Electricty Bills - Am i being ripped off

teremcoles

I have an ongoing complaint with npower with regard to my bills.

Can anyone advise whether based on the below usage my bills are too high for my electric:

• Electric heater (3kw Delonghi HCA530FTS Convector heater) x 1 - on for approx 4 hours per day - has thermostat set at 20 degrees
• Washing machine used 1-2 times per week on 40 degree wash - Zanusi model on Ecomony rating A
• Fridge Freezer on all day
• PC - used approx 4 hours per week
• Tumble drier - used very rarely e.g. once a month for 20 minutes
• Imersion heater for water - used approx 3 hours per week
• Cooker used for approx 5 hours per week
• No energy saving light bulbs used. Lighting used in total approx 5 hours per day in one room
• Then just usual appliances - TV, DVD, Sky, phone - none are kept on standby

Npower sending bills to the effect of £120 per month, which considering the above, the fact that I live in an upstairs, middle of the block maisonette, on my own and am only there in the evenings and weekends, it seems a lot, even for winter.

Any comments would be welcomed.

Thanks

Magentasue

When you say 'sending bills', what do you mean? Can you give us some dates and actual (A) meter readings? How many kwh do you use a day?

You need to look at kwh used - that's your usage. £120 a month is only meaningful if that's what you actual usage costs you.

Fire_Fox

Are the bills based upon actual or estimated usage? Have you read the meter and checked the readings against the bills received? Have you calculated your usage in KWH per day? Do you know what tariff you are on- are you still on deemed contract, i.e. the one automatically started when you took over the flat? Have you used a price comparison site to check you are with the cheapest supplier? How well insulated is the property? What ambient temperature are you aiming to keep with the heater?

teremcoles

the bills have been estimated for some time, they seem to have lost the readings that I have given and "the automatic telephone service doesn't work" so it wa estimated for some time. There have been a number of readings taken recently and I was requested to do a 7 day reading. Over those 7 days I was averaging 45 units of usage per day. With the appliances I am using over those days that seems a lot. My tariff is around 15p per unit

Magentasue

45 units a day for only one heater on for a couple of hours is very high.

Only one heater of any kind?

Premier_2

If you are currently using 45kWh per day, your monthly bill would amount about £135 and £200 depending on which tariff (and region, these are based on Midlands region).

Without any other data to go on, the supplier can only really set your monthly charge on your currently declared usage, although some allowance may be made for the fact it's winter.
A 3kW heater used 4 hours per day only uses a maximum of 12kWh per day (or about £36 per month) - probably much less as it is thermostatically controlled so lets assume say half that.
The less lighting used in summer (lets assume 1 x 100W bulb used 2.5 hours rather than 5 hours at present) is probably off set by the higher load the fridge freezer will use in the summer.
The rest of your usage doesn't seem to be season dependant.
Hence why you are being asked to pay £120 per month.

In future, should the automatic telephone service fail to accept your readings, ensure they are passed to a customer service person so that they are recorded on your account. The more accurate the records the supplier has on your actual usage, the more accurately they can set your monthly charge.

teremcoles

Do you think its likely that based on my appliances and the usage of 45 units per day that there is something wrong with my meter.

To your point on the automatic telephone service, I had no idea it wasn't working, it was something I was told on call no. 5 to npower!

Premier_2

When you supply a customer reading, that reading should be reflected on your subsequent bill

It does seem that 45kWh per day based on your declared usage is somewhat high.

Should you think your meter may be inaccurate, your options should you wish to identify a fault with the meter is to ask nPower to check it accuracy. This will involve placing a second meter on your supply for a period of time. nPower will charge for this should the meter prove to be correct.
Alternatively get a owl type meter (with memory) to monitor your usage. At about £30, it will be cheaper than a proper check by nPower (if your meter proves to be correct) and you get to keep the meter providing you with a continuous visual reminder of how much electricity you are using in real time and so help you reduce consumption.

dogshome

45 units a day is astounding. It could be that you have a faulty meter, but you could also have developed a fault in an appliance or your wiring. I would suggest that before your ask for a check meter to be installed, that you get prices for a local electrician to put his meter across your fuses with everything turned off - any reading will point to a wiring fault - then also take readings as each appliance is turned on to check that it's only drawing the power that it's supposed to.Good Luck

Magentasue

When we moved into our present house, there was an immersion heater. We started putting it on for an hour but could only get a few inches of scalding water for that. Two hours, not much more. Turned thermostat down. No change. Diagnosis was that it was full of limescale (it was old and we're in a hard water area) and dodgy thermostat.

As we were going to put a gas boiler in, we gave up and decided to have baths at my brother's house and boil kettles. However, hot water still came out of taps and we realised that it was on constantly even when switched off. We had a bill of £200 for that first month, four times our normal use.