Electricity bill problem

aliasojo

Son has recently moved in with his g/f into a rented flat. She had this flat for maybe 10 months before he moved in so hasn't had a full 12 months worth of electricity bills so can't compare costs since last winter.

Flat is small.... one bed / all electric. Electric boiler with radiators. No tumble dryer.

They have just got a bill for £650 for the last quarter and are floored by it. They both work so the flat is unoccupied for much of the day. Son works 12 hour shifts and g/f is full time too. We're all struggling to understand how such a high bill could have come about. This reading and last reading weren't estimates either. The rate they are paying is 13.45 pence per unit on a standard tarriff with no daily standing charge.

I know none of you are crystal ball gazers but is this kind of amount for a flat in this situation even feasible? I'm genuinely concerned their meter is somehow mixed up with the hairdressing business directly under their flat.

They called the energy supply company who just said the figures were right.

I have a 4 bed house with people at home all day and their bill is on a par with mine. It just doesn't seem right to me.

Any thoughts?

(Other than don't use so much electricity obviously)

JennyR68

How many kwh's is it? I'm thinking just over 4500?

First thing I'd say is their rate is very high, I pay 7.46 inc vat for my units and that amount inc standing charge over a 3 month period would have cost me just over £350.00.

So you can see what a difference a tariff can make.

Can you tell exactly how many units over how many days?

I have no idea what the running costs of electric boilers with radiators are but the amount they seem to have used wouldn't be out the way for 3 months in winter if using storage heating.

Andy_WSM

JennyR68 wrote: »

So you can see what a difference a tariff can make.

Location also makes a difference. Electricity costs more in the SW for example, than it does in the North.

I don't know of any Tariffs around here anywhere near as cheap as yours

aliasojo

I don't know the actual units used I'm afraid. Also we're in the North of Scotland if it makes a difference.

Just as a small comparison, I called EDF to query what their unit rate would be for us...they stated 10.23 pence per unit plus a daily charge of 20.53 pence.

So their tarriff is a little cheaper but then there's also the daily charge to add on. Given that they work all day, I'm thinking maybe it's 6 and half a dozen between 13.45 pence per unit with no charge...and 10.23 with a 20.23 pence charge?

I'll try to find out later how many units they actually used.

Thanks for the replies.

JennyR68

Did you just ask for their standard tariff? The online [EMAIL="s@ver"]s@ver[/EMAIL] v5 has prices of
15.30p ss and 8.98p kwh (inc vat) in North Scotland.

Why would they need to stick on a more expensive standard tariff when cheaper online versions available?

Get their kwh usage, doesn't matter if not a full year you can roughly guess the rest and try out the comparison sites to get the best deal.

JennyR68

Andy_WSM wrote: »

Location also makes a difference. Electricity costs more in the SW for example, than it does in the North.

I don't know of any Tariffs around here anywhere near as cheap as yours

Your right I just checked and my little corner of the U.K does indeed have EDF's cheapest electric price. :j