Am I Using Too Much Electricity? (Data Provided)

TomEC3

Hi,

This is my first post on the forums! :j

I am concerned that my electricity bills are too high (£50 per month approx) given that I live in a modern property and that I am out of the flat 7am-7pm Monday-Friday.

I have pulled the figures together and would like to present them to this forum to see if any one can offer their advice. Please let me know if you you have any thoughts, as I would be really grateful to hear them:

MODERN ONE BEDROOM FLAT (CENTRAL LONDON)

• Built 1993
• Fourth floor
• Electricity only

METER DATA (20 JUNE 2011 - 14 MARCH 2012)
Day: 7.9 units per day on average
Night: 2.8 units per day on average

BILLS
Provider: SSE
Tariff: Fixed Discount January 2014 Economy 7 (online bills, direct debit)
Average Bill: £50 per month

USAGE

• One large water heater, set to come on between 4:30am and 6am (although it seems to run a short cycle every hour or so)
• Central heating set to come on 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening (November to February only)
• Dishwasher - 3 times per week on 'Quick' setting
• Washer/dryer - 2 times per week on 'Quick' setting with 45 minutes of drying
• Large fridge/freezer
• Electric cooker used once per day (twice at weekend)
• Average use of TV / laptop / WiFi / phone charge
  
  
• I am out of the house Monday to Friday from 7:30am to 7:30pm

Please let me know what you think. Given that I am out of the flat most of the time and on a competitive Economy 7 tariff, is £50 about right or am I using too much energy somewhere?

dogshome

£600 a year for an all electric flat falls in the 'reasonable' catagory, but there are a couple of questions about your useage pattern

HOTWATER
Your ECO 7 meter is delivering cheap power overnight to give a tankful of Hotwater, but your comment that it appears to work a short cycle every hour or so suggests that the 'Daytime Boost' switch is permanently on, which is using more expensive Daytime power

CENTRAL HEATING
The usual heating with ECO 7 is some type of storage radiator, that again uses cheap overnight elec - If you have this set-up your 1 hour in the Morning and Evening is burning expensive daytime power

HappyMJ

As above but do check with your supplier's tariff table to see if you would be better off on a standard rate Some tariffs have this strange way of billing in that virtually everyone is better off on an E7 tariff. The difference between the day rate on E7 and the standard rate is only half a penny in most regions with some suppliers especially scottish power but you may be better on a standard tariff with another supplier.

Although 26% at night is around the usual break even point with most suppliers where neither standard or E7 is better except only for convenience.

TomEC3

dogshome wrote: »

£600 a year for an all electric flat falls in the 'reasonable' catagory, but there are a couple of questions about your useage pattern

HOTWATER
Your ECO 7 meter is delivering cheap power overnight to give a tankful of Hotwater, but your comment that it appears to work a short cycle every hour or so suggests that the 'Daytime Boost' switch is permanently on, which is using more expensive Daytime power

CENTRAL HEATING
The usual heating with ECO 7 is some type of storage radiator, that again uses cheap overnight elec - If you have this set-up your 1 hour in the Morning and Evening is burning expensive daytime power

Thanks.

HOTWATER
Yes, I think you are right about 'Daytime Boost' switch being permanently on. However, how is this controlled? My water heater has a control panel with the usual OFF/ONCE/TWICE/ON settings but no mention of 'Daytime Boost'. Do you know of any other way I could control it?

CENTRAL HEATING
My radiators are fed by the water heater. So, yes - appreciate these will use expensive electricity during daytime hours.

Wickedkitten

About 11 units a day and you are paying £50 a month? entirely too much per unit. Is that actual figures though or what your direct debit is set at?

misterbarlow

HappyMJ wrote: »

The difference between the day rate on E7 and the standard rate is only half a penny in most regions with some suppliers especially scottish power but you may be better on a standard tariff with another supplier.

half a penny!!
where did you get this from...?
the difference between standard rate and e7 on peak is usually much more than that...
compared to standard the off peak is around half the price, and on peak usually around 4-5p more

TomEC3

Wickedkitten wrote: »

About 11 units a day and you are paying £50 a month? entirely too much per unit. Is that actual figures though or what your direct debit is set at?

Hi. My current rates are:

• 13.86 pence per Day unit
• 6.19 pence per Night unit

i.e. £1.61 per day and 34p per night based on current usage

Minus direct debit and online discounts gives approx £63 per month

*Based on data from 13 February to 15 March