N Power Actual Electric bill of £1200 HELP

honeycombe

Hello,

I live in a new build flat with electric heating. We are paying £50 a month direct debit to N Power for our electricity.

We have received a bill to day for extra charges of £1172.16 for usage since 14/12/2009 to 20/04/2010

It says we have used 8863 kWh in this period. Which works out at about 76 kWh a day. We both work 9 to 5, so everything is off between those hours' and other than the dishwasher and the three dimplex panel heaters we actually use in the evening there is nothing else on that we could even imagine could cost this much.

N Power did say that this was unusual and are 'investigating'. As these have come from actual meter readings I am terrified that we are missing something? Can anyone help - do you think this is just a faulty meter?

Thanks in advance.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

The first thought is to query the meter readings - both on 14/12 and 20/4/10 - did you check them? were they estimated.

That said 8,863kWh whilst high, is not stupidly high for an all electric flat over 4 months over one of the coldest winters for years.

However to pay £1172 plus £200?(£1372) for 8863kWh is extremely expensive. 15.5p/kWh. Depending where you live an internet tariff(even with NPower) would cost around £700.

Assuming you used approx 1,500kWh for non-heating electrical use, thus leaving 7,400kWh for heating and Hot water, it would cost £200 to £250 with gas and that would have raised no comment for 4 winter months.

JennyR68

Does sound on the high side, around 2000 units more than I used in same period and some of that was on storage heaters. The rest of the time I had 5 electric radiators on 24/7. Something isn't right!

dogshome

Hi honeycombe - More questions than answers I'm afraid.
How long have you been in this 'New Build'? In other words have you had any previous bills against which to judge this one.

Have you checked that the Meter number on your bill, matches that on the meter? It's not unknown for meters to be mis-assigned, even in detached houses, let alone flats when the meters are centrally located in a central service area

Did you take a meter reading on the day you moved in? Could it be that you are being billed for power consumed prior to that date

Have you tested the Meter/Wiring by turning everything off as you leave for work, then checking for meter movement when you get home. It's unknown for new builds to be miswired so a private meter is feeding public areas or enen another flat

Have you checked the meters accuracy? You can do this by turning everything off except just one appliance with a known consumption value. A fan heater would be the ideal - Perhaps borrow one- These are usually rated at 2Kw on Max. setting, See it's label, and running it for an hour should consume 2 units on your meter.

luggage_2

Hello

I've had the exact same thing happen today! I came on here looking for some advice too.

My last quarter bill was £160. I then paid £84 a month DD. The bill for the last 6 months is ~£1200 (they estimated but the estimate was a bit low).

I'm living alone in a flat that's all electric. The water is heated twice a day for an hour and it's a 3 kWh rated. I have rarely used the heating (the flat is well insulated and next to a swimming baths so it's quite warm. Apart from that I use the dishwasher and the washer\dryer every 2 or 3 days.

I'm out of the flat from 9 until 7 on weekdays yet they say I'm using about 40 kWh per day. The girl at Npower was said it seemed very high but when put through to another department the new girl was quite rude and insisted it was about right as "that's what she uses and she has gas heating". Doing an appliance check she reckons it's about 17.5 watts I'm using.

The scary thing is, if we say I use half power on weekdays as I'm out for most of it. Then it means of a weekend I'm using about 90 kWh per day.

I've ordered a measuring thing so I can test to see what the appliances are using but I'm not sure I could use that much if I actually tried. My sister has a family of 5, they're at home all day, kids have tv's DS's and phones charging, the washing machine and dryer are on all day, they all have a showers every day and yet her bills are lower than mine.

£600 a quarter seems a lot.