First quarterly electricity bill with daily charging...surprised

[morphix]

Hi all,

I got my first electricity bill last week since I moved from infrequent charging to daily charging of my battery as I use the bike for work.

I was expecting my bill to be a fair bit higher than usual so I was nervous opening it. It wasn't higher. In fact I don't think it's increased at all, it's within the same level it usually is.

Mind you I have stopped watching TV now, so maybe the daily charger usage has balanced things out..

I charge for about 2 hours every day (36v 5Ah battery). Full charge is 3 hours but usually my battery still has plenty of juice in it and just needs a top-up charge.

Just wondered if anyone else has noticed their electricity bill go up from charging daily?

 

[shep]

If it takes 3 hours to charge your battery full, then your charger is about 1.5 amps and it will be charging at about 40 volts. So 40 X 1.5 = 60 watts !!!!!

So it is only like leaving a 60 watt bulb on for 3 hours. As a Killowatt/hour costs about 10p. You can charge for 1000 divided by 60 = 16+ hours for 10p !!!!!!!!

 

[morphix]

If it takes 3 hours to charge your battery full, then your charger is about 1.5 amps and it will be charging at about 40 volts. So 40 X 1.5 = 60 watts !!!!!

So it is only like leaving a 60 watt bulb on for 3 hours. As a Killowatt/hour costs about 10p. You can charge for 1000 divided by 60 = 16+ hours for 10p !!!!!!!!

Oh thanks for that shep that's really good news. I'm clueless when it comes to electricity costs and have had huge bills in the past but they have come right down since I switched to Eon.

 

[Scottyf]

Thats the bonus about electric. Its that cheap its not worth worrying about.
That an I end up using works electric to charge the bike.

The only real cost with an ebike is battery replacment and the bike itsself. After that its pretty much free.

Much cheaper than £100 a month on petrol.
Even with battery replacement and new lifepo4 lasting over 1500 usable charges the coss are becoming very very cheap.

 

[Synthman]

I can get 3 full charges on one unit, which works out cheaper than the standing charge.

 

[Jon]

It costs me about 5.5p for a full charge on a 15ah battery that is currently doing me 36 miles so thats like 0.0015p per mile. Compare that to my car which is 0.17per mile plus on costs such as depreciation , wear and tear ser vices, tax mot etc etc.

Going into it a bit more my car will cost me in everything £350 a month
my ebike costs me £0.60 in electricity based on 400 miles plus any repairs so all in i would anticipate £25 max a month.

This obviously does not factor in capital costs like the bike, clothing accessories etc or the cost of the car

 

[kitchenman]

Nice to see you back posting again. I've just unboxed my second CAR DVR and will be riding to work tomorrow with both barrels mounted on the front giving me a wide view! .. Should be interesting. I just hope I dont fall off again ...

 

[morphix]

Nice to see you back posting again. I've just unboxed my second CAR DVR and will be riding to work tomorrow with both barrels mounted on the front giving me a wide view! .. Should be interesting. I just hope I dont fall off again ...

Thanks Alan That sounds like fun, but not the falling off part, hope you didn't hurt yourself. I haven't been using my camera for a while, haven't had the opportunity just been so busy lately. Now the weather is getting nicer again will have to go on a long ride and do some films.

Any news on the camera review sub-forum?

Actually I have an idea to do with cameras you might be interested in...will put up a separate post about it shortly..

 

[Orraman]

Lithium Batteries

The bulk of the charge goes into the battery at a constant current until the voltage rises to near full charge. From then on the voltage is held steady while the final small quantity seeps into the battery. During this time balancing may be carried out but the quantity of charge entering the battery reduces over time to the point the charger cuts off.

So for perhaps the final hour very little is entering the battery.

A mains power meter will show this reduction and they record the total charge or indeed the cost of any appliance.

Dave


Plug-in mains electrical energy / power meter. | eBay UK