Electric rates: please help

ollym_3

Hi there

I live in a 2 bedroom, newbuild apartment in Birmingham (lots of halogen lights). We have electric radiators, no gas. I've just had the following bill and am worried about it being excessive.

Meter:
Start 98524E (estimated)
End 743A (actual)
Units 2219
Cost £192.45

This is for 77 days. I'm confused why the figure for estimated start is higher than the figure for actual end.

Also, one of us works from home, but a lot of weekends we're not here at all.

We have the immersion heater on in the morning and evening, leaving it on whilst away. My mum's partner just told me that soemtimes they're better left on because it can be cheaper to maintain the temperature all day than heat it up, let it cool and heat it up.

I just want to know if this is excessive bearing in mind my circumstances. My flatmate comes down on me like a tonne of bricks for leaving lights on, but I am trying VERY hard to be sensible about it and need people to tell me if this bill is reasonable or not.

Thanks.

djohn2002uk

ollym wrote:

Meter:
Start 98524E (estimated)
End 743A (actual)
Units 2219
Cost £192.45

This is for 77 days. I'm confused why the figure for estimated start is higher than the figure for actual end.

Also, one of us works from home, but a lot of weekends we're not here at all.

We have the immersion heater on in the morning and evening, leaving it on whilst away. My mum's partner just told me that soemtimes they're better left on because it can be cheaper to maintain the temperature all day than heat it up, let it cool and heat it up.

I just want to know if this is excessive bearing in mind my circumstances. My flatmate comes down on me like a tonne of bricks for leaving lights on, but I am trying VERY hard to be sensible about it and need people to tell me if this bill is reasonable or not.

Thanks.

The reason for the Actual reading being lower is, the meter has passed it's limit of 99,999 and has started again from 00,000 so the reading is correct. Assuming that the estimated reading was correct at the time it was estimated.
You could reduce it if you stopped leaving the immersion on when you are away. That is really silly and wasteful. It would probably only take about half an hour to heat the tank when you return.
Your parents idea that it is cheaper to leave the immersion on is totally incorrect and is just a myth that has been going the rounds for years and propogated by people who just don't understand the subject.
Simply put, while you are away the tank will lose heat even if well lagged and so the immersion will heat it up continuously. And for what? just to lose heat and be reheated again. All costing money and not being used.
And in 77days (approx 11 weeks) you have done this 10 times. I would say a substantial chunk of your bill wasted there.

ollym_3

How can the meter have passed 99,999 when we've only lived here for 5 months and no one lived here before? Does the meter show units?

My mum's partner was referring to when I am here... is it best to have it one an hour in the morning or evening or all day whilst here? Bearing in mind however, that sometimes I shower at lunch time...

Cardew

Firstly totally agree with the post above about leaving on am immersion heater. It really is amazing that such a stupid idea about leaving it in constantly being more economical gets spread about.

You really do not know if you have consumed 2219 kWh in 77 days as the first reading is estimated, so it could be more or less than that figure.

Bear in mind that electric heating is quite expensive and that the average total bill for heating and electricity is approx £1,000 a year. So £192 for 11 weeks in a winter quarter is certainly not excessive.

djohn2002uk

ollym wrote:

How can the meter have passed 99,999 when we've only lived here for 5 months and no one lived here before? Does the meter show units?

My mum's partner was referring to when I am here... is it best to have it one an hour in the morning or evening or all day whilst here? Bearing in mind however, that sometimes I shower at lunch time...

If no one lived there before then there should not have been an estimated reading but an actual reading taken when the meter was installed and you should have taken a reading when you moved in as a backup for situations like this.
But that is probably water under the bridge now, but it may be worth you complaining to your supplier about it.
The meter obviously wasn't brand new when installed there but would have been removed from somewhere else and tested before being reused.
The other thing that comes to mind here is that if you are the first occupiers of the property, maybe the landlord/builder was using electricity via that meter prior to you moving in and no reading was given on changeover. In that case you could be being billed for some of their usage.
But despite all of that, you must still control the use of that immersion heater which when running "could" use up to 3 units per hour, of course once the tank is up to temperature it will only switch on and off occationally but nevertheless is one of the most expensive pieces of equipment to run in any dwelling.
Two things to do:-
1. Don't under any circumstances leave it on weekends while you are away.
2. Get up earlier and take your shower while there is still hot water in the tank from the hour it is switched on in the morning and not running it untill lunch time.
You will save a lot on those alone and by turning lights and other equipment off when not being used.

Oh, and yes the actual readings on Electric meters are units used. In your case 100743 minus 98524 = 2219.

ollym_3

It's very strange... we've just looked and the electric reading on moving in was 97341.8 - this is a new build.. everything here is new, so confused why the meter would be so high but maybe it is second hand. We're not being billed for anyone elses usage - it's our second bill.

We've looked at the meter and it seems to heat to order so maybe it isn't an immersion.. it's called a pulsacoil...

Wig

Your bill looks correct to me 100743 - 98524 = 2219

" We have the immersion heater on in the morning and evening, leaving it on whilst away. My mum's partner just told me that soemtimes they're better left on because it can be cheaper to maintain the temperature all day than heat it up, let it cool and heat it up."

What the OP means is not whilst away on holiday, but away at work, I presume.

Now as to which method is cheaper (leave on or switch off) you would have to do some experiments, say a weeks reading leaving it on. and a weeks reading turning it on and off as you require. IF there is any significant difference between the 2 methods it will show itself.

Pulsacoil
http://www.gledhill.net/water-storage/2000-range-index/pulsacoil1.htm

http://www.gledhill.net/water-storage/2000-range-index/pdfs/pulsacoil_how.pdf

Doesn't look like heat on demand to me. But after reading it it seems to keep a reservoir of hot water (primary) through which the cold water is run to be heated up as it passes through the hot water...this is a combination of heat on demand aswell as "always on" - to keep the reservoir hot. And it looks like it is a unit that is supposed to be "left on". Though Gledhil technical helpline should be able to advise the pros and cons of switching it off twice a day or more.

ollym_3

I did read through the guide but it has left me more confused and they don't offer support to the public normally.

The guide seems to suggest it heats the thermal tank at night.. so should I use a timer or will it do it itself.... We set a timer for the morning and evening but I don't think we need to bother?

Wig

Unless someone is familiar with them, we simply won't know.

http://www.gledhill.net/water-storage/ws-index.htm
click "contact" to get.......

Technical: 01253 474 401

ellie14

I have a gledhill boiler had lots of bother initially ,to the point if you ring Gledhills (i live near them) ask for Neil he seems to be in charge knows what hes talking about.

Mike4

I'm very familiar with Gledhill PusaCoils. I fix them (and any other boiler) for a living. They have two immersion heaters, and are designed for use with an Economy 7 electricity tariff. The idea is that the lower immersion heater heats the whole tank overnight on the E7 cheap electricity, and the upper heater is used for daytime boosting (on expensive daytime electricity) only if needed.

The lower immersion heater needs to be connected to a timed power supply (provided by the leccy company) or if there isn't one, then you must install a timer yourself.

The PulsaCoil provides hot water only not space heating as well, unlike some of the other Geldhill products.

MiketheBoilerman