Crazy electrical usage in new house

Ramagamma

Right, first the problem. My Electricity usage in my new-house seems to be about double, and then some, what it was in my old flat.

Second, the numbers. In the old flat I paid £36 a month. For my last 4 month bill I had used about £126 of electricity and so am due £18 back from the £144 paid in.

In my new flat, I have just finished the £20 I put in on Saturday 11th December this morning. Thats almost £2.50 a day I'm using now. A stark contract from my old rate of <£1.

Third, the changes. My new flat has a freezer and a tumble dryer. The tumble dryer has been used for 40 minutes in those 8 days. Also, in the new property, my heating is Gas. The previous property was all electrical heating. Everything else was already in the old flat. Games consoles, PC, microwave, washing machine.

I just don't understand how I'm able to use £2.50 a day now. If anything I'm more vigilant in switching things off at the wall, etc. Surely being on PAYG electricity doesn't involve that much of a tariff!

Any ideas on how I can check this and it sounds awfully awfully strange that I'm paying this much more.

dogshome

Is this flat actually new with you as the 1st occupier, or just new for you?
Pay as you go meters in existing flats, can sometimes be set to recover debt owed by a previous occupier - If you haven't yet registered yourself as the new occupier with the supplier, get onto them now

Judgeing your power use by cost ain't the way to go - make a note of the meter reading daily to monitor your use so that you can build up a picture of a full years consumption in Kwh, and if in fact you are just the new tenant in an existing flat, ask the supplier what the annaul consumption was for the previuous occupants.

HappyMJ

Are you paying off someone elses debts? Press through all the buttons on the meter and write everything down. If you do that today at a certain time do it again tomorrow at exactly the same time of day. PAYG is more expensive than direct debit.

The freezer will add about 10p to your daily bill and the dryer will add about 30p for each hour of use. (20p for 40 minutes). How is the water heated? If it's by a gas boiler and a cylinder does the cylinder have an immersion heater that has been left on. Is the oven/hob also electric when it used to be gas? That could add another 10p per day.

As it is a flat are you reading the correct meter?

spiro

Have you check the PPM is not collecting any debt for the old occupant? If you put the key in the meter and scroll through the screens it will show you all the details. Also when posting about gas or elec always include consumption as kwh with £s as secondary information.