High Electricity Bill - please help!!

kimmi_uk

Hi all,

I moved into a one bedroom flat 6 months ago (1 bedroom, 1 lounge, 1 hall, 1 kitchen and 1 bathroom) - it's quite an old flat so has really high ceilings. I have black out thermal curtains in my bedroom, the lounge and the kitchen.

I recently got my first estimated bill for my gas and got a bit of a shock. When I moved in I changed from EDF and Eon to Npower dual fuel and started paying £20 gas £10 electric - I thought I had it the other way round but obviously not. Anyway as I mentioned I got my first estiamted gas bill today which was for an additional £40 so I rang them up with my meter reading and they found that I was actually £70 in credit (my usuage since 30th March was 252kwh). So I thought I'd better check my electric too and apparently I have used 1234kwh since 17th may (meanign I owe abotu £154). Does that seem an awful lot for 1 person in a 1 bed? Looking at the average consumption beign around 3000kwh and my parents in a 5 bedroom house spending only £26 direct debit a month I feel like it's a lot!

My oven is gas hob and electric oven and I have central heating which is gas and gas shower (central heating hasn't been used yet as I've not been here through a winter). the guy said my gas reading was the lowest he's ever seen - the gas meter box outside is damaged (as in the outer shell but not the meter bit) but I can't imagine that effects anything?

I should mention I've been doing a lot of DIY the last few months which may account for a high electricity bill?

I'm currently on npower dual fuel standard which is the same rates as their go save range which I was quote by moneysupermarket as my cheapest tariff.

Anyone got any suggestions for how I can reduce my bills as I don't think I can afford to live like this through the winter!

Sorry for the long post!

dogshome

In Summer your gas blls will be low simply because you are not useing the heating
Rule of thumb: Gas use/billing increases by 80% in Winter, so quite quickly in the coming months that £70 credit will turn into a debit

Summer Electric bills in a Gas heated flat will increase by only around 20% in winter, simply because you turn on the lights earlier - Your 1234 Kw of elec so far transcibes to roughly 2715 Kw for a full year. Not massive but seems a bit high for a 1bed flat, are you leaving TV's/Computers etc on standby 24 7?

kimmi_uk

No that's the thing I always turn lights off when I'm not using them - often having candles on at night rather than lights! I never leave my TV on standy and I can charge all my devices via my laptops' usb so barely ever charge anything. This is why I can't fathom my bill!

sunflower_2

kimmi_uk wrote: »

my parents in a 5 bedroom house spending only £26 direct debit a month

really??? :eek:

i dont think this would cover daily standing charge alone ?
(or the equivalent of Band A - extremely low usage)

is the property empty?

if not, they should speak to their supplier as this just isnt enough.

either something wrong with meter(s) or they going to end up with a HUGE catch-up bill at some point

Swipe

sunflower wrote: »

really??? :eek:

i dont think this would cover daily standing charge alone ?
(or the equivalent of Band A - extremely low usage)

is the property empty?

if not, they should speak to their supplier as this just isnt enough.

either something wrong with meter(s) or they going to end up with a HUGE catch-up bill at some point

Not necessarily, I'm all electric (air con heating and immersion heater) in a 3 bed bungalow and have a direct debit of £28/month and I'm just in credit at the end of a 12 month period with my supplier. I have a stove and spend £90 on coal which covers me for the whole of winter.

Terrylw1

The most obvious issue is estimated readings which can be too high.

The other obvious issue is the switch readings. Did you give them? If not, or if they weren't shown to close/open your accounts between suppliers, they will have used a Deemed reading. If this is too low, it will cause a higher bill that is playing catch up on the new suppliers side.

notbritishgas

Check Terry's theory above.
If that is not the reason then try this:

252kwh of gas since March is too low IF you are heating your water by gas and using the hob, I use about 75kwh a week to do that.
If you are not using gas for water then you are perhaps using the immersion heater, hence the relatively high electric usage?

Edit: you mention "gas shower" I do not know what one of them is.

ihateyes

im in a 2 bed flat though we only.... our elec is £40 or so a month.

smergyl

Not sure on your parents usage (insanely low) but we spend £40 for electric and £30 for gas per month in a 2 bed house. Me and hubby are very careful to keep our bills this low.

nPower

Hi kimmi_uk,

Would you like me to take a look into your account and make sure your billing is all in line?

You mentioned that you are on our Standard tariff - have you looked at the other tariffs available? There may be one that suits you better.

If you send me your details to forumresponse@npower.com, I can get this all checked for you.

Best wishes,

Adam