Dimplex heater – horrendous electricity bill

Kris0812

About 11 months ago I moved into a 2-bedroom top floor flat, double glazing, all electric. From October to April I need to have the heating switched on 24/7 and even then it doesn’t really get warm. I’ve got a Dimplex PLX2000TI convector heater (2000W) and I’m on Economy 7.

The last electricity bill from Powergen was £520 based on the actual meter reading. For 11 months that’s 7800 day units and 3000 night units and a total of £900 electricity charges, that makes it £82 a month.

I’m wondering if this is because the heating was on 24/7 although the Dimplex maintains the room temperature (so is not heating all the time) and was on only on half heat, however on the highest thermostat mark 6. I’ve got an indirect boiler system and the boiler is switched on all the time (switch is difficult to reach, will get a timer soon) but other than that I use energy as little as possible.

Does anyone have experience with a Dimplex heater? Can such a high electricity bill be correct or is something wrong with my meter?

Thanks for your help.

tanith

My goodness if I had my heating on 24/7 I would get an horrendous bill too...

I assume you have the Dimplex radiator on as well as the boiler heating? Stand alone radiators are famous for using loads of power....

Why on earth do you need the heating on all day as well as all night for 7 MONTHS CONTINUOUS.... sorry but you cannot really complain at having a high bill...... If you want lower bills you have to turn off the heating at night when you are presumably in bed anyway and just have it on when necessary during the daytime.. of course when its really cold you might need it on for most of the day but when it warms up a little turn it down to minimum and put on extra clothes..

file_wizzard

whilst having the dimplex heater on will add to your bill the main problem will be the water heater, if you have it on most of the time, the dimplex is about 2000w, whilst the average immersion heater will be about 3.5kw (3500w)

suggest you get a timer on both pronto !

Kris0812

I have just found some old meter readings and have figured out that – with the boiler switched on all the time – I use about 220 day units/month, whereas it's about 1100 day units/month having the Dimplex heater switched on 24/7 too. So yes, it is the Dimplex heater. I know that electric heaters are expensive, however, Dimplex claims theirs are not (mine is not even heating all 24 hours) ... I will either have to move out or live with a horrendous electricity bill if I don't want to freeze to death from October to April ...

jennifernil

This boiler you mention....what exactly do you mean? Is it a gas boiler? Or do you mean your immersion heater (which only heats the hot water) ?

You could consider using an electric fan heater instead of the Dimplex. They heat up the space really quickly, you could also use a timer so it comes on just before you get home so it is warm when you arrive. A simple timer costing about £15 could set your heater to be on when you need heat.