Electric So Expensive, Should I Switch?

whomy5

Hi there,

Im hoping someone here can offer some advice as Im not sure what to do?

I moved into my flat in July 09...its all electric, Economy 7 runs the hot water and the 3 storage heaters which are on all the time at present.

When I first moved in I switched from Eon who was the previous supplier to Scottish Power as they were supposedly cheaper. I pay by direct debit every month.... at first I was paying £35 which was great but obviously cheaper due to being summer.. In November it went up to £58 a month, which I thought was fair enough as the heating was switched on and so expected....but now they have put it up to £105 a month:eek: starting in March. I cant even blame it on estimated readings as I have to send my readings in every 3 months. I dont know whether Im just being naive but where I lived before I was using gas & electric but it didnt come to that much every month!

I dont undserstand it as there is only me? Yes I use the shower everyday, use an electric cooker, have lights on etc, but it just seems a lot of money for one person? Also I dont earn a big wage so am worried about trying to pay this amount every month?

What I want to know really is...should I wait until Ive lived here a full year and see how the cost of electric pans out over the year? Or should I switch to another supplier hoping theyll be cheaper?

I called Scottish Power and the are willing to lower the payments to £92 a month, but for me thats still a huge amount?

Any thoughts are much appreciated....Alison x:)

property.advert

Why don't you actually try to think in terms of how much you are using and not some rather meaningless numbers. If you are using £150 then you have to pay £150 and only paying £75 will cause inevitable problems later on.

I have a 2 bed place on all electric and will use £720 this year managing on the best online tariff for my situation. I pay £60 per month to cover my £720 a year. If I use more, I will pay more.

I suggest you copy your usage for a month into Excel and see what show up, taking readings at least twice a week.

Scottish_Power

Hi whomy5

As you mentioned in your post that you have to send your meter readings every 3 months, I assume that you have an online account with us. If this is the case, I would suggest that you take advantage if the online services to monitor your consumption much closer. If we are suggesting that you pay £92 per month, then I assume that you have been using in excess of £100 per month over the winter months?

Like property.advert states, updating your meter readings more regularly will help you understand how much you are using. Far too ofter, gas and electricity consumers think that switching supplier will solve their problems when they do not know how much they are consuming over a 12-month period.

If you were to switch supplier, how much gas and electricity would you tell the potential supplier you are using? Would you tell them that you were paying £58 per month with your previous supplier which would then result in your new supplier setting your payments far too low and then you would be in this same position a few months down the line.

The best advice I can give is to make sure that you are on the best tariff with us first. As you are online already and paying monthly by Direct Debit you are off to a good start. I would suggest updating meter readings on the same day each week and creating a bill to see how much you are using over 7 days. If the charges are too high and you would like to lower the consumption, try to see where you can reduce your electricity consumption within the house, make these changes and then record the consumption for the next 7 days and see what difference your changes have made. I have included a link below to detail our Top 10 Energy Efficiency Tips:

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/Home_Energy/Energy_Efficiency/Top_10_Tips/

The link below also provides a virtual tour around your house providing tips on how to become more energy efficient.

http://www.scottishpowergreen.co.uk/

I hope that this information has been helpful for you. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

macman

If you are on E7, then why do you say that your storage heaters are on 'all the time'? The whole point of them is to charge them up off peak.
All your other usage will of course be at peak rate on E7. Is your hot water heating up during the E7 cheap rate period?

whomy5

Thanks very much for the replies...the advice and tips have been noted and hopefully I can sort out my electric usage and be more savvy with it!

Much appreciated...Alison

markharding557

Get on the blower and ask them if this includes some arrears,looking at your monthly payment figures this is quite possible.