10000kwh of electric used in 7 months in a 1 bed flat???

fifilabouche

I live alone in a one bedroom flat, essentially it consists of 2 rooms and a bathroom as my lounge and kitchen are in the same small room and then i have a bedroom and a seperate bathroom.

The flat only uses electricity and is on an economy 7 rate. I have 2 storage heaters, one in the lounge area which is large and one in the bedroom which is small. I also use a dryer at night and have an electric shower. Other than that i use the usual stuff like fridge and tv and cooker etc.

I moved into the property in October 2010. Since then up until the end of May I have been told I have used almost 10000kwh. This to me seems like an insane amount!

I have never had storage heaters before but I understand that they use alot of electricity but i had no choice with the bitterley cold winter we have had. Since i have turned the heaters off I have found my monthly usage has come down by about £60 a month. Is it possible that the two storage heaters cost this much??

Further to this since turning the heaters off I have noticed a massive decrease in my daytime rate. Before it was around £50 and now its down to around £30 per month. The night rate has come down by around £30 or so.

I questioned this with Eon and confirmed the meter readings were correct and they told me to monitor the eletric readings which I did. They also said they were sending a technician round to check that the time switch was working correctly as I queried whether or not the storage heaters were coming on during the day. He came round and said the switch was working correctly and then changed my meter to a new one which had an in built timer switch.

So now I have been told again to monitor my usage for the next month on a daily basis which i will do but its already clear to me that the storage heaters have been coming on during the day.

The issue I have however is that now they are wanting £100 a month off me to pay for the £400 i owe them and I cannot afford it. I have tried to complain to them but they just keep telling me to monitor the usage and find out what it using the electric but i have already isolated the problem!

Just ened some advice on how to solve the problem!

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

The first thing to point out is that 10,000kWh in 8 months over one of the coldest wimters in years is not particularly high. You don't say what percentage of that amount is at cheap rate, but with Storage heaters, and presumably hot water from an immersion heater, it certainly should be over 50%.

Bear in mind that the average household spend with gas is around £1300 pa and electricity is more expensive.

I cannot see how storage heaters are coming on during the day if the meter is correctly set.

fifilabouche

I don't actually use the immersion heater at all. I may use it once or twice a month if I want a bath but I have an electric shower and if I need to wash up I just boil enough water in the kettle to fill the sink. I also dont even use the electric shower more than about 4 times a week as I spend alot of time at the gym and shower there 3-4 times a week.

Apologies that I don't know the specific KWh are a month but previously I was being charged around £100 a month (actual usage) for the winter months when the storage heaters were on. Now they are off I am using approx £35 with £5 from the night rate and around £30 during the day per month.

So the storage heaters alone were taking up 2/3 of the electric usage from the day and the night rate. I have not changed anything else since turning off the heaters. I wouldnt expect the rate of electric used during the day to come down by £20-£30 since turning the heaters off.

I was under the impression that they should never affect the day rate, is this correct??

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi fifilabouche

I do understand your concern with the amount of electricity you're using. However, all electric properties with storage heaters can consume a lot of kWh particularly, as Cardew says, after such a cold winter.

As we've been out to check/change your meter and timeswitch, it looks as though this area is ok.

I have to say, I'm no expert in these matters but I do know storage heaters need to be fitted to special off peak circuits. It might be an idea, therefore, to arrange for a qualified electrician to check that these connections have been done correctly.

If not, and your post seems to confirm this, you'll be paying much more than needed to charge the storage heaters and, indeed, for all other appliances timed to come on overnight.

Also, storage heaters come in various shapes and sizes. The amount of kWh used depends on various factors like heater rating, property size etc.

I know you've already spoken to us but have you had a chat with our Consumption Team? They specialise in helping customers understand their usage and can provide much more info than me. I would talk to this team and tell them your circumstances.

With regard to the outstanding balance, ask for a payment arrangement to spread this over a more manageable period. We'll be happy to do this.

Sorry I can't offer anything more positive fifilabouche but hope it helps point you in the right direction. Give me a shout if I can help further as will be happy to do so.

Malc

fifilabouche

Hi

Yes I have spoken to the consumption team and they have told me for the 2nd time to monitor the usage on a daily basis which is what I am doing now. I have already asked to reduce the monthly amount but I have been told that its not possible as they want the debt cleared in time for winter.

The technician who changed the meter confirmed that the time switch wasnt on all the time but he couldnt confirm if the heaters had been coming on earlier than they should or if they were coming on during the day, he only confirmed they were not on all the time. He assured me that that problem can occur but not with the new meter he has fitted.

Obviously going forward thats positive but even with the daily monitoring it isnt going to answer the question of where the extra day time usage has come from. The landlord had the heaters checked before winter as one of the dials had come off so they are working correctly and the fuse comes on and off as controlled by the time switch.

I guess I will have to find an alternative source of heating as the storage heaters are expensive and unreliable. I now cannot prove if the time switch was putting the heaters on early or leaving them on later as it has been removed. The change in daytime usage doesnt seem to matter either. I have no explanation how the last month I used 176kwh but the months before that it was 250kwh on average throughout winter with the storage heaters on.

Richie-from-the-Boro

You need to tell the group what sort of E7 meter you have, does it have dials like a watch or is it a digital readout ? Does it look like the one below ?



- if it looks like the one above, it is possible but very very unlikely it's switching is wrong, as its controlled by your leccy company
- some types of E7 have an additional [ Comfort Plus ] daytime setting and come on 3 times per cycle
- your leccy bill will tell you if you are on Comfort plus, I'm not sure if Scottish Power have this tariff.
- as Cardew says, given the last winter your usage was not too far from the average
- all your ' night rate ' tons of on tap boiling water ' is competitively cheap
- the above assumes , your property is not single glazed / inefficient / draughty / not adequately insulated

An Actual True Story for you and the SP Rep

Last year my door was knocked by someone around the corner who was leasing from a Housing Association. The previous leasers had to have a ' key ' payment fitted, the house was repossessed and a complete bells and whistles full refurb was done on the property. My door was knocked by the new householder looking for advice on why the house was swallowing £30 per day from the pre-paid key. Knowing nothing much about the key payment system they went through the usual checks with their energy provider and got nowhere at all, the electricity was doing a ' canoe man act ' and disappearing instantly.

My view was that the :

- payment system was very wrong, or ;
- the meter was wired arasse first, and then I remembered ;

The nice polish lads who refurbed [ complete rewire included ] the property in very short order to a high standard and with great attention to detail may also have bodged the meter because they did not understand the UK E7.

I was correct, they had completely wired the key payment to the daytime only normal [ non switching ] supply. How they did that and managed to still have the kWh running through the key, I've no idea, but they did.

fifilabouche

Hi

The electric meter that I have now does indeed look like the one in the picture. Previously I had one meter for the electric with two readings. One was for the day and one was for the night. It had two seperate spinning disc things so you could tell when night rate was on and when day rate was on by seeing which disc was turning. Next to it was a black box which was sealed shut which I was told was the time switch.

When I questioned the time switch situation with Eon follwoing the reduction in my day time usage they told me that they would send someone to check that it was coming on at the right times. Altho all that happenned when the technician turned up was that he changed the meter to the new one (as pictured) that would make it impossible for it to come on at the wrong time. I asked him about the timings on the previous meter and he said he couldn't check that and all he was checking was if the meter was stuck on the day rate which it wasn't.

I will continue to monitor the day rate for the next month or so on the new meter to see if i can highlight any further change in the usage before I go back to Eon.

mattcanary

The man who changed your meter was talking rubbish. It would have been simple for him to check whether the timeswitch was working correctly. The meter may have had a screen telling him what the time was. If this was wrong, then the meter was switching over incorrectly.
Alternatively, there may have been a seperate timeswitch which shows the time of day like a clock (and also would have shown what time the cheap price should have started and the time it should have ended each day). If this was showing the wrong time, again the night rate would have been on at the wrong times. THESE TYPE OF TIMESWITCHES ARE FREQUENTLY WRONG!!!

It seems very strange that the meter-man changed the meter if there was nothing wrong with the timeswitch controlling it - for one that has an inbuilt timeswitch. I strongly suspect it was wrong but the meter-man didn't want to deal with any awkward questions he may not have known the answer to.


I don;t know how ytou can prove anything now however.

Richie-from-the-Boro

fifilabouche wrote: »

Hi

The electric meter that I have now does indeed look like the one in the picture. Previously I had one meter for the electric with two readings. One was for the day and one was for the night. It had two separate spinning disc things so you could tell when night rate was on and when day rate was on by seeing which disc was turning. Next to it was a black box which was sealed shut which I was told was the time switch.

When I questioned the time switch situation with Eon following the reduction in my day time usage they told me that they would send someone to check that it was coming on at the right times. Although all that happened when the technician turned up was that he changed the meter to the new one (as pictured) that would make it impossible for it to come on at the wrong time. I asked him about the timings on the previous meter and he said he couldn't check that and all he was checking was if the meter was stuck on the day rate which it wasn't.

I will continue to monitor the day rate for the next month or so on the new meter to see if i can highlight any further change in the usage before I go back to Eon.

Assuming you have not used your heating for the last 4 or 8 weeks : -

Ignoring for now the rights and wrongs of the previous meter, if you compare the previous 4 or 8 weeks with next 4 or 8 weeks if there is a noticeable [ not just a little ] difference like~with~like in your consumption figures then clearly the old meter was a contributing factor. That kind of inarguable factual kWh evidence presented to your supplier might elicit a goodwill refund to you for inconvenience and extra costs incurred by their under performing equipment.

fifilabouche

Hi Guys

Thanks for all your replies. I dont remember the time switch having any kind of screen or clock or anything on it showing when it was due to come on or off. It was literally a black box and he didn't attempt to open it or anything. He just removed it and told me a million times it was bombproof! I have been told that these types of time switches can come on at the wrong times. Even if its just 2 hours or so a day thats alot when my daytime rate is 23p kwh and the night time rate is 4p kwh.

I also agree that he shouldn't have changed the meter if there was nothing wrong with it. If they thought it was working fine then why didnt they leave it where it was!

Yes my heating has been off for the past 2 months or so. I monitored the usage last month and gave them the figures but they still want more monitoring! from what I have so far it looks like there was an extra 100 kwh or so being used a month during the daytime rate while the heaters were on. It is only about an extra 1000kwh or so kwh over the past 8 months but it equals around £150 or so in overcharges at the lower day rate of 13p kwh.

Thanks

Stompa

fifilabouche wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies. I dont remember the time switch having any kind of screen or clock or anything on it showing when it was due to come on or off. It was literally a black box and he didn't attempt to open it or anything. He just removed it and told me a million times it was bombproof! I have been told that these types of time switches can come on at the wrong times. Even if its just 2 hours or so a day thats alot when my daytime rate is 23p kwh and the night time rate is 4p kwh.

If your meter looks like the one pictured above, then presumably it will display "RATE 1" or "RATE 4", so you should be able to figure out when it's switching?