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Shocked by Electricity Bill - Help requested
idlanzakaria
Posts: 9 Forumite
Hi all,
I live in an all-electricity one bedroom flat; recently moved here over the summer. I've just switched electricity providers and got the shock of my life when I saw that the one-month bill which was the final bill was greater than my previous 3-month bill! Although to be fair - I was only in the property for 2 of those three months as I was away on sabbatical - but still, the difference was stark. This was also much higher than the monthly charge I used to get at the previous property.
I have just taken some meter readings and over the past 3 weeks the pattern is starting to indicate a monthly usage charge similar to the past month.
I am on economy 7 with edf.energy at the moment, having switched from southern electric.
I am now trying to ascertain what is causing the high usage - i.e. what are the normal culprits? I have storage heaters - large ones in the living room and bedroom; two smaller onees in the hallways. I take frequent showers (at least once a day, twice if I have been out running or cycling) but hardly ever a bath. I do my laundry twice a week, cook meals every day of the week and have a fridge-freezer. I also have a tv, a laptop computer and a games console.
I have narrowed it down to the following:
a) leaving laptop on standby
b) leaving tv on standby
but I have always done this in the past anyway and the monthly usage has never hit three digits. I have read on the forums RE: power consumption of storage heaters. Would this be the culprit and now that I have turned all the heaters off for the spring / summer should I expect the usage to go down? I have also made a point to switch all power outlets off unless I am using it - a good habit in itself I know!
I have taken to jotting down the meter readings on a daily basis - what should I be looking for as average readings? And if the usage is still high, whom should I be in touch with? Is there such a thing as 'leakage'?
Many thanks again..
Id
I live in an all-electricity one bedroom flat; recently moved here over the summer. I've just switched electricity providers and got the shock of my life when I saw that the one-month bill which was the final bill was greater than my previous 3-month bill! Although to be fair - I was only in the property for 2 of those three months as I was away on sabbatical - but still, the difference was stark. This was also much higher than the monthly charge I used to get at the previous property.
I have just taken some meter readings and over the past 3 weeks the pattern is starting to indicate a monthly usage charge similar to the past month.
I am on economy 7 with edf.energy at the moment, having switched from southern electric.
I am now trying to ascertain what is causing the high usage - i.e. what are the normal culprits? I have storage heaters - large ones in the living room and bedroom; two smaller onees in the hallways. I take frequent showers (at least once a day, twice if I have been out running or cycling) but hardly ever a bath. I do my laundry twice a week, cook meals every day of the week and have a fridge-freezer. I also have a tv, a laptop computer and a games console.
I have narrowed it down to the following:
a) leaving laptop on standby
b) leaving tv on standby
but I have always done this in the past anyway and the monthly usage has never hit three digits. I have read on the forums RE: power consumption of storage heaters. Would this be the culprit and now that I have turned all the heaters off for the spring / summer should I expect the usage to go down? I have also made a point to switch all power outlets off unless I am using it - a good habit in itself I know!
I have taken to jotting down the meter readings on a daily basis - what should I be looking for as average readings? And if the usage is still high, whom should I be in touch with? Is there such a thing as 'leakage'?
Many thanks again..
Id
0
Comments
-
TVs on standby generally cost pence per year.
laptops vary, but again very little.
All the major costs are on heating type appliances,
What do you consider high useage, above 1,500kWh pe month at this time of the year?0 -
Look at your day readings and night ones separately see if you can reduce your day rate through your usual appliances like lights etc.
But you will find the majority of the cost on your bill is from the night rate in which your storage heaters use.0 -
You can buy one of those energy monitors (Maplin?) or change companies that do smart metering,
Hopefully in the near future all households will have smart meters0 -
idlanzakaria wrote: »
I have taken to jotting down the meter readings on a daily basis - what should I be looking for as average readings?
I would expect your day readings to be between 5 and 10kwh a day and your off-peak to be 2kwh or less. You won't be needing an immersion heater on if you have an electric shower. If your shower runs off the tank, I suppose night a little higher and day a little lower.
Storage heaters use a huge amount of electricity. Electric showers and immersion heaters a fair bit too.0 -
Off peak 2kwh? Is that with the storage heaters off I'm guessing?Magentasue wrote: »I would expect your day readings to be between 5 and 10kwh a day and your off-peak to be 2kwh or less. You won't be needing an immersion heater on if you have an electric shower. If your shower runs off the tank, I suppose night a little higher and day a little lower.
Storage heaters use a huge amount of electricity. Electric showers and immersion heaters a fair bit too.0 -
-
Cardew - thanks for the info on leaving tv and laptops on standby. 1500 kw/h per month sounds about right for a high usage; although for the month in the bill it was a little over 2000kw/h. The previous bill was circa 1500kw/h for 3 months (effective 2 mths usage) and what got me really worried was that during these 2 months - Dec to Feb during the coldest winter in years - usage was not as high as when it had already warmed up and I was using the heater less (Feb-Mar). But I've now turned the heaters off so we will see if there is a difference.
Rian1988 - I've done as you've suggested and it seems rather clear that the night rates are the ones that have significantlly spiked. I'll see what happens to the night rates over the next couple of days now that I've turned storage heaters off.
Iluvcats - Have just ordered one online
Thanks for that suggestion. 0 -
Magentasue - My shower isn't a power shower; just runs off the tank, really. Would it make much difference if I turned off the hot water heater switch during the day, for instance? (This sounds pretty basic, I know, but I am THAT clueless!)
Now that I am thinking about it, it makes sense that bills weren't high in my previous accommodation as I resorted to plugged-in electric heaters instead of storage heaters because they weren't very good at the previous place.0 -
idlanzakaria wrote: »Magentasue - My shower isn't a power shower; just runs off the tank, really. Would it make much difference if I turned off the hot water heater switch during the day, for instance? (This sounds pretty basic, I know, but I am THAT clueless!)
In a one bed flat, you should be able to heat enough water on off-peak, cheaper electricity to last the day.0
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