Incredibly high bills - please help

trimmtrab_2

I am with NPower and live in south east - I live on my own in a one bed flat. The flat is supplied by electricity only.

The water is supplied by an immersion heater which I switch on only when necessary, there are two plug in radiators which I only use unless it is incredibly cold (i.e not used since April) and the only other appliances I use are the cooker, TV and computer.

Total charges for 14/4/10 to 31/7/10 is £184.68.

Night reading is 111kwh @ 4.1p = £4.55, day reading is first 214 @23.2p = £49.65 and next 848 @ 14.35p = £121.69

Am I right in thinking this is incredibly high? Where am I going wrong?

This is over £60 a month IN SUMMER!!!! I put the high winter bill down to the fact it was particularly cold.

Also is there anyway I can contest this bill? If I had the electricity on all, lights blazing, cooking for 100 I could accept this but something somewhere is patently wrong.

Thanks

TT

KimYeovil

Unfortunately as you have an electric cooker it is tough making E7 economical when you don't have the storage heating on.

But as you seem to only have plug-in heaters in the first place then you should not be on an E7 tariff - once you change to a standard online tariff you should be able to cut your tier 2 charges per unit to 8p or 9p - a substantial reduction.

Andy_WSM

My first thoughts are that your usage isn't incredibly excessive, but you are most certainly on the wrong tariff!

To get the most from Eco 7 you need to use most of your electricity at night - you are not. You even have plug in radiators, which I'm guessing in the Winter you use at peak time - i.e the evening, rather than overnight? Also, if you are only turning on the water heater before you need hot water you are not heating your tank overnight on cheap electric - which is what your tariff, in part, is designed for.

You need to change tariff. That will bring your bill down a fair amount!

This isn't the electricity companies fault BTW, so you'll just have to put this one down to experience.

trimmtrab_2

Wow, thanks Guys - answered really quickly too, incredibly helpful.

I will call the electricity company and see what options are available to me.

Please if anyone else has advice it will be gratefully received.

:T:T

bloss0m

You can also save money by shopping around once you get off E7 the cheaper tariffs also tend to be online account where you submit your own readings and pay by direct debt

Premier_2

Why not make maximum benefit of the cheap rate overnight electricity?

e.g. heat your water overnight paying less than 30% of what it costs during the day?

You suggest you only have a cooker, a tv and a computer as electrical appliances? What, no fridge? No washing machine? ...and I suspect you have a mountain of other electrical appliances.
e.g. hair straighteners and/or shaver (I was going to suggest depending on sex, but it doesn't appear to matter nowadays ), phone, etc

If not, you should only have 2 plugs in the wall ... go around every other socket and ensure there is nothing plugged in (and don't plug anything in). I'm sure you'll soon discover a host of electrical items you didn't know you had.

As to the items you do accept as owning. Don't ever leave the TV on standby and as for the computer, well ensure that is disconnected from the wall when not in use as I was surprised just how much electricity mine consumed when I thought it was turned off.

trimmtrab_2

Premier wrote: »

You suggest you only have a cooker, a tv and a computer as electrical appliances? What, no fridge? No washing machine? ...and I suspect you have a mountain of other electrical appliances.
e.g. hair straighteners and/or shaver (I was going to suggest depending on sex, but it doesn't appear to matter nowadays ), phone, etc

As to the items you do accept as owning. Don't ever leave the TV on standby and as for the computer, well ensure that is disconnected from the wall when not in use as I was surprised just how much electricity mine consumed when I thought it was turned off.

Yep, should have said the only appliances I use regularly are the cooker, computer and TV (forgot about fridge) - no straighteners, shaver, use washer once a week (I'm a bloke LOL!).

As for heating the water, I flick it on for about an hour or so at night so the water is warm for a shower in the evening and then in the morning -hardly a fortune

I think switching off the power for appliances when not in use is 100% sense - you wouldn't leave the engine running in the car whilst it's parked on the driveway. Point is I often forget to turn things off.

Thanks for your help

Graham_Devon

Trimm, I have a 2 bed, and use about the same as you, though the TV is usually on whenever I am in the house, watching it or not!!

For 32 days, in the month or so, bill was £29. Rockets in the winter though. Don't do much cooking however

I also moved off E7, it's not worth it unless you are using storage heaters.