High Electricty Consumption ... What can be done

[puns]

I recently noticed some increase in the electricity bill at my house over last 3 months.

I called a "proffesional" electrician to have the lines checked.
He said that the output from the sockets is much higher ( checked using multimeter ) ... in the range of 260 to 275 V at different sockets around my house and advised to use a stabiliser to avoid inflated bills :S

1) Is he correct ... I question this because he said he will then suggest what stabiliser to get for the house through him.

2) If he is right , are there stabilisers which can be used for the entire house instead of using multiple stabilizers like for fridge , PC , AC etc ... whats the range of options , prices i am looking at.. .is a single one better than multiple options...

Thanks.

 

[superczar]

260 to 275 W

i presume the meant Volts (V) , not Watts (W)

The Voltages at the sockets are definitely high as they should be in the 220 +- 10% range and this can blow up your tubelights , bulbs etc.

However, using a stabilizer will not really impact your electricity bills as the (1- 220/260) =15% saving in units consumed will be offset by the ~10% power loss on the stabilizer

I anyway doubt that BSES is supplying your locality this high a voltage, and I suggest picking up /borrowing a Digital MM to test by yourself... (~150/-)

 

[puns]

ya it should 'V' ... had PSU stuff in my mind

well i checked the readings myself and confirmed that it was higher ... a lot of times bulbs , powerstrip fuse blew as soon as i switched it on and i know for sure the wiring done is not the best

so should I first contact reliance now ( bses is no longer there ) to confirm the findings and see what they say could be done ...

 

[superczar]

so should I first contact reliance now ( bses is no longer there ) to confirm the findings and see what they say could be done ...

Yup..and blast em for this..they are the ones who need to fix this

 

[Eazy]

I have a digital voltmeter online 24/7 so I can see the incoming voltage thru the day. I have noticed during the summer months afternoons the reading is around 225v and during winter nights it can touch 250 - 270v.... I spoke to someone senior in Tata hydroelectric and he says that this is caused by lower loads on the grid during winter as most A/C's are off and fridges compressors are on for lesser time. Makes sense. But he did say that the voltage over 250v can cause damage to delicate electronic equipment. I use a stabiliser during winters but in manual mode so I step down the voltage manually to make it around 230v. This year during winter the voltage at my home has never gone over 243v.

One thing I was told was that higher votages will reduce the electricity bills as this causes lower electricity consuption - I dont understand this as I have forgotten my school science lessons

 

[Emil]

Before doing anything else I suggest you have a closer look at your bill itself. For some reason that I fail to understand (it is some long explanation with government agencies involved) REL have started to put in some additional charges.
Don't compare the Rs. but compare the units consumed. Only if you find the units consumed are higher should you then start on the technical journey.

 

[Emil]

For the technical journey, I agree with SuperCzar that you need to get it checked with a trusted multimeter before you panic. From your own words it doesn't seem like even you trust the "professional". If it is beyond the 10% tolerance specs then you should take it up with your local REL office. If I am not mistaken, they have an obligation to supply within a certain tolerance.

Eazy, whoever told you that a higher voltage reduces power consumption is wrong. In most cases, the power consumption will increase. This will happen typically for lights, fans, refrigerators, ACs, irons, etc. In the case of your computer or TV which uses SMPS principles, the power consumption will remain more or less stable although the current drawn will reduce marginally.

 

[puns]

ya i know the rate slab increases they have put recently depending on your consumption , there will be an incremental increase... will have to find out the numbers again ... thanks
I keep all data of no of units used of the past and current year ... it has increased.

One thing I was told was that higher votages will reduce the electricity bills as this causes lower electricity consuption - I dont understand this as I have forgotten my school science lessons

This is intresting if thats the case ... i was never good at this stuff so someone else can confirm

 

[Eazy]

This is intresting if thats the case ... i was never good at this stuff so someone else can confirm

Neither was I ... This is too much for my brain to work out..... Anyway Emil says otherwise. The person who gave me this info is a close relative who used to be the Director of Tata Hydro. I dont care who is right as long as I get low bills from BEST at the end of every month

 

[Anish]

One thing I was told was that higher votages will reduce the electricity bills as this causes lower electricity consuption - I dont understand this as I have forgotten my school science lessons

Bull crap, Voltage is directly proportional to Current V=IR (Ohm's Law)..

True that high voltages is used for power transmission, but that's so that current lag is less (due to the high potential), and in turn reduces losses due to heat generated by current, different story altogether...

Basically after a step-down transformer is used, your voltages are high because of a load drop, their fault..

 

[Lord Nemesis]

First and foremost, blast the electricity company for the high voltages. Its way out of the acceptable range and can damage your electical appliances anytime and can even be a hazzard. They have a responsibilty to provide the electricity in the acceptable limits (220~240V).

Secondly, the only way stabilizers are gonna help you is though bringing it down to a acceptable limit. All this talk about electricity saving through stabilizer is bs. there would in fact be energy loss in the stabilizer in the form of heat. No savings there.

 

[yusuf]

I called a "proffesional" electrician to have the lines checked.
He said that the output from the sockets is much higher ( checked using multimeter ) ... in the range of 260 to 275 V at different sockets around my house and advised to use a stabiliser to avoid inflated bills :S

Yes & No. Stabilizer will add additional transformer and it will have its own efficiency, though typically high but always less than 100%. Hence, you loose some power there.

In typical home appliances & lighting fixtures, impedence is fixed and power cosumption is based on input voltage (e.g geyser, fans, lights etc.). Rated consumption is based on standard voltage range. So, if line voltage goes up, cosumption will be more and often more stress resulting in failure. So stabilizer will definately help.

From last week, I also have high voltage problem in my area in Bangalore. Planning to get a stabilizer, does anyone suggest reputed brand. I plan to get larger 5KV one, preferably servo but again depends on price range.

 

[blueyesdude]

Hmm,

Higher voltages dont relate to higher bills.

Higher power consumption in watts lead to higher bills.

So basically it all depends how much watts of power ur devices consume,not on high/low input voltage to the devices.

But i guess majority of our appliances have good inbuilt dc voltage regulation so it shouldnt be a problem for them.

But tubelights and bulbs will be at a higher risk of blowing.

 

[Hacker]

Hmm,
Higher voltages dont relate to higher bills.
Higher power consumption in watts lead to higher bills.
So basically it all depends how much watts of power ur devices consume,not on high/low input voltage to the devices.

My friends room has some weird voltage problems, sometimes its less bulbs dim and fans runs slowly, ups switches to battery and sometimes the voltage is high so the bulbs glow brighter and fans run with greater speed. So if it moves with greater speed im assuming it will also consume more electricty. So the bill will increase bcoz of high voltage.

Am i correct ??? :huh:

 

[superczar]

for some devices, a higher voltage will cause higher electricity consumption...e.g. bulbs & fans

Bull crap, Voltage is directly proportional to Current V=IR (Ohm's Law)..

nahi re Anish....You cannot use that formula here ...refer your physics txtbooks to understand why....

For the sake of brevity and simplicity, let us ignore the power factor (cos phi)thingie for a while

Power dissipated(consumed) = VI (voltage X current)

Also, V=IR -> Power =Isquared R

Now say for an electric bulb, the resistance stays more or less constant when the filament has heated up, now if you were to apply a higher Potential difference (V) across its terminsals, I (current passing) would rise up proportionately, so power dissipated would go up by the voltage increase squared...

e.g. a 100 W bulb (rated at 220V) under operating condidions would have ~ 100/220 Amperes of current passing through it under normal 220 V supply, and have an operating resistance of 100/(100/220)squared ~ 484 ohms

now if you were to increase the Voltage to 240 V, the operational resistance stays almost constant (it comes down a bit but let's ignore that here) and the power consumed will be 240squared /484 = 119W

Thus a 9% increase in voltage led to a 19% increase in power consumed

The above will hold true pretty much for fans, ACs & Fridges (to a lesser extent)

For electronic equipment that rely on simple step down transformers, higher voltages would similarly raise the power consumption and place the equipment at risk of breakdown

For electronic equipment that rely on more sophisticated Voltage control

e.g. TVs, Computers that use a solid state switching supply, the power consumption wouldn't go up so much but you'd still dissipated additional power in the form of additional heat generated across the power supply modules

Anyway, having said that, using a stabilizer wouldn't really bring down your electricity consumption as most of the lowered consumption due to lower(proper) voltage would be offset by the loss of power in the form of heat generation in the transformer coils (most stabilizers are ~90% efficient in voltage conversion)...though of course, they'll help you reduce the risk of equipment breakdown...

Summary

1- Higher Voltage supply = higher bills- True

2- using a stabilizer to help lower bills- True to some extent, but not really

3- using a stabilizer to prevent precious equipment from breaking down due to high voltage supply at home--definitely Yes

Hope this clears it up

LOL..I hope I didn't come across as a primary school teacher there :ashamed:

 

[sunbiz_3000]

Use those white bulbs instead of yellow bulbs or use tube lights (dont switch on/off often is using a tube). Buy an LCD if u have a CRT. Try to keep the gyzer on only when u need... Store hot water and switch off the gyzer if u can

Dont use graphic cards, prescotts (P4) and shut down/sleep ur PC when u r not using it. I could go on with many other ways u can save power... but better put a photovoltaic panel (solar panel) and a battery!!

 

[Eazy]

I took this picture right now... 250v !!! :O .... today the voltage will be high thru the day as it is a holiday and all the offices and the Hyundai garage across the street are closed

 

[blueyesdude]

@Superczar

1- Higher Voltage supply = higher bills- True(this statement is not always true)

If u talking abt simple devices controlled by triacs and diacs like fans and lamp bulbs,yes -->Higher Voltage supply = higher bills.

But if u consider TV or lets say a PC,in that case:-

If the input Ac volt to ur pc jumps to 260v,the power consumption wont increase from 200w to 250w.

For such devices Power=V(dc) x I(dc)

The ac volts to theses devices are converted to dc volts by transformers,rectifiers,filters and voltage regulators,dc choppers and what not.

At the end you get DC 12v,3.3v and 5v from ur smps.These voltages will almost remain constant due to voltage regulation in the smps(might be due to zener diodes or IC 723 etc) irrespective of the fluctuating i/p AC voltage.

Power consumption is then determined by the current consumption on these rails.

So again for major appliances where voltage regulation is integrated Fluctuating i/p AC volt doesnt matter as o/p DC volt is going to remain constant which in turn determines ur Electric bills.

Phew atleast thats what i remember from 'Power Electronics' which i studied in 8th Semester electronics engg.

 

[superczar]

@Superczar

1- Higher Voltage supply = higher bills- True(this statement is not always true)

If u talking abt simple devices controlled by triacs and diacs like fans and lamp bulbs,yes -->Higher Voltage supply = higher bills.

Hehe, what did I say mate ->

But if u consider TV or lets say a PC,in that case:-

For electronic equipment that rely on more sophisticated Voltage control

e.g. TVs, Computers that use a solid state switching supply, the power consumption wouldn't go up so much but you'd still dissipated additional power in the form of additional heat generated across the power supply modules

Anyway, a typical home will always have a few bulbs/fans and other non switching supply based devices, so a straight correlation between power consuption and voltage

also, even for your PC, your SMPS would dissipate extra heat so still a correlation between higher voltages and higher power consumption ...

 

[puns]

i asked the reliance people to check the lines up , they should be coming any day ... lets see what they have to say , will post then.

Thanks for the physics & electronics classes guys