Massive electric bill

terjac3

My 19yr old student son has been living in a 1 bed flat since july 09. We read the meter when he moved in. He recieved his first estimated bill on 13th aug,which was way over,so we took another reading and the bill was amended. His second estimated bill for the period 13 aug-19 0ct was for £49.57p. This was paid but my son forgot to take a reading. And now for the bill dated 20th oct-20th jan. A massive £625.66p. My son was sent a text message asking for his meter reading,which he gave them,and that was the amount they came back with. He has gas to heat his water and no central heating. He has been using a panel heater since the end of nov for heating. He is also at college 3 times a wk so he is using no electric during this time. We have been in touch with British Gas and they have said that because my son gave them that reading,that is the amount that is due. They asked him to do a couple of tests with the meter but they can find no fault. They also said it would cost him £60 to get someone out to check the meter. There is no way we can afford this sort of money and British Gas are not being much help. If anybody could point me in the right direction,it would be much appreciated

TheSaint_2

First off - verify the reading your son gave is correct on the bill.
Secondly - do some tests. Write down the reading in the morning, then do nothing different and do it again the next morning. Using the difference in units and the unit price from your bill you can work out an average cost per day and multiply that up for the number of days.
If usage differs over the week, do it that way instead.
If usage comes out at high you will need to check the appliances - maybe the heater is burning up all that money. You can turn individual appliances on and off and measure their usage.
As a final thing, try turning everything off and see if the meter still moves. Being a student I wouldnt put it past another student to have tapped in to his power to avoid paying their bill!

wiccanlou

Is the heater old?
If it is old it maybe using up more power to get the elements up to temperature or the thermal cut out in the thermostat inside might be faulty causing it to continually call for power cause it thinks its colder than what it is.
Is it a fan heater?
Generally these use more power because of the fan.
Does it have switch where you can choose what Kilowatt setting to be on?
If not it maybe worth changing to a convection heater with variable kilowatt output to save energy.
You said its a panel heater does that mean an oil filled one of one that looks like a radiator but is slim, I have never found them to be of much use myself.
It may not even be the heater, what other appliances does he have in there with him?
Also ensure that your son keeps his curtains closed in the evening and tuck them up on the windowsill to help keep the cold out and the warmth in, if they aren't lined a cheap way of sorting that is a couple of cheap sheets from a charity shop sown onto the backs with tacking stitcth. He could also make a draught excluder from a pair of funky socks from a poundshop and a cheap pillow to keep the heat in.

Cardew

The bottom line is that(assuming the reading is now correct) he has used £675 between 13 Aug and 20 Jan.

To be quite frank I can see that amount being used in a flat where electricity is used for heating - It works out at £4.20 a day - just under £30 a week.

KimYeovil

wiccanlou wrote: »

Is it a fan heater?
Generally these use more power because of the fan.

rotflmol

Okay, rest of the advice is fine, but that is a crazy comment. Terrible drain - having to drive those massive turbines!

£670 over five months isn't that high.

Fire_Fox

terjac3 wrote: »

And now for the bill dated 20th oct-20th jan. A massive £625.66p. My son was sent a text message asking for his meter reading,which he gave them,and that was the amount they came back with. He has gas to heat his water and no central heating. He has been using a panel heater since the end of nov for heating. He is also at college 3 times a wk so he is using no electric during this time. We have been in touch with British Gas and they have said that because my son gave them that reading,that is the amount that is due. They asked him to do a couple of tests with the meter but they can find no fault. They also said it would cost him £60 to get someone out to check the meter. There is no way we can afford this sort of money and British Gas are not being much help. If anybody could point me in the right direction,it would be much appreciated

How many KWH has he used between August and January? What is the KW rating of the panel heater? How many hours per week has he been using it and for how many weeks this winter? What is the insulation like in the flat? Have you or your son ever switched off the 'standard' (default/ expensive) tariff or have you used a price comparison site?

PasturesNew

If he's newly left home is it possible he had the heating on a LOT more and a LOT higher than people who are aware of bills would have done?

It was cold, maybe he had the heating on pretty much 24/7 for 2-3 weeks (or more) over Xmas/January.

JennyR68

PasturesNew wrote: »

If he's newly left home is it possible he had the heating on a LOT more and a LOT higher than people who are aware of bills would have done?

It was cold, maybe he had the heating on pretty much 24/7 for 2-3 weeks (or more) over Xmas/January.

Highly likely, left to their own devices my kids would be more inclined to turn the heater up a notch if the thermostat had cut it out rather than go put another layer on.

JennyR68

You don't say what your meter readings are but if your on standard tariff it looks like he's used over 6300 units! That's around 40 units per day. Very high if no hot water involved and no heating for most part.

The heating was only on 2 months? What size is the heater and does it have a thermostat to cut it out? I think he would have had to be running the heater 24/7 for the full 2 months to generate that kind of use!

You are sure the reading he gave them was correct?

Andy_WSM

JennyR68 wrote: »

I think he would have had to be running the heater 24/7 for the full 2 months to generate that kind of use!

No...If the heater was on 24/7 (assuming a 3KW heater) that alone would use 72 units per day, never mind lighting, fridge, freezers, TV's, game consoles.

40 units a day in a place heated by electric is a realistic figure IMO. I don't think the £600 bill sounds like a huge stretch for 4 months+ of electricity through the coldest Winter for 30 years!

I think so many people are in for a shock as the Winter bills starts coming in over the next couple of weeks. This will be just one of many "how much???!!!" discussions.

JennyR68

Andy_WSM wrote: »

No...If the heater was on 24/7 (assuming a 3KW heater) that alone would use 72 units per day, never mind lighting, fridge, freezers, TV's, game consoles.

40 units a day in a place heated by electric is a realistic figure IMO. I don't think the £600 bill sounds like a huge stretch for 4 months+ of electricity through the coldest Winter for 30 years!

I think so many people are in for a shock as the Winter bills starts coming in over the next couple of weeks. This will be just one of many "how much???!!!" discussions.

Yes but if you read it the heater only went on end of november so less than 2 months heater use.