Is my electricity too high??

cikera

I live in a two bedroom flat. Heating and hot water is paid by the council using a cyclo meter but i am still having to pay £260 every 3 months. Is this normal??
We are very careful when using our electricity- switching off plugs, tv is rarely on and ebergy saving lighhtbulbs.
It seems every 3 months the bill is climbing higher and higher.
My mum who lives round the corner has a 4 bed house and she pays less than me!!
Help anyone?

molerat

£s means nothing although that amount is high. How many kWh are you using ?

good_advice

Hiya, £260 for 3 months or £86 a month for an all electric flat is not to bad. You did not say you have gas CH.

2 or 4 bed, you still have a washing machine, fridge/freezer, tv, lap tops and the like...
This time of year it is all about heating. What type do you use and how long is it on for?

macman

The OP has already said that the heating and hot water is supplied within their housing cost. So the leccy cost should not be anything like £87pm.
As above, please post your actual annual kWh consumption and tariff.

cikera

My annual statement for the period 15-sep 2012-2013 in kWh.
last 12 months: 5,039
next year: 5,881

Toal cost for next year is £838.51
This is a standard tariff.

Just to add that i was on economy seven rate back in 2010 but had it changed over to the standard rate as suggested by someone from the council and an 'expert' on cyclo meters working for EDF energy.

To be truly honest i am so baffled with all these numbers and so on. I dont know if i should even had economy 7 rate on my bill previously as my hot water and heating is paid by the council and so has nothing to do with me.
I have no idea why every year it is getting higher and higher. We are so scared to even put the lights on in the evening!

HappyMJ

That is high considering there is no heating or hot water to take into account. I would start taking regular meter readings such as weekly then try changing your habits by turning stuff off and using things less. Do you dry your clothes in a clothes dryer? With inclusive heating I would dry them on a rack with the window slightly open to let the moisture out.

andy2004

using my latest bill and your units of 5,039, i worked out what it would have be if you where with southern electric, £690 approx for the year

I pay quarterly, so i divided your 5,039 / 4 = 1259.75 units, / my units for 3months 827 = 1.523x my bill £113 = £172 what you would have paid for the same quarter, and then x 4 for the year.

cikera

We have a balcony and so it all goes out there to dry. We even switched off our ventilating system around 7 months ago and edf noticed no change.
We only use the hot water that is stored over night and once that is finished we do not switch it on as we would be charged for it.

Everytime i phone EDF about my bill they say that my heating and hot water is the problem...? most do not know what a cyclo meter is and once they realise that we have two meters (one for us) other (council) they actually do not know what to say to me.
I have followed all there energy saving tips and still the bill rises.

duchy

Are these estimated bills ?

Years ago I lived in a council block where hot water and heating was included -however previously before the building was renovated it wasn't so any estimated bills were working on previous consumption so were ridiculously high. If your bills are estimated do your own reading and get the bill recalculated.

Also make sure you aren't on an economy 7 tariff. Today I decided to sort out my boyfriend's utility bills as he was having a stress out over them and I couldn't understand why when he lives in a house the same size as me and works fulltime why his electric was so much more than mine (same size and type of house but I work from home and have a university student son at home so our usage is much higher). Turns out he's on economy 7 which makes no sense at all as most of his usage is outside the economy 7 period so he's paying more than he should. His direct debit has been reduced and a new (free) meter is been fitted next week -once the new meter is in I'll look to see if switching supplier will bring further savings.

MickyJ

Average annual electricity consumption (excluding homes benefiting from electrical heating) is considered by most energy providers to be around 3, 900 KWh, so 5000 - 6000 KWh is high.

The types of electrical appliances that you're using is of far greater significance than the size of your property as far as electricity consumption is concerned (again, assuming that you're not using electrical heating of any kind).

Just a tip: ANYTHING that uses electricity to provide heat is relatively expensive: immersion heaters, storage heaters, electrical radiators and fires, electric ovens and hobs, etc.

If you have an immersion heater, make sure of the following: that you're using it correctly; that it isn't left on when not in use; that it hasn't developed a fault -- these things can potentially cost a small fortune!

HOWEVER... if you don't have gas central heating, and you DO heat your home by electricity, then your annual consumption would be about right (or maybe even slightly lower than average). If you had gas central heating, your electricity bills would be much lower -- but, of course, you'd have a gas bill to pay as well.