First EON bill too high?

Dale122

Hi all,

I have just moved into a privately rented 2 bedroom house (victorian style terraced house). I live with my partner and we have a 4 month old daughter so I am required to leave heating on constant most of the time just to keep the house at around 22 degrees, although some days I do put it on timed (it is then on around 12 hours of the day).

Anyway I yesterday supplied meter readings for both electric and gas and my first bill from Eon comes to £214! (this is for around 1 month and 1 week, although I'm not sure if the 1 week is counted). It is split up into something like £160 for the gas and £40 for the electric and the rest is VAT.

Does this seem correct? In my opinion this is sky high. We budgeted before moving in for £200 a month for electric, gas and water and I thought that would cover it all and then some, obviously I was wrong. In total only 6 radiators are turned on around the house as we don't use two of the rooms yet. Readings were taken by the landlord and given to eon on the day we moved in.

Sorry for lack of precise information as I'm at work at the moment but can give more when I get home.

Thanks,
Dale

HappyMJ

Why do you have to leave the heating on 24/7 at 22 degrees? The offical NHS advice for babies and room temperature is to keep the room temperature between 16 and 20 degrees. 18 degrees being the optimal temperature. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Sudden-infant-death-syndrome/Pages/Prevention.aspx

Your bill seems right to me. It's high but then your house is set to a very high temperature. For every degree you lower the thermostat you will save 10% off your "heating" bill. 4 degrees. 40%....

Dale122

Well I am not sure if my thermometre is right, but when I put it on timed and turn the temperature down a little, it reads 20 degrees on the thermometre but both me and my partner feel very cold.

Just this morning I checked on my baby and her hands and face were very cold (I also felt very cold once I got out from under the covers. I checked the thermometre on her tommy tippee baby monitor and it read 20 degrees. she is away from the window and the radiator which is next to the window.

HappyMJ

Dale122 wrote: »

Well I am not sure if my thermometre is right, but when I put it on timed and turn the temperature down a little, it reads 20 degrees on the thermometre but both me and my partner feel very cold.

Just this morning I checked on my baby and her hands and face were very cold (I also felt very cold once I got out from under the covers. I checked the thermometre on her tommy tippee baby monitor and it read 20 degrees. she is away from the window and the radiator which is next to the window.

Are you really saying you are cold overnight underneath the covers and the thermometer reads 20 degrees first thing in the morning in the bedroom? Night time is when it should be much colder such as 15 or less. You are sleeping you won't feel it. Get an electric balnket if you really feel that cold they cost about 1p or 2p per hour to run. Much cheaper than the central heating. The heating calculations when fitting central heating are to bring bedrooms up to 18 degrees and living areas up to 21. OK if that's how you feel. Try turning the radiatiors off in the lounge at night and turn the bedroom radiators off during the day. At least then you'll only be heating half a house at a time. Anyway, your bill is normal.

Dale122

I am a bit confused about how my boiler works. You say 1 degree could save 10%. On my boiler, just to get around 20 degrees C in the house, has to be set to around 70 degrees C. If I then lower it by about 5 degrees C, the house temperature will go down by about 1 degree. Is this normal?

I am guessing that is the temperature the boiler is burning at but I am clueless

Edit: Looking online, I now realise 70 degrees F is about the same as 21 degrees C. I am really an idiot lol

HappyMJ

How old is the boiler? Model and type would be useful. To have degrees measured in F it must be quite old and therefore very inefficient.

Dale122

Have no clue until I am home, it looks pretty new, it has a digital display with a semi circle for the 24hr clock that I can set for the heating to be on in half hour increments.

Putting the heating on timed doesn't really work as the rooms are massive with high ceilings, once the heating is off for an hour or so the heat is lost quite fast. There are vents on all the windows and doors as well as a vent in each room (living room one being on the chimney breast). I have closed every vent in the house except the one in the kitchen and I keep all doors closed to try to stop heating escaping. Everything is upvc and double glazed and most walls are solid so I am unsure where the heat is escaping from

macman

Quoting £'s on your bill doesn't really tell us anything-post your actual kWh consumption figures and the no. of days the bill covered.
Your bills will continue to be huge if you run the heating 24/7. There's no possible need to run it overnight-that is doubling your consumption. If you want to keep the temp up in your child's room to a certain minimum (certainly not 22C!) then use a cheap panel heater or oil filled rad overnight.
If you have double glazing, the first thing to check out is the loft insulation, as that's quickly and easily remedied if not up to the current 270mm standard.
But remember that you have budgeted an average £200pm. This is the coldest month, your bills will plummet in the spring once you switch the heating off. You can reckon to use 75% of your annual gas consumption in the 3 coldest months.
PS: don't ever rely on your landlord to take meter readings-it's not his job or his bill. Take your own, at least quarterly. Are you on the cheapest eon tariff, or just on the deemed account default, which will be Standard (the most expensive)?

Dale122

macman wrote: »

Are you on the cheapest eon tariff, or just on the deemed account default, which will be Standard (the most expensive)?

Firstly thanks to both for your input. It's my first time renting a house and I clearly have a lot to learn. I am unsure which tarriff I am on, this is something that will also have to look in to.

It was the agent working for the landlord that took the meter readings and I went down into the cellar with him when he took them so I know they are correct. He then said he would send them to the utility companies for us so all we needed to do is wait for the bill to come through.

On that note, would having a cellar affect the heating at all? It's quite a small cellar (you have to duck to move around in there), about 12ft x 8ft (can't see any gaps in the walls, just an old coal shaft type thing that has been filled in).

Once again thanks to anybody who offers any input, it is really useful!

Dale.

macman

It's up you you which supplier and tariff you are on, not your LL. When the readings are submitted he will have put your name on the account to minimise his own bills. You are now in a deemed account with eon, probably on Standard tariff (the most expensive) Once that is registered, you can switch to the supplier of your choice. Use a comp site with your estimated annual kWH figures to find the best tariff. A switch will take 4-6 weeks, so you are stuck with eon Standard for most of the winter now.
Unless cold air is blowing up from the cellar through the floor, it shouldn't matter. Heat rises-which is why I suggested that you need to check the loft if the heat is not being retained.

E.ON_Company_Rep_Chris

Hiya Dale122

Can only really reiterate the excellent advice you’ve already been given by macman and HappyMJ.

It doesn’t sound like you’ve spoken to us yet and is definitely worth calling to see if we can offer a better plan for you. We can also update our priority service register, with there being a little one at home.

Also worth double-checking the readings given by the landlord are correct from when you moved in and the ones you gave us for your bill. We’ll have the previous tenant’s info to refer to if you’re not sure, but I agree always better to read the meters yourself.

If you speak to our Energy Efficiency team they’ll be able to help you to figure out why it’s so cold unless the heating’s on full whack and give you some tips on keeping your use as low as possible. It’s difficult to get to grips with it all when you’ve just moved to a new place.

See how you go Dale, let me know if need any help

Amanda