This can't be right?!

nineohnineone

Hi,

Sorry, this is my first post, so sorry if I've posted in the wrong place etc! We live in a one bedroom flat which is heated by electricity (no gas) and our bill this month has been absolutely horrendous! E.on, and our meter, seems to think we have used over 1000kwh in the last month and a bit, but I find this almost impossible as we only have the water heater on for one hour a day and the heating only comes on for five hours in the night, and even then the thermostat is pretty low. We've previously had an E.on technician come out to check our meter (December's bill totaled £199) but he read it and then said that it would cost us to dispute the bill, and have the meter checked, which we weren't prepared to do at the time. However, this bill has come through at £249, so I might be prepared to do this as I can't afford these bills per month! Also, do you think we're doing anything wrong?

Thanks!

espresso

You need to post more details about your electric heating e.g. make/model of your storage heaters and how many. Electric heating is expensive, however 1000kWh per month is approx 33kWh per day and perhaps up to one third of that will not be for heating.

nineohnineone

Hi,

We have two Dimplex heaters, one an XLN and the other is a CXLN. Our Energy Tracker says we're at 32kwh per day, so it pretty much is bang on 1000kwh.

espresso

This can't be right?!

Yes it can, your storage heaters could be rated at 3.44kW each, although the mid range model is rated at 2.55kW.

The CXLN model also has a convection heater for day time top up, which could be another 2kW and if you are using this it will be using expensive peak rate units.

Your consumption seems to be about right.

nineohnineone

Thanks for your help! Luckily we aren't using anything during the day, so we'll try and find another way to keep costs down!

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi nineohnineone

As espresso says, all electric properties can be expensive to heat.

However, we might be able to help you cut back on your overall usage. We have an Energy Efficiency team who will be happy to advise of ways you may be able to reduce consumption.

Give them a call and they will go through your appliances with you and suggest ways to save.

Ask for a copy of a booklet called '100 ways to save money by saving energy.' It's free and contains lots of useful tips.

Check out our website, too; especially the Interactive House and the Energy Fit campaign. More good info here.

Also, make sure your billing is correct and you are on the best tariff for your circumstances.

Check bills are based on actual meter readings rather than estimates. If they're estimated, let us have up to date readings and we'll re-bill you accurately.

Pop you details on to one of the comparison sites. This will list all the tariffs available, both with us and the other suppliers. See what is best for you.

All electric properties with storage heaters usually have a two rate Economy 7 meter. If this is the case with you, make sure the cheaper off peak rates are used to the best effect.

We do charge to check meters although this is fully refundable should the meter turn out to be faulty. Therefore, it's important to make sure all possible areas have been covered before going down this route.

I hope this gives you a few pointers. Let me know if I can help further as will be happy to do so.

Malc