Unsure about my electricity bill

Badger666

Hi,
I've been wondering about this for ages, and this seems the best place for answers.
I've been with Powergen since moving into a rented house three years ago with my girlfriend. It's a three bedroom semi with Economy 7 heating, and electricity only.
The last time we received a bill, we were £80 in credit, which we elected to keep on the account, and continued to pay £66 per month. And somehow now we still owe them £170!
So would a house of this size normally require above £66 per month for heating and cooking?

tigger2

Possibly with the new round off price rises.£70-£90 is about right IMHO

Badger666

Thanks for the reply.

Looks like I'll have to find some more money/turn off all radiators.

lizzie666

Hi. Afraid it sounds about right.....
I just posted this in response to a similar question..

Having an all electric flat is the most expensive way of heating. (but cheaper for the builders as they don't need to install gas pipes)
If you have storage heaters, make sure you know how to work them properly as mis-use can cost you lots. they store the heat up overnight and release it during the day. (do you have a 2 rate meter? if you don't then you need to have it changed this is done for free but specify that you need the heating connecting also).
this means that you pay less for electricity used at night (usually between 12 - 7 am but check)
so set any washing machines and dishwashers to go on during those hours.
Any form of electric heater will send your bills through the roof.
make sure your hot water is on a timer.
( remember that the bill you received is gonna be the most expensive anyway as it covers the winter - short cold days)
you are looking at about £65-£75 a month roughly as usage goes up in winter and down in summer.
Always read your meter. Every month.

Although you think it is just heating and cooking, have a think for a moment and realise that, well, everything in your home is run on electricity...
your mobile
computer + everything attatched to it!
tv + everything attached to it!
everything in the kitchen /bedroom /bathroom
hot water
shower
And with the recent price rises..well.
It's a bit of a !!!!!!.
Unless you have solar!

equine_induced_poverty

economy seven takes careful handling- i found to my cost! Now the fridge freezer is only on overnight, if it doesnt get opened much during the day it wont warm up, honest. Basically dont turn anything on in the day, including things on standby, ie tv etc. I use a lot of timers, cheap ones from homebase. run everything at night ie charge phones etc. Cookers, washing mashines and the biggest eater of all, the tumble dryer are all shockers,, so use a slow cooker overnight and use the microwave. Have a look at the power consumption of the things you use or have turned on, some will surprise you! Try and limit their daytime use, obviously I dont advise midnight hoovering but you get the gist. Make sure your economy seven meter is working, check it every day for a week, along with your ordinary reading. My meter broke and I was not aware of it for two months, so was paying day rate throughout. Other measures are energy bulbs etc. If there is nothing wrong with your meter try the price checkers and see if you can get a cheaper supplier.
oh, and good luck!

Cardew

equine_induced_poverty wrote:

economy seven takes careful handling- i found to my cost! Now the fridge freezer is only on overnight, if it doesnt get opened much during the day it wont warm up, honest. Basically dont turn anything on in the day, including things on standby, ie tv etc. I use a lot of timers, cheap ones from homebase. run everything at night ie charge phones etc. Cookers, washing mashines and the biggest eater of all, the tumble dryer are all shockers,, so use a slow cooker overnight and use the microwave. Have a look at the power consumption of the things you use or have turned on, some will surprise you! Try and limit their daytime use, obviously I dont advise midnight hoovering but you get the gist. Make sure your economy seven meter is working, check it every day for a week, along with your ordinary reading. My meter broke and I was not aware of it for two months, so was paying day rate throughout. Other measures are energy bulbs etc. If there is nothing wrong with your meter try the price checkers and see if you can get a cheaper supplier.
oh, and good luck!

Whilst I agree with being careful with electricity , some of those suggestions are simply over the top. In fact the 'surprise' you talk about might be how little some things cost to run.

With TVs I have a 28 inch Panasonic and 32 inch Sony - both about 5 years old - and the Panasonic has a standby consumption of 0.9watts and the Sony 0.6watts.

That means if they were both left on 24 hours a day 365 days a year they would use in total approx £1 in a year(60p and 40p respectively)

Newer TVs have even lower consumption. so you are talking about a very few pence per year for standby.

How much do you think it costs to charge a phone? Your timer itself uses electricity to run and it will take you years to recoup the cost of even a cheap timer.

Even my cold fill washing machine uses 'only' 0.4 - 0.6 kWh on a normal cycle which is 3-4 pence per wash on normal electricity. So using it on E7 will save what - 1-2 pence per wash? Using it on E7 3 times a week will save £2-3 a year?

As stated above lets save money by all means but lets get the savings into perspective!

Badger666

It's given me a few ideas and things to check, and also means that sadly I'm not going to be able to argue i should get millions of pounds in refunds...


I don't think I'll go over the top, but will check my meter and also have a look round for anything that gets left on during the day or is used excessively during the day.