Just had my electric bill. I feel sick.

littlesammy

I currently live in a mobile caravan on a caravan site (holiday caravan site). Today the owner decided to give us our electric bill. Our last was July. According to this, it's 14p a unit and we've used £180 worth since July. I don't see how. We turn the TV off at the plug, we don't have alarm clocks, the microwave is switched off at the plug. The only time electric gets used is when we watch TV (5:30pm-10pm its usually on all the time), the washing machine (two loads a week), the dryer (one load a week), when we are cooking with the microwave (5 minutes a day maximum). Thats all I can think of that we use electric for.

Is 14p a unit reasonable?

I don't know where I'm going to get the money from to pay for this. I was expecting £100 maximum.

moonrakerz

No lights, no heat, no kettle, no hot water ?

I would say that your bill is reasonable. 14p a unit is a bit steep, but not excessive.

Your estimate of usage comes to about 20 units/week, the bill comes to about 40 units/week. Have a good look round, you must have appliances that you aren't aware of.

Mizz_Pink

I wish our bill was that little, we have just had our payments upped to £82 a month but then we dont live in a mobile home, we should move !

Try washing and using tumble dryer in evening or early in am as the leccy can be cheaper at that time of the day.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Agree with the usage not being high, with lights etc. Do you have a PC?

Is it a flat rate of 14p a unit(kWh)? e.g. approx 1,285kWh?

Bear in mind that you will normally pay at a higher rate than 14p a unit for the first 225 units(Tier1) a quarter - so as July to March is 9 months over half of your usage would be at a higher rate than 14p.

If that is so, 14p is not bad.

Cardew

Mizz_Pink wrote: »

Try washing and using tumble dryer in evening or early in am as the leccy can be cheaper at that time of the day.

Only if you have an Economy 7 tariff - which most people don't have; and the OP shouldn't have!

You pay extra for daytime electricity when you have Economy 7 and unless you have storage heating it is difficult(not impossible) to make Economy 7 worthwhile.

Mizz_Pink

Thanks I didnt realise it wasnt that popular. We have economy 7 and we hardly use any leccy at night which is the cheapest. Do you advise we come off it ? I didnt know you pay a higher rate in day than average, we get charged 14p a unit a day and 9p a unit at night.

wills34

prices vary area to area but i pay just around 9p per kWh used with ebico with no standing charges and no higher first rate

Cardew

Mizz_Pink wrote: »

Thanks I didnt realise it wasnt that popular. We have economy 7 and we hardly use any leccy at night which is the cheapest. Do you advise we come off it ? I didnt know you pay a higher rate in day than average, we get charged 14p a unit a day and 9p a unit at night.

More detailed reply on the thread you started:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=413789

The 9p a unit is a Typo?

moonrakerz

Cardew wrote: »

Is it a flat rate of 14p a unit(kWh)? e.g. approx 1,285kWh?

Bear in mind that you will normally pay at a higher rate than 14p a unit for the first 225 units(Tier1) a quarter - so as July to March is 9 months over half of your usage would be at a higher rate than 14p.

If that is so, 14p is not bad.

If this a caravan site, the people who run the site can charge what they like for power. They have to to recoup the costs of cabling the site, supplying meters etc, so the unit price will be higher and is usually a flat rate.

I had this in a marina for my boat !

Cardew

moonrakerz wrote: »

If this a caravan site, the people who run the site can charge what they like for power. They have to to recoup the costs of cabling the site, supplying meters etc, so the unit price will be higher and is usually a flat rate.

I had this in a marina for my boat !

Agreed, some tenancy agreements also have that arrangement.

I was making the point that if that is the case(Flat Rate charge) 14p a unit is reasonable for that amount of electricity.

dc

If your caravan was in my garden, BG would have charged me £145, so the site owner is not ripping you off by adding a "service charge" of £35 for 8 months.