huge leccy bills

samtastic

Can anyone shed any light on this one. We live in a 2 up 2 down terrace with 11 houses on the row. We currently pay around 90pound a month electric, and havign discussed it with neighbours I know 2 or 3 of them pay similar amounts each month too despite having had new meters, rewired houses, and changed suppliers and such. They are quite old houses (130 years), and neighbours in bigger (3-4 bed) newer proerties are paying more realistic prices. There's no gas supply to our village and due to the layout our terrace cannot accomodate oil tanks unlike the more modern houses near by. Does anyone have any idea why this could be as each electric company we've spoken to gives a resounding shrug of the shoulders and no further advise. Any suggestions appreciated.

KimYeovil

Why would new wiring and meters make any difference?

£90 per month seems [STRIKE]cheap[/STRIKE] okay - it is certainly not 'huge' - for a two-bedroom house. That is, it is bang on average for a dual-fuel cheapest online tariff so paying that for all-electric is reasonable going.

Why do you thing your costs are unrealistic?

moonrakerz

Your costs are probably totally realistic for your type of house. Just because a house has more bedrooms than yours doesn't meant that it actually uses more electricity.

They probably have cavity insulation, loft lagging, double glazing and be generally much more thermally efficient than your property.

Sooler

Take some daily meter readings and see how much you are using per day.

spiro

Unless the house has been modernised a house of that age would typically have: single glazing, little or no loft insulation, possibly a side rather that cavity wall.

The first area to addess (cheapest) would be the loft insulation were the current standard is about 12-15", the only problem with this typically means it is difficult to use the loft for storage. Next would probably be secondary or primary double glazing and modern external doors. Finally cavity wall insulation if its possible.

mitch161

you admitted it yourself the old houses have no access to gas.. the modern (3-4 bedroom) houses do have gas.

so yes your electricity would be higher.

try energy saving bulbs. they save more energy then "new meters, rewired " lol

sorry but whether you have a 50yo meter or a 5 day old meter. it wont do much energy USING itself. it just reads energy.

a wire is a wire electricity loss/useage due to wiring quality is little to none.

change the lightbulbs you use and think smart about energy usage. turn off powered computer speakers at the mains and use a pair of headphones. when using the oven cook the evening meal at same time as lunch if both require the use of the same grill/oven.

i do this alot. cook all my meats for the day/twodays in one go and then heat in microwave with the tin of beans that would get microwaved anyways, thus saves using the oven 4 times in 2 days. bringing it down to once in 2 days.
and seeing as microwave would be used 4 times a day to heat beans/ veg etc it not causing more useage by adding the ready cooked meat to the plate.

also see if phone has free internet access. thus avoiding turning on computer 2-3 times a day to check email/facebook.

thinking smart is how you save money. in this instance i dont think its the energy companies at fault.

last point if you have clothes that dont have stains, just a little smelly. wash these in the sink instead and leave to soak. then fill washing machine with the really grimy, dirty clothes. this decreases washing machine useage.

EG a football kit goes in washing machine. a office workers shirt that is not stained just a lil sweat at the colar lol gets a nice fragranced soak in the sink.

LittleMissAspie

Electric heating is horribly expensive and you are living in an old Victorian terrace. Your bill sounds realistic to me.

macman

What is your actual kWh consumption? Posting £ amounts is meaningless, especially since you don't say what tariff you are on. £1080pa for all heating/hot water and cooking is not expensive.

mitch161

well maybe he is a single person so does not think large bills compared to families is a good thing

i live as a single person in a 2 bedroom flat

my electric is 59p a day
and my gas is the same

my bill averages £460 total combined per year.. so im happy

if house is rented consider moving