We have a domestic water meter and it seems to be very expensive! The bill from the water company says we use 560 litres a day and the new bill is £81 per month!
We have three adults in the house - including an 18 year old lad. Occasionally the daughter turns up from Uni as well.
We have a dishwasher, a washing machine (eco thingy that uses minimal water) a power shower, two loos. The house is a small 3 bed 1980's semi.
We don't water the garden or wash the cars using a hose (a couple of buckets every couple of weeks).
For comparison please, what are your bills / usage like as this seems excessive - 560 litres is. well almost 0.6 cubic meters a day!
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Private water supply and sewerage - no costs. :)
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>>Private water supply and sewerage - no costs. :)
Same 'ere :-))
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>> Private water supply and sewerage.
Almost the same here.
Private water supply. Price is factored in with the rent.
Thames Water deal with the sewerage side of things. £143 PA last go off.
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Have you had any water supply problems of late?
Because when they dig up the road, air gets into the system, and when it comes through the impeller, the thing whizzes like a whizzing thing - no resistance - and sends a massive 'fake' reading.
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In Devonite Hovel (3 bed 1870's Terrace) we have all the usual water guzzling appliances, I have shower every day, sometimes two! Mrs has a bath every night, Dogs drink gallons! no car to wash -yet! and we pays £210 per year, £105.few pence April and October. Not on meter!
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£28 pound a month - three bedrooms, 2 adults.
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£40 a month, two adults, three bedrooms. I wouldn't touch a water meter, though eventually they will probably be forced on us.
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> I wouldn't touch a water meter, though eventually they will probably be forced on us.
We had a water meter fitted about three years ago. Our bill for two people reduced by around £200 per year.
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We had a water meter fitted about three years ago. Our bill for two people
>> reduced by around £200 per year.
>>
About the same for us in our old house, we saved about £20-25 a month.
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My house was on a meter when i bought it, so no choice, but somewhere i remember reading that as a general rule of thumb, 1-2 people are better off with a meter, 3 people is break even, and more than that you are better off with "rates"
Water is privatised though, so we will get stuck with whatever brings the most profit ..
I agree with the "leak" theory in Zippy's case
I'm a slow typer, so just had a quick look at the latest posts -
Slidingpillar - i am also on my own, plus my dirty dog, but paying roughly £50 a year more than you. I take that as a challenge !!
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Thames Water.
Fresh water and waste water, metered, £348 p.a. £29.00 p.m.
Last edited by: Duncan on Fri 26 Aug 16 at 14:59
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About £18 a month, two adults, both out all day, but all the usual stuff. Metered.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Fri 26 Aug 16 at 14:59
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Up until recently there were 3 adults here again. We have a dishwasher, washing machine, power shower, bath used most days and two showers a day too. About £38pm. When there were only two of us it was less than £30pm and I expect this to go down.
Occasionally watered the gardens in that figure. Rarely wash the car (with pressure washer). I work from home so that probably means we use a bit more water too.
Your £81 sounds a lot - are you sure your neighbour's not connected to the same water supply!
In our previous house without a water meter we payed significantly more.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 26 Aug 16 at 15:13
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Just re-read that they claim you use 560 litres a day! How. There's a leak or someone using the water supply without you knowing it.
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>> We have a domestic water meter and it seems to be very expensive! The bill
>> from the water company says we use 560 litres a day and the new bill
>> is £81 per month!
Zippy, I have just re-read your post.
£81 a month. Crikey! As I said in my other post I pay £29 a month and that is in the South East where the water is gold plated!
Presumably that is metered. I think I would ask them to do a test on the meter, or whatever the check procedure is.
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Switch the water off.
Go outside & see if the meter is clocking any usage.
If so you have a water leek somewhere.
Another thought - how old is the meter?
Maybe meter is reading litres & you are being charged for gallons!!
4.5 litres = 1 Imp gallon
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For 2 of us in a 3 bed house with the shower used daily, on a water meter we are paying £32 per month and I water the hanging baskets (all 21 of them!) daily in the summer too.
I use a sprinkler when I want for that as well:)
Pat
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£31 per month d/d to Affinity Water.
Large house, but only two of us. We share baths every other day, use a water-efficient washing machine, but do a fair amount of watering of plants. No dish-washer. Occasionally have guests overnight.
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"We share baths every other day..."
Blimey, she told me we were past that kind of thing years ago!!! :-)
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Focal Point's partner told you that you were past that kind of thing?
Questions, questions, questions.....
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As above, I'd ring the water company and let them know you've got a fault. £81 a month is crazy for water, a faulty meter or a leak somewhere. when we were on a meter it was about 20 a month in a two bed terrace, although we did get a rebate for private water run off.
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I was scratching my head to remember the average figures we use at work (on hols at moment) but Mark's link to CC water fills in the blanks for me.
Zippy seems to be using about twice what would be expected for a 3 person household. Assuming there's no medical etc reason; dialysis, colostomy or skin complaints are the usual ones but I've also seen OCD, then a leak check as outlined by others is appropriate.
Cannot remember our lest bill at home but it varies quite widely from year to year depending on whether the timer controlled watering system is in commission or not. Was last year, not this. Garden utterly neglected as it's Mrs B's territory and she spends a lot more time studying than she did teaching.
Comparing monthly payments may be deceptive. We pay extra for surface water drainage while others with private soakaways etc may not.
There are also areas where one company provides the supply and another the waste water. They may bill seperately or together. Most of the East Coast from the Thames estuary round to Lowestoft has supply from Essex and Suffolk and waste from Anglian. Pockets elsewhere have Affinity supply and Anglian waste. In parts of North Lincs Anglian supply and Severn Trent do waste. Some combinations provide one bill, others do not.
www.digdatconnect.co.uk/ will usually tell you the split by postcode
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Thanks for all your replies.
Spoke to the water company. We are being billed for water and waste and the chap mentioned that we are using the equivalent water of a 6 person household!
Some tests to do this weekend:
1. Turn off all taps, machines everything.
2. Leave it to settle for 15 minutes.
3. Check the meter. If the dial is spinning turn off the domestic stop cock.
4. If the dial stops spinning then the problem is in the house. If it doesn't stop spinning then the problem is their side.
I have noticed some air noises over the last day or two when using the shower. I am away from home so often that unless any one tells me about these things then I might not pick up on them - it could have been going on for weeks!
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From your tests I assume the meter is in the srteet?
If so I always understood that the water company was not responsible for any pipework from there to the property.
A few years ago a near neighbor ( before water meters) was very disappointed when the midnight team with their listening sticks found a leak between the road and her house. She no longer has the greenest front lawn of anyone around.
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>> From your tests I assume the meter is in the srteet?
>> If so I always understood that the water company was not responsible for any pipework
>> from there to the property.
>>
>>
>>
>>
Wasn't there a law change a few years ago, or possibly a court judgement that that said anything outside your own boundary was now the responsibility of the water company?
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Severn Trent: latest bid fresh water £71.19 for 6 months. 39 cubic m. Just two plus dog. And weekly visits from SoniL and grandson who shower for free when they have the chance!
Last edited by: NortonES2 on Fri 26 Aug 16 at 17:29
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Hearing a constant hissing noise last night or so, went out and found the tap with attached hose going off God knows where wide open, so turned it off. It was a mystery as Herself hadn't turned it on she said.
It can be a bit tiresome having several people, not all very sensible, living in the same place.
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£31 per month for water and sewerage from Southern water for our three bed bungalow , 2 adults ......usual water usage.
Sounds to me Zippy that you need to get your meter checked out sooner rather than later as you seem to be paying around £ 50 per month too much.
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Anglian water say the average consumption per person in their are is 133 litres per day so including your daughter that would be 532 litres per day - 560 litres sounds feasible
Does your £80 per month include any shortfall from last year?
www.anglianwater.co.uk/environment/how-you-can-help/calculate-usage.aspx
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I think that estimate is way over the top. I don't think many will use that, perhaps they've included industrial uses when working out an average.
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Well it says household water usage and I think they know better than any guesswork on our part.
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Well its way higher than anyone on here and more than anyone I've ever seen like for like. If it is right, must be an awful lot of swimming pools in the east of England.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Fri 26 Aug 16 at 18:44
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He are some more figures which again suggest that the figures quoted by the OP are not way out of line
www.ccwater.org.uk/savewaterandmoney/averagewateruse/
You have to remember that the forum members on here by and large do not reflect the average household.
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That's why I included people outside of here. Both your links seem way out of what I have known and seen. Like I said must be a lot of very heavy users with hot tubs, swimming pools, OCD car cleaning etc.
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Perhaps your acquaintances include a larger proportion of the great unwashed. :-)
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>> Perhaps your acquaintances include a larger proportion of the great unwashed. :-)
>>
Don't forgot me and everyone on here ;-) There's obviously a lot of us!
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>> Well it says household water usage and I think they know better than any guesswork
>> on our part.
I thought it looked high but it's equivalent to just under 50 cubic metres. The loo is the biggest culprit - around a third of average household usage.
Anglian have an offer called 'Bits & Bobs' where they will send a technician round to survey your system and provide things like flush adapters/cistern displacement, tap inserts and shower heads to reduce usage. Free of charge.
www.anglianwater.co.uk/environment/how-you-can-help/using-water-wisely/we-products/
Assume other companies have similar schemes.
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>> Does your £80 per month include any shortfall from last year?
>>
I'm embarrassed to say that it includes a credit of £131 so it is really £90 odd per month. This is based on actual use not an estimate!
I wasn't aware of how high it was until today, I just hand over the house keeping!
Last edited by: zippy on Fri 26 Aug 16 at 19:14
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Our previous house was unmetered for water and a lot bigger and the water rates were still less than Zippy pays by about £20pm.
Something isn't right.
If my mum's neighbour got a water meter she'd end up paying for my mum's water. Long boring story but my mum's water supply comes via the neighbours.
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On my own, circa £170 pa. The things that eat water are washing machines and loo flushing. I was paying circa £360 pa on an unmetered supply.
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I don't know wher you live Zippy but I have calculated your charge for water using Anlglian Water's standard metered tariff using the usage you quote and I calculate it to be £753 per year, including sewage charge.
That equates to £62.75 per month. , considerably lower than you pay.
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>>That equates to £62.75 per month. , considerably lower than you pay.
There are standing charges to add.
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Southern Water
Fresh water and waste water - £21.90 per month (£262.80 per annum), 2 people in a 3 bedroom house using 167 litres per day.
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Our bill has gone up to 25 pounds a month.Yorkshire water.We have a water meter.
Two adults,I'm not greedy with water, garden and washing the car plus baths and showers.
Dishwasher and washing machine.
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560 liters? That is over half a metric ton of water a day.
They are taking the proverbial micky zippy.
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"Your bill is based on cubic metres of water and one cubic metre
equals 1,000 litres or approximately 220 gallons (one gallon =
eight pints).
The average amount of water used per person in a metered
household in our region is 135 litres (30 gallons) a day.
It’s extremely rare for domestic meters to be faulty. They are
tested for accuracy and sealed before leaving the factory.
We regularly test meters and the very few that aren’t accurate
have usually slowed down or stopped."
From South West Water
They have a handy check list if consumption seems high
www.southwestwater.co.uk/media/pdf/k/t/UVUv6_0716_Web_version.pdf
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What's your bill per month CGN ?
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£48 per month - Two adults
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>> They have a handy check list if consumption seems high
www.southwestwater.co.uk/media/pdf/k/t/UVUv6_0716_Web_version.pdf
Thanks for posting that, CGN. There's lots of really useful information on there.
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Four plus minus one inhabitants at Spamcan Towers, water bill states around 460 litres per day. Costs 1.04 per cubic metre, think it's about the same on top for sewerage.
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After reading some of the posts I have just done a "comparison" between our usage off meter and if we had a meter fitted, (somebody mentioned that it could be cheaper to have a meter if under 3 people ). Without a meter we currently pay £210.53 P.A (unlimited water and sewage), with a meter the same usage would cost us £319.50, according to U/Utilities calculator. Think We'll stay without for as long as possible!
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That is very cheap devonite.
We used to pay eighty pound a month for eight months before we had the water meter installed.
Why the big difference in prices does anybody know?
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>> After reading some of the posts I have just done a "comparison" between our usage
>> off meter and if we had a meter fitted, (somebody mentioned that it could be
>> cheaper to have a meter if under 3 people ).
While measured usage is reasonably easy to estimate charges based on the 1973 rateable value are subject to variation due to the vagaries of the 'system' by which RV was calculated. If you live in a smallish property in an area where the 1973 rent was low you're in a very different situation to large property/high rent.
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Scotland - really only commercial water is metered.
Standing charge for home meter exceeds what the majority of people pay - £400 standing charge for homes IIRC. I am £400 for water & sewage unmetered.
Even some commercial premises are purely worked out on the "Rateable Value"
We do not suffer water shortages but the cost of water has risen tremendously - water treatment & sewage treatment has had £bns invested.
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Can you opt for a meter in Scotland?
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>>Can you opt for a meter in Scotland?
Essentially there is no water metering in Scotland for any household.
Council collects water rates along with the council tax & forwards the money to the Nationalised Water Supplier.
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Essentially there is no water metering in Scotland for any household.
>> Council collects water rates along with the council tax & forwards the money to the
>> Nationalised Water Supplier.
>>
Yes I remember reading that the water is paid through council tax, just wondered if you wanted one if you could have one.
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I remember a story from years ago when only some businesses had meters.
A small newsagent had a sink, loo and one employee and extortionate water bills based on rateable value.
The owner asked for a meter hoping to save a fortune and after much campaigning, including the involvement of the local MP a meter was fitted.
Said newsagent was very happy until his first bill arrived, it included a standing charge that was the equivalent of his old water rates plus the metered water and waste!
Last edited by: zippy on Sun 28 Aug 16 at 18:57
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>>just wondered if you wanted one if you could have one.
Yes, about £400 standing charge + sewage+ water used ie more than the Council Tax Collection!
The last thing Scottish Water wants is £000's Millions putting in meters, reading them, billing quarterly, bad debts etc etc when the money comes in, every month, via local councils with little hassle.
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We live in a 5 bed house with water meter. 3 adults. All have a shower a day (separately); washing machine, dishwasher, power showers etc.
One person in most of the day, 2 others out at work.
Just under £30 per month and 400 litres per day. That includes clean water and sewerage.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 31 Aug 16 at 00:59
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Two people, some garden watering (from a can, not hose). The bill is inconsequential. A few tenners twice a year.
I am insistent on everything being washed in a dishwasher though. Saves gallons.
The number of loos, zippy, won't affect total water usage...
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>> I am insistent on everything being washed in a dishwasher though. Saves gallons.
My dog hates that.
;-)
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>> My dog hates that.
He is probably bright enough to connect it with the 10 minutes in the tumble dryer afterwards.
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>> My dog hates that.
>>
...you broken the pressure-washer already?
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I pressure washed a wasp yesterday in mid flight. It was a bit like clay pigeon shooting. Not proud of it or anything. It just sort of happened.
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...that's the sort of excuse people use when they go to hospital with a "strange" injury.........
allegedly...
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Very long time ago, an ex-girlfriend was an A&E nurse. You really wouldn't believe where someone had put their hamster one Friday night.
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God you sadistic brute Humph. Think of the little creature's suffering.
:o}
Me I dey swat am wit dobbled-op Terrorflag sopplement O.
There's a hornets' nest outside here somewhere. I don't want to be nasty to them but I can't help it when they buzz around like that.
I only tread on them when wearing shoes, although it's said their sting isn't as bad as a bee sting. Nasty things, but not as nasty as me.
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>> G>>
>> I only tread on them when wearing shoes, although it's said their sting isn't as
>> bad as a bee sting. Nasty things, but not as nasty as me.
>>
Bee stings aren't that bad when you get used to them. My count this year so far is 202.
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Ungrateful little beggars then?
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Here, 0.27 cubic metres per day (metered since 1996). Charge by Wessex Water £38 per month. 2 adults plus rare overnighters. We have: kitchen sink, 3 handbasins, dishwasher, washing machine, water softener (may us some water for recycling), shower, bath, 2 lavatories. Roof rainwater goes to soakaways so no charge for that. No outside use of mains water.
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After about a year this has finally been resolved. There was a significant underground leak, like a garden hose running on full 24/7.
The delay was due to who owned the leaking pipe and it turns out the water company did and so that have finally fixed it.
They now say they won't be making any refunds because our water usage is below what it is expected to be even with the leak!
They can't or won't understand that the meter reading would have been even lower had there not been a leak!
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Complain and go to OFWAT.
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>> Complain and go to OFWAT.
I really must see about getting some new glasses. Momentarily, I was certain I'd stumbled upon language most unbecoming of a site moderator...
;-)
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Typical I mis-read it as Off t*** as well.
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Letter is going on Monday to the Consumer Council for Water. Apparently one needs to involve them first.
It's a right pain though. Why can't the water company employ someone that sees sense!?
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Had a lot of dealings with Welsh Water both as a punter and advocate. They are not for profit and seem to work well to resolve problems.
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>> After about a year this has finally been resolved. There was a significant underground leak,
>> like a garden hose running on full 24/7.
Glad you got your water bill sorted. Now about that severe subsidence caused by water scour. Still i doubt it will be as bad as this
www.express.co.uk/news/nature/460248/Britain-s-sinkhole-epidemic-Number-of-giant-chasms-appearing-across-UK-set-to-rise
Last edited by: R.P. on Sun 27 Aug 17 at 09:09
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2 adults and occasional uni student. £54/quarter. We have a water harvester that stores rainwater for toilet flushes, car washing.
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It's not only about who owned the leaking pipe, it's which side of the meter it is on and it ir was upstream of the meter then the leak would not have affected the readings?
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>>It's not only about who owned the leaking pipe, it's which side of the meter it is on and it ir was upstream of the meter then the leak would not have affected the readings?
It was down stream of the meter. It kept accumulating even when the stopcock to the house was turned off.
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>> 2 adults and occasional uni student. £54/quarter. We have a water harvester that stores >>rainwater for toilet flushes, car washing.
Almost bang on the same as us, although it's just me and the missus. We have no water harvesting though. Very happy - our rates were almost £800 five years ago!
I do sometimes wander down the far end of the garden for a pee though.
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Private water supply here, and drainage (Klargester sceptic tank) so all's good :)
Tillit goze rong £££&£ :(
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Our usage for Aug 16 to July 17 was 76 cu/m. Far lower than previous years reflecting fact that (a) both offspring have flown the nest and (b) lack of attention to garden. The timed watering system wasn't even commissioned this year, never mind used.
We're both out of the house several days a week and the washer gets far less use without teenagers changing outfits two or more times a day. Dishwasher still runs daily though.
Assuming leak was on 'user' side of OP's meter but their responsibility the water co are taking the mick. Usage of .58cu/m day is all but 212 in a year. That, according to the CC Water link upthread (www.ccwater.org.uk/households/using-water-wisely/averagewateruse/), would be high for a family of 6!! Suggest kicking off formal complaint process while monitoring usage post repair.
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>>
>> Tillit goze rong £££&£ :(
>>
That thought sometimes crosses my mind. Our waste just goes down a pipe and disappears into the ground. Somewhere there must presumably be some kind of Victorian cess pit, or perhaps just a natural rock fisure to the underworld. It, whatever or wherever it is, has never had any maintenance or attention probably for 150 years.
But our water supply comes from uphill of it.
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>>Somewhere there must presumably be some kind of Victorian cess pit
Same as neighbs, she's not had it emptied in 40 years.
>>our water supply comes from uphill of it
Same as ours, as per regs.
My friend Laurie the leather craftsman reckoned that after building the cesspit and having it inspected, peops (some) would then remove a brick/block or 3 to allow the liquid to flow away - in addition to the soakaway field/pit of course.
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>>I do sometimes wander down the far end of the garden for a pee though.<<
Very good fox deterrent....if you need an excuse!
Pat
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Better on the compost heap. Speeds the decomposition process
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I calculated that a meter would save us money and it did (I can't now recall howmuch). Average metered consumption over 19 years 13.7 cubic metres, current monthly cost £32.50. This is for:
1930 4-bedroom house, 2 loos, shower and bath, kitchen with usual machines (all "eco"), no garden watering or car washing, rainwater into soakaways. Average occupancy 2/3 (increasingly, 2 only but mostly stay-at-homes.
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I keep re-visiting whether a meter is worthwhile. I'm n a modest house with an even more modest garden, but SWMBOs new-found interest in growing vegetables kills off any idea of metering at the moment, although it isn't straightforward to accurately estimate how much time we spend watering the garden so I'm just saying an hour a day over 12 weeks, so probably massively over-estimating it.
We have just got a smart meter for fuel and she's realising where some of our money is being wasted at last... (primarily gas-heating a whole tank of water in the late afternoon for evening use, when all it's used for most days is washing up and a wash before bedtime.
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>> our money is being wasted at last... (primarily gas-heating a whole tank of water in
>> the late afternoon for evening use, when all it's used for >>
Generally better to have hot water on most of the time as it's cheaper to keep it hot for a few hours than fot it to cool and reheat it.
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>> I keep re-visiting whether a meter is worthwhile.
Why not give it a try, smokie? We didn't have a meter installed until they introduced a scheme in our area, where you could have it removed within a year if you so wished.
It was a good move for us, as it halved our water bills.
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The try-and-reject window has closed. The leaflet about metering in my area says
"South East Water has embarked on a major programme to install meters for all
unmetered customers, free of charge, by 2020. You can apply to have a meter
installed earlier than the date scheduled by the programme but you will be
unable to revert to unmetered charges if the programme was scheduled to install
your water meter during the following year"
(from www.southeastwater.co.uk/media/5968/Water_Metering_COP.pdf)
Elsewhere the site indicates my area is scheduled for the coming year.
I think even if you do opt out, they will eventually be compulsory for all (with exceptions) in this area, as it is designated an "area of water stress". researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7342
SWMBO put her foot down very firmly previously when I wanted to get the "try and reject" water meter.
Drift - in reading around about this I found some posts on Moneysavingexpert by Cardew. Fairly sure that's the same Cardew who was here (or HJ)
Last edited by: smokie on Sun 27 Aug 17 at 13:56
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Do you have a power or mains pressure shower by any chance? I know ours uses around 12/15 litres a minute, so 3 people having a 10 minute shower will easily chew through 350 to 450 litres I'd have thought?
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It's a power shower and there are two of us, we generally shower within a few minutes of each other so the tank gets mostly emptied then filled.
With the smart meter I plan on testing theories such as the one about keeping it hot all the time. I'm sure that depends on usage, and my feeling is that in my case the theory will be proven wrong.
However I'm getting worried that may start obsessing about power usage, especially now I have the smart meter. But turning off a 3 bulb bedroom light that had been left on seemed to drop consumption by about 2p an hour. And I remember well the year where we replaced halogen downlighters with LED ones - saved hundreds.
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Glad you found the leak, I thought 80 odd quid a month was a bit much!
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A good mate (electronics engineer by trade) has solar panels and gets the feed in tariff for these at the old (high) rate.
He tells me that the feed in isn't actually metered but based on the size of the array and expected power generated.
So he diverts all of the power to the house to be used as needed and excess goes in to lithium ion batteries that power the house during the evening. He switches any spare capacity based on weather forecasts to heat up the hot water tank.
I mentioned rain water harvesting over a pint at lunchtime as mentioned above and he will no doubt be looking that up this evening.
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Likewise someone i used to work with has a similar set up. Got a very good deal with solar panels and the FIT. He's know got a geo thermal generator with a load of batteries. They've also got his and hers Nissan leafs. He reckons it costs them (almost) naff all to charge the cars.
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I am not on the top rate FIT but it's a pretty good one - almost 50p per unit I generate, whether I use it or not. Then another 3.x pence for half of that generated amount, which is deemed to be what I import to the grid (as it isn't measured).
My array is only modest and rarely generates over 3kw at any one time, and over the best day in the last 5 years I only just about touched 20kWh for the whole day.
The point about storing power is that the amount you put into the grid is deemed" rather than measured. So they assume you put in half of you generation. So if you can use 100% of what you use then you are having your cake and eating it.
The most common device to divert unused power is the Immersun, which is very effective at monitoring solar generation and household usage and diverting excess power usually to an immersion heater. The device used to cost about £300, plus fitting. Then for me I would have to have an immersion tank with dual elements fitted, another maybe £400 or so. So the payback time was prohibitive, and still is. (And of course if they get to start metering your generation and feed-in then it suddenly becomes much less useful).
Batteries of any kind are still way too expensive (in terms of payback time) and bulky for home use. The "experts" reckoned till recently that the best ones to use were those in fork lift trucks. I think that's because they are designed to withstand being completely discharged and recharged many times. LI batteries are tumbling in prices but still have a longer payback period than most people would want.
Today has been about the best day for generation since I bought my Ampera, and yesterday I ran the battery to virtually nothing. Charging the Ampera a slowest speed (6A) takes about 1.5Kw so for most of the day so far (since about 10, due to complete about 6) it has been charging almost solely from the panels, this will be about 12kWh so will save me a bit under £1 on my current tariff and give me 45+ miles. Come winter it will hardly be worth me charging slowly, and during daytime, as any generation is used up in the baseload of my house, which I'm estimating as about 0.5kW. I'm OK with over 45 miles costing me £1 though, but it's better when it costs less :-)
Other cars, especially ones which are 1) newer and 2) solely electric somehow charge more efficiently, probably by using more kWh which my solar couldn't supply anyway. (My car can take up to 16A which is a four hour charge from flat at about 4Kw.)
My concern with the Leaf is "range anxiety" i.e. once they are our of electric that's it, game over. The earlier ones can realistically do around 80 - 90 miles on a single charge. That's plenty for me for 90% of the time but not especially convenient for the other 10%. The newer model has greater range, and there is a faster charge option.
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Domestic Water Meters - Straw Poll - Cliff Pope
