£937 half-year bill for a one bedroom flat -is this normal?

Mikeone

Hi all

I'm with Atlantic Electricity and gas and have just received my latest quarterly bill, which is £426.47 from 12/12/08 to 16/03/09. We still owe £601.26 from the previous quarter, after paying £90 on a £30 p/m Direct Debit.

My question is -is this normal? We're two adults, living in a one bedroomed flat, and we're both out at work all day. The bill seems a little high for this usage, and the flat isn't even that big.

Some facts:

We're all electric, no gas here.
The bill is based on the actual meter reading (24467 [E] last time, 27654 this time)
225 units at £15.44 each; 2962 units at £12.54 each.

We have a shower unit, (no bath) and have a washing machine but no dryer. We don't have a dishwasher, but we do have the other usual electrical items (TV, Sky etc). Our fridge is tiny but very old.

Any moneysavers out there who can say if this sounds right, or if we're being overcharged? We've tried comparison sites, but they only seem to compare prices, so its difficult to say if the usage estimate is artificially inflated.

posted_2

24467 [E]stimate ?

Mikeone

Thansks for the quick reply!

Is that what the E stands for then? I had no idea -that's the sort of info that, were it provided on the bill in the form of a key/legend, would make these things easier to understand!

What should I do with this? I can't go back to the start of the billing period and take a reading...

Vestra

What type of heating do you have?

posted_2

Go back to the last non-estimate reading, and post the date and reading, it's impossible to give advice on usage if they are based on estimates.

Cardew

The start reading(24467) on 12/12/08 is Estimated.

Now on the 12/12/08 the actual reading could have been higher - which means you underpaid on your last bill, and this is a catch-up bill.

You don't say where you live, but in most areas electricity is available considerably cheaper than you are paying(even assuming that you mean 15.44p and not £15.44!!!!)

I wouldn't worry too much about the electrical appliances, it is the heating that uses the bulk of your electricity.

Bear in mind the the average househould energy bill in UK is approx £1300pa and that is with much cheaper gas. Electricity is much more expensive(especially at those prices) although you have a small flat. That said if it is old it will have poor insulation.

Paying just £30 a month DD it is not surprising that you have built up a big debit balance.

Frugaldom

Mikeone wrote: »

Hi all

I'm with Atlantic Electricity and gas and have just received my latest quarterly bill, which is £426.47 from 12/12/08 to 16/03/09...

If it's any help, we're all electric and spend about £35 per week on electricity during winter, my neighbours spend about £70 per week for 3 bedrooms and they both work fulltime. It's the storage heaters and hot water heater that eat up the electricity.

VanillaDelia

Sounds like s few estimates have been taken and so when they got the correct figures its been under estimated and so produces a higher bill, and as others say Storage heaters and elec boilers are expensive, we were once in the same boat and had to move to pre payment to repay the debt. We spend £100 a month, but have just moved to scottish power and could save around £300 a year.

Mikeone

We've got storage heaters here.

Not sure when the last reading was, but the figure of 27654 was used on a bill dated 16th March. I've just taken a reading tonight -29079, so an increase of 1425 in 21 days or 67.9 per day.

And yeah, it is 15.44p. I think that £15.44 would stretch even the deepest pockets!

Vestra

Mikeone wrote: »

We've got storage heaters here.

Not sure when the last reading was, but the figure of 27654 was used on a bill dated 16th March. I've just taken a reading tonight -29079, so an increase of 1425 in 21 days or 67.9 per day.

And yeah, it is 15.44p. I think that £15.44 would stretch even the deepest pockets!

You have storage heaters? Any reason why you don't have an Economy 7 meter?

VanillaDelia

Yes it doesnt sound like your on Economy 7 as they run on 2 rates, 1 for the day and another cheaper one for the night, for when your boiler cuts in.