HELP £550 for 1 quarter!!

MeandtheLilUn

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could help me out?

I'm with EDF for my Electricity (I don't have any gas)... which after researching is the best for my area... and I have just received my quarterly bill sayin I owe them £550!! :eek:

I've worked out that they're saying I've used nearly £5 a DAY in electricity... the only thing that gets left on 24/7 is my fridge freezer and phone/answer machine, and I'm not in 10 hrs/day minimum... the tv is barely on, and I make sure everything else is turned off at the plug. I know it was winter and I had my electric heaters on for a couple of hours a day, but surely this should not raise my bill by that much? I was averaging £10/week before I tried to save some cash (switching everything off, changed to ES bulbs, keeping the lights off if I don't need them - I usually don't turn lights on on a night/evening).

I contacted them and they said to check my meter reading, which I have done, and they're saying it matches what they have, but I still don't think it's right. Can anyone help me out?

Thanks

Magentasue

You could pick up a lot of information on this forum because this has been a recurring theme this winter. There are several points:

- the start reading might have been estimated meaning that some of the electricity charged in this quarter were used in the last quarter.
- Electric heating is expensive. Electricity prices went up a lot last year.
- You need to know how many kwh you use in an average day/week/month and how much this costs. You also need to know how much your heating costs - this will depend on the size of your property, insulation etc.

It's possible there's a problem with the bill or meter but I'm afraid it's more likely that you've used the electricity you're being charged for.

MeandtheLilUn

Thanks Magentasue.

I live in a 2yo 2bed apartment, so insulation etc shouldn't be a problem. And it's not particularly big and I have double glazing throughout.

I think I'm going to ring them again and ask for specifics they have on my account, and just make sure they match wht my bill etc is telling me.

Thanks again!

Magentasue

Check the start and finish readings on your bill - there should be some indication of whether the meter was read (A = actual) or estimated (E). Sometimes, a high bill arrives because several (under) estimated bills have preceded it. To avoid a large bill, customers should submit readings when estimated are used and make sure they are rebilled, or put money aside to cover the shortfall.

daveyjp

Using some assumptions based on your statement that heaters were on a couple of hours a day:

Five heaters, 2 hours a day, 3kw per heater - 30kw per day at 15p per KWh = £4.50 a day.

allan673

as daveyjp says its the electric heaters causing the big bills.
i use under £5 per week electric, 3 bed detatched.

invest in something like an owl energy monitor, and keep an eye on the meter - start recording readings and working out costs per week etc.

MeandtheLilUn

Thanks everyone!

I think I'm going to have to keep a close eye on my electric. I'll honestly admit I'm no good with utilities!

I must admit th cost of the heaters is astounding! Luckily it's warmming up so I'm not using them now... I've still got to check over my old bills to see if the figures were estimated/actual readings. I'm hoping they were estimated, at least that way it's slightly less to worry about!

Thanks again