa devices, 3 with screens and other smart hubs on 24/7 and the usual devices in standby. Most of those are minimal usage, but they add up.

Will be adding a few cameras and devices over the summer so would expect that to be around 300w next year.

I'm getting a power monitoring smart plug shortly as I want to measure usage on certain devices and see if it'd be worth shutting down at night* or replacing (like the cisco switch).

*I prefer the convenience of device left on, over cost, but if it can be automated using Home Assistant, it may be a worthwhile task

poker--addict · 02-09-2022 04:32PM

4/5 bed detached house, b2 rated.

Base load seems to be around 350w. I regard this as high, as it drives 8.4KW before we even turn a cooker on or heat water. We therefore end up with about 22KW per day in summer, what many people might expect in winter.

Usual stuff; fridge, freezer, computer (or at least the hungry screen I found). We have a septic tank/aeration, not sure what contribution that would give and whether it is ad-hoc or continuous. .

I recently went through each fuse on the fuse board isolating things. I did not find a culprit, but it did feel like one circuit of plugs was using 150w despite everything turned off. It is possible the owl monitor I use isn't accurate at such low levels too, but beyond that I could not find a reason.

graememk · 02-09-2022 05:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119560742#Comment_119560742

Yeah the owl moniter can't really measure below that.

Chancer20 · 02-09-2022 05:08PM

4 Bed Detached B1

We hover between 150 and 350 Watts depending on whether none, one, two or all three Fridges/Freezers are on.

Also have several Alexa Show plus Music and TV server on 24/7. also 6 mesh routers plus one outdoor repeater for the CCTV to get around all the foil backed insulation.

I make the server shut down at midnight and restart at 6am, but that's about all I could find to reduce our base load.

Jonathan · 02-09-2022 07:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119560742#Comment_119560742

If you have a digital meter with a LED pulse, this app will give you a better reading for low values (and high values too, but standing at the meter box isn't fun 😂).

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=smart.meter.app

Alun · 02-09-2022 07:33PM

Mine is almost exactly 200W overnight when everyone is in bed.

DC999 · 02-09-2022 07:41PM

Baseload is 75w overnight (used 0.6kwh in 8 hours last night). So is as low as 30w-150w at a time. Only have fridge, freezer, alarm, 1-2 5w LEDs and whatever invertor uses at night. Am ignoring load shifting stuff like dishwasher, EV... Turn everything else off at bedtime, even internet router. We only turn stuff on when we need it. Have smart plugs on few things like router to wake at start of the day.

We went on hols and used 52w baseline. Or 1.25kwh a day for fridge, freezer, alarm.

ELM327 · 06-09-2022 11:41AM

Measured at roughly 400w. Not bad for a 6 bed house with two techies working from home.

ECO_Mental · 06-09-2022 12:53PM

Im running about 250W at night time. I have MHRV, freezer and a Fridge, 5 WiFi APs, a switch and Unifi UDMP, 4K camera all running 24hrs a day. The spikes are probably the Quooker tap that kicks in every hour so for a minute or two.

poker--addict · 06-09-2022 03:33PM

@ECO_Mental what is that app/monitor?

ECO_Mental · 06-09-2022 09:37PM

@poker--addict

Its Home Assistant running on a Raspberry PI 4b Home Assistant (home-assistant.io)

I use three ShellyEM's ( Shelly EM - Shelly Cloud ) to log 6 specific circuits in the house and they are picked up on HA.

The data is stored on InfluxDB and those graphs are done through Grafana. See HA dashboard below. It sounds complicated and there is a bit or programming but not too hard and a few hours watching YouTube 😋 But that's half the fun learning something new. Gives great data and HA also has an App to see it on your phone.

Grafana gives great graphs...here is the epic week we had in early August..perfect curves and you can see the Zappi adjusting to the power output from the PV

Here is one of those days zoomed in where you can see various out circuits kicking in such as heat pump, utility room and the kitchen island (dishwasher) in the Zappi reducing power to compensate.

But its all about consumption in the end of the day so here is a moving 7 day average graph I also do. This is to smooth out all the ups and downs and weekends, basically it averages the last 7 days energy usage to see trends. Guess when I got my EV...and when I went on holidays

CathalDublin · 07-09-2022 09:38AM

Our base load is about 300-320watts

3bed semi D house

running

large marine aquarium, 2 NAS drives, desktop PC, 24 port switch, firewall and a handful of Poe Access points and USB powered cameras.

connesha · 07-09-2022 09:55AM

Baseload is approx. 125W overnight. Fridge-Freezer, a couple of LED table lamps, and internet/HA stuff (4 POE APs, POE camera + NVR, NUC, lots of smart plugs) .

THE ALM · 07-09-2022 10:08AM

Base load around the 200-250w overnight. Fridge Freezer, fridge, UDM Pro, network switch, couple of access points, 4x POE cameras, 2x wireless cameras, TV's etc left on standby, NAS, 2xRPi, Hue hub, Loxone server, router, zappi,eddi and smart plugs.

Ger Roe · 07-09-2022 10:21AM

200 - 250 watt overnight.

That covers items running through the night :

Fridge/Freezer and separate second chest freezer, broadband router, some pir security lights and house alarm, hibernated Alexa show 8.

That's with all 'standby' devices powered off at the mains socket (beats me why all devices are not compelled to have a physical on/off switch on the front panel).

I have mains gas fired heating (at one time it was the Gov backed and recommended option), that also consumes another 200 watts when the electric pump kicks in.

All in all, with low wattage lights throughout and sensible use of appliances and devices, I don't think I can shave off any more savings. It would be nice to simply get discount rewarded for actually using less energy (maybe below a national average level), rather than be charged more to try force further savings that can not be achieved.

silver_sky · 21-09-2022 07:55PM

Really low, in fact probably too low as I think that's the reason for issues I'm having with my Solis. It seems to struggle when the load is under 200W. My base load is about 120W average. It peaks above and below that due to the fridge freezer. Only a few small items aside from the fridge are running constantly.

Rain Dog · 25-09-2022 10:24PM

Hi folks, we've eventually got our solar system in (5.7kWp, 5kW inverter, and 4.8 kWh batteries) and are very happy, but I have a query about base load, I hope some experts here can help me with. I understand the max efficiency of the inverter is about 97%, at it optimum load, which from what I can find on the interweb is above 40% of it's capacity. I can also see from the interweb the efficiency drops considerably at lower loads, but can't find any specifics.

Our base load in the house before installation was less than 100W, just the fridge freezer, modem and a couple of timers. It now tends to sit at around 200-300W. Does the efficiency drop this much at really low loads, or am I missing something? All and any advice much appreciated.

Gerry · 27-09-2022 07:50AM

Base load is consumption. which the arrival of the inverter will not have changed much. They use only a few watts in standby. When its producing power from panels the inverter will as you say be only 96 to 97% efficient but that loss will be reflected in less output power, not more base load.

poker--addict · 04-11-2022 08:28PM

as winter has arrived my heating system is on and it contains a circ pump at two manifolds which are on when a room calls for heat. As such two pumps are going almost constant. Even though they are small, together they are probably 250w, almost 24/7.

Been thinking more about the base load, as it does add up.

even without heating my base is about 350-400. I seemed to be able to isolate a chunk of it to the kitchen and close by socket circuit, which makes sense, however even when turning fridge and freezer off I was getting about 120w unexplained and I have no ideas now.

I had load monitor plugs on things like tv, WiFi router, and robot vacuum for a few weeks, and their usage including standby is negligible.

At current elec rates eliminating 120W per hour could mean guts of 250-300e a year.

bullit_dodger · 04-11-2022 08:38PM

Whats your heating system Poker? Have you considered a Tado/Nest?

poker--addict · 04-11-2022 08:50PM

Heat pump, and UFH, so going all the time….in theory.

KCross · 05-11-2022 01:31PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119834287#Comment_119834287

as winter has arrived my heating system is on and it contains a circ pump at two manifolds which are on when a room calls for heat. As such two pumps are going almost constant. Even though they are small, together they are probably 250w, almost 24/7.

Are you sure they are running full tilt at 250w 24/7?

That’s excessive and not required.

My system, 10+ years old now, uses variable speed circulating pumps and the HP decides the speed they run at based on load required at any moment in time. I’d be getting that checked out, might be a lazy installer just set it to go at 100% all the time.

poker--addict · 05-11-2022 04:39PM

They are dumb pumps i.e no connection back to heat pump. On off dictated by thermostats in each of the 12 zones. Always one zone somewhere that doesn’t just get to temperature as heat pump is set at min level required to sufficiently heat most rooms. Some balancing would help but unless perfect the same scenario played out. One has modulation, albeit the settings are confusing (wilo E-25), the other has 3 speeds.

Power - what is your base load?

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