Advice on electric-only house

sghughes42

SWMBO has just moved in to a small house which does not have a gas supply and is heated by storage heaters. Can anyone advise the best way to go about getting a good deal on her electric supply?

The letting agent kindly sold her details to a company called iammoving.com who have signed her up to Scottish Power but on their standard tariff, i.e. not economy 7. (I did tell her not to sign up to anything over the phone but apparently someone she has never met 'sounded like she knew what she was talking about' so she ignored that advice...)

I've had a quick look on energyhelpline.com but the problem is we have no idea of usage and as it is coming in to summer (we hope!) any meter readings she takes at the moment won't be representative. Also, the house has been empty for a good while (reposessed, bought at auction and refurbished by the new owner before letting) so the energy company won't have any recent usage information either. She is apparently on EDF at the moment, we assume the standard tariff but we've not had anything through from them so far to confirm.

Based on the assumptions energyhelpline make they reckon her bill on the standard EDF tariff would be £407 per year and she could reduce this to £312 with Scottish Power's economy 7 tariff. iammoving.com reckon she'd be paying £74 a month with EDF which they would reduce to £45 a month.... Some big differences there!

It is a small mews property, two bedrooms, kitchen and living room. Three storage heaters, the two upstairs ones seem fairly small, electric cooker and an electric fire in the living room as a 'booster'. She will be out at work during the day and visiting me at weekends so usage will be fairly low, however she does like her heating up high! (To the point where she claims to be cold yet I am feeling like taking all my clothes off...) Oh, and water is an immersion heater which I am trying to convince her to only have on for an hour in the morning (on the night rate) automatically and use the override if she needs extra hot water.

Are we right in assuming that with storage heaters you really need to be on an economy 7 tariff? Are energyhelpline's estimates generally fairly reasonable? She may not be in there for a full 12 months so are there any companies we should consider who don't have penalty charges for leaving early or is the charge generally low enough that this isn't a worry?

Anything else we need to consider?

We have 7 days to cancel the agreement she was signed up to which I am minded to do anyway as we can get cashback even if we end up on the same deal in the end.

forgotmyname

Storage heaters charge up overnight when if on economy 7 it would be cheaper.

Depends how warm the property is in the winter. If your out all day using the storage
heaters may not be cost effective.

We leave out hotwater on 24/7, Whether on gas or electric. It works out cheaper.
As long as the tank is well insulated and the thermostat is set to a sensible level.

Our current one was set to almost 80 degrees. The hottest you want it is 60 really.

cybergibbons

Does the property have a dual rate meter in place already?

Storage heaters + being out all day aren't a good combination. A friend who lived in a very small electric only property found it was cheaper to move to a single rate and use portable electric heaters instead of the storage heaters. The house was well insulated though.

Joyful

For an electric house only you may find even the £74 is not enough. Definitely don't pay in the £40's unless you put extra money aside. A couple of years ago my Daughter was paying £80 every month for storage heating in a small flat. This was not at very high heat either and was also getting heat from downstairs neighbour.

I would definitely cancel the switch and get a better tariff. If you are not going to use the storage radiators at all then a standard meter will be better.

JasX

forgotmyname wrote: »

We leave out hotwater on 24/7, Whether on gas or electric. It works out cheaper.
As long as the tank is well insulated and the thermostat is set to a sensible level.

sorry that myth hass been debunked on here before as purely the preserve of those who failed GCSE science, good insulation helps ALOT and as does setting the thermostat to a sensible low level but leaving your water on 24/7 rather than timed you do for convienience NOT to save money

....unless basic laws of physics don't apply in your house :A

KimYeovil

So she would lose out on £65 for a start, the current cashback for a switch to Scottish Power.

But to suggest that Scottish Power's tariff would magically cost £45 where EDF's corresponding tariff would cost £74 for the same consumption is utter rot. And goodness knows how you or energyhelpline imagine that a warmth-loving tenant with electric cooking will only be spending £26 per month!

She has to read her meters, make some sane estimates of useage and stop wasting energy with nutso companies like iammoving.com - if her time is that valuable and she is so busy then surely she must already have an existing domestic personal assistant under her employment to handle such affairs?

sghughes42

KimYeovil wrote: »

She has to read her meters, make some sane estimates of useage and stop wasting energy with nutso companies like iammoving.com - if her time is that valuable and she is so busy then surely she must already have an existing domestic personal assistant under her employment to handle such affairs?

That would be me then! :think: To be fair, this is the first time she's lived away from home so has no experience at all of these things.

Reading meters we can manage, making estimates is why I am posting here, for some guidance. There is no point using my usage as a guide as I have gas. Her mother lives in a far bigger house and again has gas so no help there. Almost all houses around here have gas so friends won't be much help either.

KimYeovil wrote: »

So she would lose out on £65 for a start, the current cashback for a switch to Scottish Power.

Missed that one! Best I found was about £25 although I've not looked in to it in much detail at the moment.

KimYeovil wrote: »

But to suggest that Scottish Power's tariff would magically cost £45 where EDF's corresponding tariff would cost £74 for the same consumption is utter rot. And goodness knows how you or energyhelpline imagine that a warmth-loving tenant with electric cooking will only be spending £26 per month!

I think they were basing it on the 'standard' EDF tariff - we don't even know what she is on yet as EDF haven't written to her yet. I've suggested she phone them though to find out. As you say though that sort of saving is unlikely.

The consumption assumed by both are fairly similar - energyhelpline thought about 4300 units per year, iammoving.com about 5200.

As I say, I have no idea what typical usage is without gas for heating - I did say though that they all seemed low based on me spending just under £20 a month on electric just to run lights, fridge, freezer and a computer.

sghughes42

cybergibbons wrote: »

Does the property have a dual rate meter in place already?

I believe so. I'll get her to check tonight but the agent did say it was Economy 7.

cybergibbons wrote: »

Storage heaters + being out all day aren't a good combination. A friend who lived in a very small electric only property found it was cheaper to move to a single rate and use portable electric heaters instead of the storage heaters. The house was well insulated though.

I suspected this and advised against choosing that house on that basis... I assume that as it is a fairly new house it will be well enough insulated but it is an end mews which never helps.

How long do storage heaters keep their heat if you charge them up overnight but leave the discharge turned off until you get home in the evening? According to the tenancy agreement she isn't allowed to use any heating other than that provided...

Hoopylass

sghughes42 wrote: »

How long do storage heaters keep their heat if you charge them up overnight but leave the discharge turned off until you get home in the evening? According to the tenancy agreement she isn't allowed to use any heating other than that provided...

I have the dreaded storage heaters in a 1 bed flat and I am out all day too. I find that if you have the input up quite high but have the vents closed then the heat is distributed quite evenly until teatimeish when it starts to cool down although not to the point where I am freezing.

Im with scottish power and all electric and I am currently £50 per month.

cub

Don't assume that because you are out all day, using off-peak storage rads is going to be expensive. I also live in a small mid-terrace house (all electric) and spend only £400 a year on electricity and have a comfortable temperature in the living room, kitchen, bathroom and one of the 2 bedrooms. I am lucky that I switched from my regional supplier here in mid-Wales to British Gas who took me on with a 'twin-heat' economy rate. My off-peak rate applies 4 to 8am plus 1.30 to 4.30pm which helps even out the heat. If your property is quite modern it will be fairly well insulated so you need to find out how much electricity it takes to warm it up when you get home, using your electric heaters on peak rate. This is fairly easy to do as the ratings of radiant, convector and fan heaters are all marked on the appliances. (With storage radiators there is no easy way to know when the setting is allowing a charge in and when the input thermostat switches them off).
My home is an old stone cottage, with a fairly well insulated loft and secondary glazing throughout. I find that keeping all the rads on low builds up heat in the walls of the house which act as a store. I keep all the output flaps closed which also helps even out the release of heat.
People have been surprised at the low level of my bills but that may be partly because I am reasonably frugal - no tv nd I wear clothes around the house! Hope this helps.