First EON bill too high?

Dale122

macman wrote: »

It's up you you which supplier and tariff you are on, not your LL.

I was wondering about that. I did a price comparison with the £30 cashback and it come up with First Utility as the cheapest. They have a smart meter thing which automatically keeps them updated with meter readings (I think). Anybody know if that company are any good? I haven't heard of them before now. I suppose it's trial and error with who'll be cheapest, I have a feeling if I switch my electric will go up but my gas may go down.

WestonDave

Ignore the 70 on the boiler - that is probably 70C but will be the temperature of the water circulating in the radiators to make them hot. Whilst your little one is only 4 months that isn't a problem, but you might want to think about having it a bit lower once she becomes mobile and could start grabbing radiators to pull herself up to a stand.

It does sound as though your main problem is lack of insulation which ideally is down to the landlord. That said, it might still be in your favour to think about it. If the loft insulation isn't up to scratch (and with high ceilings this will be a killer) then it might be worth your while asking the landlord if you can add some at your own expense (assuming he won't either pay for it (best option) or refund the materials if you install it yourself) especially if you can get some of the cheap stuff B&Q sometimes have at £1 per roll etc.

Make sure you have the windows well covered to avoid draughts and heat escaping through the glass - thick curtains might not be ideal trendy decor but they will save heat. Also that age house might have solid rather than cavity walls - if it was left empty and allowed to go cold for some times before you moved in it might take some heat to get the walls warm again. Macman is right - you will spend more in the 4 winter months (dec to march) and so don't be too surprised if your bills are high this month. If you are on a combi boiler (i.e. no hot water tank) then you will use very little gas during the summer - just enough to heat washing up and bathing water.

HappyMJ

Dale122 wrote: »

I was wondering about that. I did a price comparison with the £30 cashback and it come up with First Utility as the cheapest. They have a smart meter thing which automatically keeps them updated with meter readings (I think). Anybody know if that company are any good? I haven't heard of them before now. I suppose it's trial and error with who'll be cheapest, I have a feeling if I switch my electric will go up but my gas may go down.

Quick advice...avoid first:utility.

Longer advice read the reviews and look very closely at the deferred discount. Awful....especially in a rented property. If you are given notice to leave 2 months before the annual anniversary you will lose all of the deferred discount. It's £180 a year and not a small amount to lose.

pinkythingy

hi, im dales girlfriend. just to add to convo , ive spoke to eon about half our ago and they recomended to switch to an online account called saveonline 11, where its fixed direct debits which they recomended of 113 pcm which she said would cover our usage and pay off the remainder of the bill weve just been given.

would this be any good? as she also said we would be billed every 3 months and if weve used more or less energy and gas then the bill will be sorted out accordenly. would this be a smart move or not?

HappyMJ

Saveonline 11 is a reasonable tariff. It's 6% cheaper than Eon's standard plan. Were there any better tariffs on the comparison website that were cheaper and did not have deferred discounts? Do you have the bill? Do you want to post the meter readings and dates? If you had a bill of £214 for 5 weeks then paying £113 a month will not cover the bill and ongoing usage so you will find that every 3 months the direct debit will either go up or you will have to pay the outstanding amount for it to stay at £113 per month. Fixed direct debit just means fixed for 3 months until a new bill is generated and then it is adjusted.

pinkythingy

oh right fair enuf.. n readings taken for the day we moved in was 04007 electric, 03623 gas. then ones taken yesterday were 04279 elec, 03983 gas. and i get confused with comparison websits as they ask for your yearly cosumption. and weve only been here 5 weeks ish.

macman

Use average consumption figures, such as 20,500kWH for gas and 3,300kWH for electricity. That will give you a starting point.
This assumes that you have gas CH and DHW.
Avoid FU like the plague-lots of reports of dire customer service on this board.

HappyMJ

pinkythingy wrote: »

oh right fair enuf.. n readings taken for the day we moved in was 04007 electric, 03623 gas. then ones taken yesterday were 04279 elec, 03983 gas. and i get confused with comparison websits as they ask for your yearly cosumption. and weve only been here 5 weeks ish.

That's close enough.

Use 2,800kWh for your annual electricity consumption. The last 5 weeks should have cost about £44 with Eon standard plan. ((4279-4007)/35*365)

Use 24,000kWh for the annual gas consumption. The last 5 weeks should have cost around £163 with Eon Standard plan. Assuming that 15% of the annual usage is used in the month of January. 60% over the 4 winter months, Dec, Jan, Feb and March. ((3983-3623)/35 days*11.2kWh*31 days/0.15)

If you switch to Eon Saveonline 11 that will cost you £106 per month. The cheapest is around £100 per month.

macman

pinkythingy wrote: »

oh right fair enuf.. n readings taken for the day we moved in was 04007 electric, 03623 gas. then ones taken yesterday were 04279 elec, 03983 gas. and i get confused with comparison websits as they ask for your yearly consumption. and weve only been here 5 weeks ish.

So in that period (35 days) you've used 272kWh of electricity-about £30 worth.
I'm afraid that won't help us with gas usage, as we don't know if your meter units (360 used) are metric or imperial. We would need to know that (it's marked on the meter) But much easier if you just read the kWh totals off the actual bill-since you are billed in kWh, not in meter units (which are volume, not energy).
But I'm guessing that you have a metric meter and so have used around 4,091kWh, at a cost of about £200.

Dale122

HappyMJ wrote: »

That's close enough.

Use 2,800kWh for your annual electricity consumption. The last 5 weeks should have cost about £44 with Eon standard plan. ((4279-4007)/35*365)

Use 24,000kWh for the annual gas consumption. The last 5 weeks should have cost around £163 with Eon Standard plan. Assuming that 15% of the annual usage is used in the month of January. 60% over the 4 winter months, Dec, Jan, Feb and March. ((3983-3623)/35 days*11.2kWh*31 days/0.15)

If you switch to Eon Saveonline 11 that will cost you £106 per month. The cheapest is around £100 per month.

This is pretty much spot on, we have been quoted around that much for that tarriff also.

I have now checked the boiler and it is a gloworm cxi or something similar. It definitely displays temperature in degrees C.

I have also looked in my tenancy papers and found a table containing ratings for insulation. Apparently the walls (being solid brick walls) are rated very poor, whereas the loft is rated as good, it states there is 200mm thick insulation in there (iirc). It also states the programme of the boiler to be very poor.

I will definitely be taking steps now to reduce our gas usage by turning the thermostat down, not having it on constantly and by turning a few of the radiators down in the halls, bathroom etc. Will also be switching tarriff

Once again thanks everybody for your input, it has been extremely useful and I welcome any more tips