First Utility / Underfloor heating costs

pitcj

I moved into a 500sq/metre flat with electric underfloor heating at the start of December. The electricity is provided by First Utility using a smart reader.

I was shocked to receive an electricity bill of £192 for the December - end January period. This seems excessively high to me given that I rarely use the underfloor heating and was away for 10 days over christmas.

According to my bill my usage during the period from 5 December to 31 January was 1790 kWh. However, according to my usage chart my usage for the month of February so far is only 62 kWh. Given we are already half way through February, in comparison my bill for December and January seems huge!

I called First Utility yesterday and spoke to a member of the customer services team who told me that my usage was probably high as a result of leaving electrical devices on standby and the fact that it was winter so lights/heating would be on more than usual. Admittedly this is true but it still seems an excessively high bill for a one bedroom flat. I always turn appliances off at the mains - even my toaster and kettle - rather than leaving them on standby, and make sure lights are switched off in rooms.

What is curious is that I received a letter in the middle of December notifying me that a smart reader had not yet been installed in my block of flats so I'm concerned they haven't been carrying out the readings properly.

Can anyone advise whether they have had a similar experience with First Utility and their "smart" readers?

Also whether the cost of running underfloor heating is usually this high? I am considering buying a gas filled radiator or electric fan if it is!

aelitaman

First off a 500sq meter flat is huge. That is 50m wide by 10 meters deep.

Did you check the meter readings when you moved in?

Did the letting agent or Landlord take a meter read?

Do you know when the previous tenant moved out. If they moved out before the smart meters were installed they may have given F.U a lower read (not nice but surprisingly common) so they did not pay for all the elecy they used and you are paying for it.

With underfloor heating depends on whether you are a ground floor flat or one a higher floor. The installers all market it as being lower cost than radiators, but I can not see this. There are lots of stories on the building forums of people that have installed underfloor heating and it has worked out dearer to run, usually because the installers did not put the required level of insualation under the heating elements when installed on the ground floor.

pitcj

You are right, 500sq metres is huge! I actually meant 500 square feet which is slightly more modest in size.

Unfortunately I made the mistake of not taking a metre reader because the landlord was supposed to take it on the day I moved in (it's in a locked communal cupboard which I don't have direct access to). Suffice to say the landlord didn't take the reading.

According to the daily usage charts for December and January, I used no electricity each day of that period except on one day when I apparently used 1790kwh. First Utility assure me they are looking into the discrepancy but I suspect your suggestion that I've been charged for the previous tenant's electricity is correct.

Thanks for your views on underfloor heating. I may well look into getting an oil filled radiator which should be cheaper.

Thanks

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Andy_WSM

pitcj wrote: »

According to my bill my usage during the period from 5 December to 31 January was 1790 kWh. However, according to my usage chart my usage for the month of February so far is only 62 kWh. Given we are already half way through February, in comparison my bill for December and January seems huge!

Whilst the figures may "seem" excessive, they are not really. This averages out at just over 30Kw/h per day, which to heat & light a place of that size, all electric, is really not too bad.

In contrast - 62Kw/h in 19 days is quiet unlikely, unless you have not had any heating on at all this month?

- Never mind what the online tools say you are using (they are clearly wrong) - what does the electric meter tell you? You clearly can't have gone all of January without using ANY power then used 1700 units in one day!

If you are going to get on top of this you HAVE to access to your own meter!

Without knowing the rating of the underfloor heating it is impossible to work out the hourly running costs, but, for example - if you assume it is 3KW/h (and it's likely to be MUCH more for a floor of that size) then you can see that it doesn't take many hours of heat to start clocking up big numbers of Kw/h.

Do you have the floor temperatures set right? i.e. the floor should not feel particularly warm, but neither should it feel cold. Is the flat temperature excessive? i.e. much more than 20 or 21C? If it is then this will soon start running away with the consumption.

With regards an oil filled radiator being cheaper - well, it won't be. All electric heating is 100% efficient, so you will get the same heat out of your floor for the energy consumed as you will out of an oil filled radiator.