£545 for electricity for 2 months - can this be right?!

parkerteb

Hi all, I have recently bought a flat, and have been waiting to receive my first electricity bill. I only have electricity in my flat and stupid storage heaters. After researching storage heaters online (they are so old I have no manual or anything for them) it seemed that we had finally figured out how to use them. Obviously not.
I called N Power to try and get a rough idea of my costs so far, gave them a reading and they said that so far, my night electricity is at £420, and the day is £125.
I honestly can't believe it and don't know what to do. It is SO cold without the heaters on, and I thought they were supposed to be cheaper throughout the night?
Can anyone offer any advice?

KimYeovil

£420 divided by 5p is 8400 kWhs. So that's 137 kWhs per day. So 20 units each of the E7 hrs. Assuming 3kW heaters that would be 7 heaters. How many heaters do you actually have?

Are you turning the output to minimum overnight and during the day and only turning it up when you get in in the evening? Have you adjusted the inputs?

And, of course, are you warm and comfortable at that price? As long as they are keeping you comfortable then that may be acceptable. If not then there are problems.

parkerteb

Hello! Thanks for replying - we have 4 heaters, one small, 2 medium and one large. They are on the minimum output, and to be honest we don't really turn it up at night either as it seems to be at the right temperature. I think N Power said it was 7p. Is there someone I can call to check that our heaters are working correctly?

lindens

When you rang the elec company, there was a reading when you moved in and presumably you then gave them an up to date reading? Was the reading when you moved in correct and was it an estimate or an actual?
Something to check.

parkerteb

Thanks for this - I will double check. I've just been told by N Power that I'm not on Economy 7 when I should be, even though I had previously called up and checked that I was? This means I have been paying 15p instead of 5p - I'm furious!

Premier_2

parkerteb wrote: »

Thanks for this - I will double check. I've just been told by N Power that I'm not on Economy 7 when I should be, even though I had previously called up and checked that I was? This means I have been paying 15p instead of 5p - I'm furious!

As you are clearly on a dual rate meter, the supplier knows how much electricity you have used during the peak and off peak periods, and this is your first bill, most suppliers would simply rebill you on an E7 tariff.

But this isn't most suppliers, this is nPower :eek:
Best of luck, and make sure you get any agreements in writing ... though even then they are prone to write again saying the previous agreement we gave in writing was given in error!

parkerteb

Hmm now they are saying that as there is a day and night meter then it wouldn't make a difference if I was on on Economy 7. I'm very confused - I either freeze or face enormous bills? Surely there is another way?!

fb1969

As KimYeovil has said, check the input setting as that controls the amount of power consumed. We only have 1 storage heater and the room is rarely kept warm by it.

Premier_2

parkerteb wrote: »

Hmm now they are saying that as there is a day and night meter then it wouldn't make a difference if I was on on Economy 7. ...

Sure it would.
Despite you having both day and night readings, presumably all kWh are charged at the same rate if you are not on E7.

If you were on E7, then the day kWh charge may increase by about 10% (so that may be £137 ilo £125) but the night rate will at least half (so expect that cost to reduce from £420 to less than £210)

parkerteb

Thanks for all your support guys! They said teh night rate is cheaper - @ 7.3p, but that economy 7 is 4.7p - yet they are still telling me that they have ran all the calculations and it works out the same?! How can that be?
This is so frustrating!

charis18uk

I hate night storage heaters they suck the money out of your wallet at an extraordinary rate.

My first ever flat had night storage heaters and my first bill left me in debt for two years with a direct debit amount I couldn't afford so that I had no choice but to take the fuses out and freeze, literally!!!

I had a memory lapse and stupidly rented another flat ten years later with night storage heaters. My bill was £90 a month, I was freezing and that was ten years ago!!! I took the drastic measure of moving to a more expensive house with gas central heating. The amount I saved on fuel meant I ended up better off.

I agree with previous posts about E7. It's designed for people who own these god awful things, if I remember rightly your day rate is more expensive.