# ESB - all appliances off, meter still turning?



## Mel (30 Mar 2009)

I carried out this experiment a few months ago, but the earth hour on saturday reminded me that I never followed it up. 

I switched off every light, appliance and socket in the house - everything - in an attempt to see what the biggest draw on esb might be. 
When everything was off, the meter was still revolving -  slowly admittedly, but electricity was still being drawn from somewhere...

I'm stumped as to what it might be, any ideas?
One theory is water being pumped to the attic, I grew up in a house with a private water supply and we were always beign warned by our parents about using too much water and causing the pump to run - is there something similar in a townhouse with public supply?


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## jhegarty (30 Mar 2009)

Try turning off the fuses one by one to narrow down which circuit is using the power.


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## PGD1 (30 Mar 2009)

alarm? wired smoke detectors?


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## vandriver (30 Mar 2009)

Central heating timer?


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## Mel (30 Mar 2009)

I don't have wired alarm or smoke detector, I think I turned off the central heating timer, but I'll check again. 
How do I turn off the fuses? Just flip down the switches on the board?


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## jhegarty (30 Mar 2009)

Mel said:


> I don't have wired alarm or smoke detector, I think I turned off the central heating timer, but I'll check again.
> How do I turn off the fuses? Just flip down the switches on the board?




Yes.


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## niceoneted (30 Mar 2009)

Fridge, clock on cooker if pilot light not switched off.


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## justsally (30 Mar 2009)

Freezer!!!! don't forget to switch it back on!

all standby switches -  microwave clock, hi-fi,  

outdoor security lights


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## Chocks away (30 Mar 2009)

Land line cradle chargers.


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## Celtwytch (30 Mar 2009)

You would probably need to unplug every single thing rather than just switching it off - I think a tiny amount of power still gets drawn if there is a plug in the socket.


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## SparkRite (30 Mar 2009)

One thing a lot of people forget is the hall door bell transformer.

The best thing to do is remove/switch the main fuse (normally 63A) at the board and then see if the meter wheel is still revolving.


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## sydthebeat (30 Mar 2009)

sparkrite said:


> one thing a lot of people forget is the hall door bell transformer.
> 
> *the best thing to do is remove/switch the main fuse (normally 63a) at the board and then see if the meter wheel is still revolving*.



+1


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## Mr Magoo (30 Mar 2009)

SparkRite said:


> The best thing to do is remove/switch the main fuse (normally 63A) at the board and then see if the meter wheel is still revolving.


that will certainly do it - but check if there's an esb seal on it, breaking the seal might not be the best idea.
There should be one main fuse or switch inside the house that shuts off everything.


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## Leo (31 Mar 2009)

Mr Magoo said:


> that will certainly do it - but check if there's an esb seal on it, breaking the seal might not be the best idea.
> There should be one main fuse or switch inside the house that shuts off everything.


 
There should never be a seal on a fuse!!!


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## Mr Magoo (31 Mar 2009)

Leo said:


> There should never be a seal on a fuse!!!


yes but there is on mine in any case. it's a 60A. so if it blows you have to call the esb!


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## Fnergg (31 Mar 2009)

Under no circumstances should you interfere with the ESB main fuse. Do not break the seal, do not remove it. 

Regards,

Fnergg


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## Mpsox (31 Mar 2009)

I read an article recently that said if you switch off things plugged into an extension lead, there will still be a small power usage into the extension lead, unless you actually plug the extension lead out


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## Mr Magoo (1 Apr 2009)

Mpsox said:


> I read an article recently that said if you switch off things plugged into an extension lead, there will still be a small power usage into the extension lead, unless you actually plug the extension lead out


yes in theory there will be a small current drain in the lead due to capitance but it won't register on your meter. 
however some devices are not really off when "off" e.g. a pc can still use a small amount of power after it's shutdown.


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## Mel (3 Apr 2009)

Thanks for all the tips - I'll try again over the weekend.
I don't have a lot of the fancy schmancy electronics listed,  and I plugged out/ switched of sockets for those that I do have, so will try again by unplugging completely. I do usually leave laptop on drip charge. 
I don't have loads of sockets so I have a few extension cables around and that might explain it.


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## mro (3 Apr 2009)

If you are interested you could get an electricity monitor, we got an [broken link removed]
and it is really interesting to see how much things cost to run. 

I found thinks like ....I have 2 different light fittings in the kitchen and one costs way more to run than the other. Also we were using a lamp for lighting the living room but now realised it costs about 10c an hour to run so we now use the main light which is way cheaper.

It is wireless but you need to be able to attach it to the wire near the fuse box, the rule of thumb is that if you can fit you finger around the wire you can fit the sensor around it.

If you are going to buy it shop around especailly UK websites as prices vary a lot.


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