Please help, we have a huge electricity bill and need to know how to bring it down

purplegirluk1

Hi,
We have just recieved a huge electricity bill and I really need some advice as to how we can run our house in a more efficient way.

We live in a two bed, basement flat. We have five rooms and three of them have double glazing, the other two are hopfully being done soon. The flat is totaly run by electicity. We have night storage heaters and an immersion heater.

There are two adults and a baby living in the flat. There is usually somebody at home most of the time.

Basically we have had the immersion heater on 24 hours a day for 6 months and I think that is why our comsumption is costing us just over £100 a month. We have never had an immersion before and didn't know any better. We are also on an econemy 7 tarrif and we had no idea that we were or what it meant.

We are now trying to work out how to use the immersion best, so far we have tried heating the water for 2 hours between 6 and 8 am and it is cold by 10 am. Then we tried heating it for 4 hours between 5 and 9 and it was still cold at 8 am. I am getting fed up with luke warm baths and boiling the kettle loads. Does anyone have any ideas that will help us run the immersion properly?

Edit - I don't think there is a thermostat on the immersion heater, there is one on top of it but it is not attached!

whatatwit

Have you checked the tank to see if it is properly lagged and insulated.
As you are on economy 7 you need to be heating the tank during the cheap rate hours.

Cardew

If you have storage heaters you should be on an Economy 7 tariff and i am assuming you are??

This gives you 7 hours cheap electricity for a period somewhere between the hours of 11:30pm to 8:30am and you need to establish exactly what hours apply to your flat. Bear in mind that it may change when British summer time ends.

All your electricity use should be maximised during that 7 hour period - particularly the Immersion heater and storage heating.

If your £100 a month is an average for the year(£1200pa) that might not be unexpected.
However if you are using £100 a month at this time of the year, then you will get a huge bill in the winter.

McKneff

apart from all that, turn ligts off in rooms that you dont use.
Dont boil more water in a kettle than you need. If you do this by mistake
put the water in a thermos flask and use it for your next drink.
Just little things but they all mount up.

purplegirluk1

Thanks for the relpies,
yes we have economy 7 that runs between 12.30 and 7.30, should I heat the water from 12.30 to 7.30? We have just had the bill for march to september when we were hadrly using the night storage. We cannot afford the bill so we need to make drastic changes so that our next bill is not so big.

purplegirluk1

whatatwit wrote: »

Have you checked the tank to see if it is properly lagged and insulated.
As you are on economy 7 you need to be heating the tank during the cheap rate hours.

Sorry to sound dim, there is no jacket on the tank, how else can I check?

bristolleedsfan

purplegirluk1 wrote: »

Sorry to sound dim, there is no jacket on the tank, how else can I check?

http://www.diydata.com/projects/pipe_insulation/pipe_insulation.php


Insulating hot-water tanks.
For circular tanks, insulation jackets are available in a range of standard sizes. The sizes are measured by the vertical height of the tank to the top of the dome and the overall diameter, so that you buy the correct size jacket. Two common sizes are 900mm x 450mm and 1050mm x 450mm.
Most cylinder jackets are made up of a number of segments held together by a cord tied around the top of the cylinder and a number of 'belts' around the tank. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for fixing the jacket. Smooth the jacket down over the cylinder but do not apply excessive pressure as this can compress and reduce the effectiveness of the insulation. Wrap one of the belts around the jacket, close to the top, and fasten it loosely. Fasten the second belt lightly near the bottom of the tank. If there is a third belt fasten it round the middle. Make sure that the segments fully cover the tank with no gaps.
If an electric immersion heater is fitted, ensure that the cap and electric cables are not covered.
If the hot-water tank is being used to heat an airing cupboard, any insulation will reduce the heating effect. Any uninsulated pipes connecting to the tank in the cupboard will release some heat, otherwise, if a cylinder jacket is fitted, the segments can be slightly opened to allow additional heat into the cupboard.
Replacement cylinders are available with factory applied foam insulation, these are more effective than an insulating jacket so should be installed if it is necessary to fit a new cylinder for any reason.

Magentasue

When we had an immersion heater, we plugged it into a timer and had it on for about an hour or so in the cheap period. As far as I remember that was enough for day to day use plus a bath in the evening.

Your tank may be factory insulated - if you can touch it and it's not hot when there's hot water in it, you're OK!

Quick ideas:

1) Bulk cook (two days' meals in the oven if you put it on).
2) Tumble dryers also use a lot of electricity.
3) Washing machine at 30degrees.

You are right to target the water heating - anything else you can thin of? Generally things producing heat (although things used occasionally for a few minutes like toasters are not a problem) or things used for a lot of hours a day (old fridges and freezers can be surprisingly expensive to run).

KimYeovil

You need to get a jacket for your tank immediately. It will pay itself back in a week (probably - might be exaggerating a little). They can cost less than £10.

(You should only need the water on for an hour or an hour-and-a-half at a time. That should cover you for the whole day.)

purplegirluk1

The tank looks new, its an ultra steel model and it is cold to touch though there is hot water inside. The pipes are all bare, should they be insulated in some way? I am wondering if I should get a plumber to have a look, I am not sure my land lord will be very helpful.

KimYeovil

Oops, sorry, if it's new and cold to the touch then I'm at a loss - don't buy a jacket. I've no idea why it is losing heat. Maybe it's topping up with cold water before it should? You're having two feet deep baths? I've never experienced a tank that would be tepid after only three or four hours. I'll withdraw now and let someone with a clue comment.