Thoughtless Housemate = Huge Bills!

whatatwit

I think electric is only cheaper at night if you have an Economy 7 meter as well as the regular one.
Otherwise how would the meter know.

CLAPTON

its not entirely clear exactly how much you are spending each month or whether there are any balances carried forward but if you keep a monthly reading its easy to work out an approximate cost. really worth working out the figures.

if gas is about 40 a month while this is high it isn't really huge.... what exact hours is the CH on each day... remember that any house should retain heat for at least half an hour and a modern one for longer, so do you turn the heating off at least half hour ( and maybe longer) before leaving in the morning and again before bed time?

your leccy bill at 60 a month does seem very high as you use no electric space heating and have no tumble drier.

are there any outside 'security lights' on the house (these can easily be half kilowatt ) or is your hot water heated by electicity?

atypicalblonde

poorbutrich wrote:

And in my case, neither the financial or environmental aspects bother my housemates - only answer I can come up with is that someone needs to move out.....

Exactly the same here!! :mad:

warburtonrichard

Economy 7 sounds great on the face of it, but the benefit you get of a cheap 7 hours for your storage heating or putting things on a timer can be quickly eaten up by the fact the rates are higher than standard in the day.

One careless light left on in the daytime on economy 7 means more on your bill. So although you COULD ring your supplier and tell them you think you'd be cheaper on economy 7 and can they change your meter (most do this for free), it means you have to be MORE disciplined not less.

Hope this helps

Warby

Bunnyinthelights

Sorry,
I haven't any answers but last summer when my sister came to stay for 4 months with her BF, our bills sky rocketed! Water, gas, electricity etc. WE're just finished paying them off now.
Was a very expensive visit for us...
Bunny

nevadagirl

sarahlouise210 wrote:

I once had a flatmate who refused to pay anything towards the electricity as I had been the one who decided we needed a fridge freezer and microwave (I paid for them!!) ...

:rotfl:

I wonder if it's the same person who I shared a flat with at uni. She was adamant that she did not use electricity in the flat, so would not contribute. She even got mummy and daddy on the phone at one point 'to have a little word with me' and I thought, 'phew, they'll offer to send a cheque, they must know what a little madam she is' only for them to explain to me that she was right and did not have to pay towards electricity, as she didn't use it!

I wouldn't mind but she was the only one of us who had a computer in the flat, and she would also shower then blow dry her hair twice a day!

I look back on it and laugh now, but it was a bit frustrating when I was working on a checkout every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and doing an office job every Friday afternoon to pay the bills, and get myself graduated with a minimum of debt, while she sat around the flat moping about all day (while not using any electricity, obv ) and then got a Jag for Christmas. Some people. :mad:

ScoobieGirl

oops duplicate post - sorry

ScoobieGirl

nevadagirl wrote:

... She was adamant that she did not use electricity in the flat, so would not contribute. She even got mummy and daddy on the phone ...only for them to explain to me that she was right and did not have to pay towards electricity, as she didn't use it!

OMG! How you deal with anyone that illogical ?!? What did they say her computer ran on? Nuclear power?

You should have unplugged all her equipment (including her hair dryer) and cut the plugs off, after all she had no need for them

Chelsea_Boy_2

princess_jane wrote:

Despite paying a whopping £60 a month 'leccy and £40 gas, our energy supplier has just wrote to me and my OH to advise us we have a 'leccy bill of £300 and a gas bill of £136.

We live in a practically brand-new, energy efficient house with all energy saving lightbulbs and appliances, energy efficient boiler etc etc.

Hi, I too moved into a new build just over a year ago, and unless you live in a 5/6 bedroom house those bills do seem a bit high. When you receive your bills make sure you read the meter and phone these readings through to their CS so that the energy companies can see what you are actually using (even if you are on DD). Energy companies do have a habit of well over estimating energy used on new bulids, as they have no historic data for these properties.

Also check the water temperature on the boiler (usually a small dial on the front) The builders have a habit of turning this up to 100% when they install them to check everything is working properly. Try turning this down to say 60-70%, you won't notice much difference when you use the water.

lotte123

lauren_1 wrote:

Unplug or switch off NOT ON STANDBYeverything you are not using, even the kettle, toaster, video, dvd player and oven (you would be suprised at how much that tiny little clock can cost you. These are usually left on for weeks on end.

When OH left I started turning the TV, DVD, Freeview and video player off at the wall instead of having them on standby. That was pretty much the only thing I did differently. They insisted on sending someone round to read the meter as my reading on it was so low!!! Definitely worth doing.