Why is my electric more expensive than friends with bigger homes?

Tracy2912

We live in a 1 bed flat that is on economy 7 (very expensive), we are currently paying Scottish Power £120 month, after talking to friends who have 3 or 4 bed houses, they are paying their suppliers less than half what we are paying! Our monthly payment was increased due to a high winter bill last year £550 qtr as all 4 storage heaters were on, as we can't afford another high bill for this winter, we have not put the heaters on and using convector heaters instead. Can anyone advise why our electric is so high?

Many thanks.

NVRAM

That does seem really high to me, we pay £30 a month and normally get a bill every quarter for 50-80.
Do you have many other devices left on?

We normally have a couple of PCs left on 24/7 as servers and then the usual fridge/freezer and the like but I've never had a bill that high thankfully, 3 bed house, GCH, electric oven.

HappyMJ

Tracy2912 wrote: »

We live in a 1 bed flat that is on economy 7 (very expensive), we are currently paying Scottish Power £120 month, after talking to friends who have 3 or 4 bed houses, they are paying their suppliers less than half what we are paying! Our monthly payment was increased due to a high winter bill last year £550 qtr as all 4 storage heaters were on, as we can't afford another high bill for this winter, we have not put the heaters on and using convector heaters instead. Can anyone advise why our electric is so high?

Many thanks.

Do your friends have gas central heating? If they do take their gas bills and at least double it (some people would triple it but as you are in a flat I'd just double it) and add that to their electric bills and that should be what your electric alone would cost.

Convector heaters on a E7 tariff are evil....They are easily almost 3 times the cost of gas central heating. Try setting up the storage heating properly (you really only need to use the 1 in the lounge) and rely on that. They should cost not that much more than gas central heating.

Tracy2912

Thank you for a quick response. We have fridge/freezer too, electric cooker, no gas, all electric. The immersion heater is on 24/7 and the tv,consoles are on standby (tv not meant to be turned off properly apparently!). Our new convector heaters have timers so only on for a few hours a day (won't know if these will work out cheaper until we get a bill in march!).

zagfles

Surely convector heaters are going to be far more expensive that storage heaters on economy 7, as you'll be using most of the electric at the high rate rather than the low rate?

zagfles

Tracy2912 wrote: »

Thank you for a quick response. We have fridge/freezer too, electric cooker, no gas, all electric. The immersion heater is on 24/7 and the tv,consoles are on standby (tv not meant to be turned off properly apparently!). Our new convector heaters have timers so only on for a few hours a day (won't know if these will work out cheaper until we get a bill in march!).

Forget TVs, consoles etc. It's the heating (inc water heating) that's your problem.

I think you're missing the point of E7 if you've got the immersion on 24/7. You should have it on at night only when you get cheap electric. Does it have a timer?

This may help: http://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/economy-7/

Cardew

Tracy2912 wrote: »

Thank you for a quick response. We have fridge/freezer too, electric cooker, no gas, all electric. The immersion heater is on 24/7 and the tv,consoles are on standby (tv not meant to be turned off properly apparently!). Our new convector heaters have timers so only on for a few hours a day (won't know if these will work out cheaper until we get a bill in march!).

Using convector heaters will hugely increase your bill.(For using the same amount of heat)

As you are on an Economy 7 tariff, your daytime electricity will be at a high rate.

Storage heaters are cheaper, but need planning ahead and controlling correctly - you would be better using them - experimenting with the input settings - untill you get the best performance. The heat produced by storage heating will be at around 5p/kWh where it will be at around 12p/kWh with convector heaters.

If you used storage heaters that ran out of warmth in the evening you could supplement them with the convector heating

Tracy2912

Reply to happy mj.

We did set the storage heaters up properly last winter, the flat was warm as toast first thing in the morning and freezing cold when we got home from work, the boost wasn't throwing alot of heat out, therefore we had to buy additional heaters to keep warm in the evening! It doesn't help living in a building above a shop that doesn't have double glazing and the storage heaters are probably older than me.

My friends bills are gas and electricity combined, one friend has a 4 bed house and on E7 and only pays £60 month.

Surely the convector heaters won't be as expensive if they are on timers and only overridden at weekends?

jalexa

Tracy2912 wrote: »

Our new convector heaters have timers so only on for a few hours a day (won't know if these will work out cheaper until we get a bill in march!).

If you have an extremely well insulated flat then convector heaters on timers may suit but I suggest you get a handle on your consumption by taking daily readings for a week. Remember the weather is less cold so expect to use more in really cold weather.

Going from 4 storage heaters to none is quite extreme if it is just a financial measure. What about keeping one on for background heat in your living area? E7 doesn't pay unless you have a minimum off-peak use (because the E7 day rate is higher than a normal tariff rate. There is still the possibility of off-peak water heating if you have it on a timer instead of 24/7.

Tracy2912

In response to putting the immersion on a timer, what am I to do when I need hot water for washing up and showering? The cheap rate goes on about midnight, the hot water won't be hot all day. I'm not putting any storage heaters on, they cost a fortune to heat up from cold and just don't keep us warm. The convectors are doing a much better job.

We are going to start doing our own readings for a month to see if we are being overcharged.

jalexa

Tracy2912 wrote: »

In response to putting the immersion on a timer, what am I to do when I need hot water for washing up and showering? The cheap rate goes on about midnight, the hot water won't be hot all day

Well the answer to that does depend on how well insulated the cylinder is. Proper E7 cylinders have factory applied insulation which keeps the water warm enough all day for washing up. Showering might need a short boost though.

What type of insulation jacket does the cylinder have and do you know its capacity?