BIIIIIG Bills....Immersion Heater?

j22o2

I have recently moved into a new flat and my electicity bills are ridiculous and for the life of me I cannot understand why.

£153....for just one month in a small one bedroom flat? I have just checked and this months is going to come up somewhat similar...1472units used.

There is no gas in the flat but just electric. I have all the usual appliances which came with me from my old flat which cost me no where near as much in electricity.

I was wondering if it could be the immersion heater which I have only just discovered we have in the flat? We have a control box in the kitchen which controls the hot water and heating, the hot water is set only to come on for a few hours in the morning (which doesn't last very long) I have read all the threads on the site about Immersion heaters but don't really understand why they cost that much money and how I can prevent mine from doing so...

Any advice would really be appreciated........

HappyMJ

They don't really use a lot. Maybe about 3-4 units per day depending on how much the tank is lagged and how much water you use. It's normally a suprise for people who use gas but don't turn the backup immersion heater off. It could add at least 1000 or more units onto the annual bill. If you turn it off you won't have hot water.

spiro

Do you have a 1-rate or 2-rate meter/tariff?
What sort of elec heating do you have -storage heaters?

Cardew

When you state you 'just discovered' you had an immersion heater, how did you think hot water was heated? You must have a hot water tank in the flat.

Assuming you have a fairly modern flat, the Hot Water tank will be well lagged(insulated) and the heat loss will be small, and that 'lost' heat will heat your flat anyhow.

The bulk of your bill at this time of the year will be heating

tanith

My hot water although heated by my gas boiler only needs to be on for one hour morning and evening to give plenty of hot water for two of us... adjust the timer for an hour twice a day and see how that works for you..

macman

Do you have storage heaters, if so are you on an Economy 7 tariff?
If not how is the property heated.
if you are using convectors or other heaters on peak rate E7, then yes your bills will be enormous.
Please give more info about the 'control box' for the heating.

Cardew

tanith wrote: »

My hot water although heated by my gas boiler only needs to be on for one hour morning and evening to give plenty of hot water for two of us... adjust the timer for an hour twice a day and see how that works for you..

The OP is making the wrong assumption(IMO) that much of the £153 monthly bill is down to an immersion heater - that is only on for a few hours a day anyway!

The heat loss from a modern HW tank is quite small and measured by a British Standard(BS). Typically over a 24 hour period with water at 65C it will be 2kWh.

So even if the immersion heater were left on 24/7 the lost heat would be in the region of £6 a month, and as said above, that lost heat will warm the fabric of the house, so is not wasted.

So whilst having heating on a timer will undobtedly be a little cheaper, it wont make much of a dent in a £153 monthly bill.

j22o2

I'm on EDF standard tarriff which has a band A price and a Band B price.....

As for the heating, to be honest I have very little idea. I have wall mounted "radiators" however they are not the water type, through some googling and looking at various forums I get the feeling they may be storage heaters.

I have a thermostat in my living room (dial with temp on) and a control box in the kitchen...this just has a picture of a radiator on one side and a tap on the other. Frim here I am able to set a timer as to when the heating and water come up.

I had no idea it was an immersion heater to be honest, I have never seen one before and wasn't too interested before the massive bills came rolling in and now my ignorance is really costing. The tank itself is no insulated which I did think a bit odd.

I really do apologise for my lack of knowledge as demonstrated above but this is the first flat where I havn't just paid money onto a little key and got on with it.....

macman

So you're on an Economy 7 tariff? What hours have you got the heating/hot water set to come on and off?
Can you post a pic of the control unit or describe it-make /model?
Get the tank lagged with a jacket immediately, they cost under a tenner and without that you're just throwing money away.

Cardew

macman wrote: »

So you're on an Economy 7 tariff? What hours have you got the heating/hot water set to come on and off?
Can you post a pic of the control unit or describe it-make /model?
Get the tank lagged with a jacket immediately, they cost under a tenner and without that you're just throwing money away.

I wouldn't think the OP is on an Economy 7 tariff.

I'm on EDF standard tarriff which has a band A price and a Band B price

I suspect the Band A price is Tier 1(primary) units and Band B is Tier 2 (secondary) units.

That would also correspond to 1,462kWh costing £153.

I can't think the HW tank would have no insulation - I wonder if it has a hard foam covering like all tanks fitted in the last 20 years by law; which the OP things is uninsulated?

Wall mounted radiators would not be storage heaters - they are probably just panel heaters.

macman

I was basing that on the OP saying that they thought they had storage heaters.
Rather more info need to make sense of this I think.