Huge Electricity Bill - Npower

ValHaller

jdeeuk wrote: »

Your day usage is far greater than your night usage, this could mean one of two things, either you use more during the day or your reads are transposed.

Actually, the really relevant fact is that the usage on the meter is far greater than the apparent usage in the flat. The 2 relevant things to consider are either the meter is transposed with the meter for another flat or there is actually load on OP's supply which he is not aware of (due to either not identifying all load in the flat during the tests in post 7 or there being additional load from outside the flat - eg communal lighting).

Post 7 is quite conclusive that the readings on meter itself are not transposed, so teh only question is whether it is reading the OP;s consumption, the whole consumption and nothing but the OP's consumption.

hacienda99

My account number does begin with 1 - does this indicate a particular type of meter?

I've gone through everything it could possibly be in the flat, but I can't see what can be taking that usage - the main hours of elec. usage for me would be from 6 - 11 pm, but that's just your usual cooking, one or two hours of TV, the kettle boiling a few times, the 3kwh water heater for about an hour, and that's it really. With some laptop usage, fridge freezer and the lights on top. The heaters we have are electric wall panel heaters, these are 1500 w, and we only use one or two of these for a few hours a night (and work on a thermostat). Everything is turned off at night and when we leave for the day in the morning.

On my bill it states the average usage per day as being 46.68 kWh. I know that I'm not getting the most out of E7, but as far as I can see, I do not use this much electricity. I've had problems with the way the phone lines were wired up in this flat, so I'm hoping it's just another case of an error in when the building was built (3 or 4 years ago - I've been here 1 year)

Thanks,

molerat

1. Are you sure the meter you checked is actually the one linked to your flat. It is not uncommon for them to be crossed even if it is marked with your flat number. You need to turn your main switch off and check to see that your meter is not advancing. Next switch back on and turn all of your heaters on, the meter should flash like mad.

2. E7 does not seem suitable for you as you are using way more daytime (expensive) units than night time (cheap) units. Using simple figures to cover your quoted period at 17p per kWh day and 9p night compared to 14p single rate. 11415 day at 17p = £1940 + 2596 night at 9p = £233 = £2173. 14011 at 14p single rate = £1961, a saving of £212 over the 14 months.

hacienda99

The meter is something I'm chasing with the building owners (they decided to lock up the meter room).

I've just gone through everything I use in one day and worked out the kwh - my total usage for the day is around 24kWh - I was also rounding up and slightly overcompensating. This leaves 22kWh not accounted for (assuming my usage estimate is accurate)

[Deleted User]

Molerat is correct, you cannot rely at all on your meter being marked correctly, many I see are marked with plot numbers when they are originally fitted, some have been messed up by tenants getting it wrong. Do your own checks and make sure the reads havent been transposed. Meter readers cant be relied upon let alone caretakers. Get your own key cut for the cupboard if possible. There is no reason why you should nt have access to your own meter, you may want to put in monthly readings in for instance
Sometimes the owners go down the health and safety route and keep the cupboards locked because of fire door regs, even so, if you had a prepay meter you would be expecting to get at the meter as and when required, not at the whim of the caretaker

jdeeuk

Your account number starting 1 means your on npowers SAP system allowing them to bill at one rate. The fact that day usage is higher than night usage would suggest that (IF looking at right meter) an E7 tariff is not what you want. Get your meter serial number and MPAN off your bill and call npower, they can search the national database (ecoes) to check if those numbers correspond your your property and if not they will do a crossed mpan investigation for you. IF the meter is correct meter then you need to be billed as single rate, just call them and ask what difference in price would be on your usage between e7 and single rate. the fact you have a SAP account with them means that they can bill at single rate without changing the physical meter.

nPower

Hi hacienda99,

That does sound like a lot of energy use compared to what you have said you are using.

Please could you send me all the details to [EMAIL="forumresponse@npower.com"]forumresponse@npower.com[/EMAIL] and I can take a look into your account?

Many thanks,

Adam

Johannac

Dejavu!

I know exactly what your problem is because I had exactly the same problem as you 2 years ago.

Moved into 2 bed flat. All electric. No storage heaters but lovely water filled radiators - exactly the same as gas central heating apart from powered by electric. We were also with Nopower.

You have the wrong metre. The metres that give 2 readings if day and night are for Storage heaters ONLY. You should have a single reading metre fitted straight away & complain. I told power I did not have storage heaters and wanted to go on standard electric rate. They put me on Economy7 which means cheap elec at night & expensive during the day. We dont have storage heaters to heat overnight so we were paying the day time rate for all of out electric usage - huge bill arrived through the post.

I got straight on the phone and complained that we do nit gave storage heaters which I had said first of all etc. After a few calls back & fourth, power came out & removed our old economy7 metre & fitted the new one free if charge. They then backdated our electric usage to the standard rate!

Also you do not need your water heated 3 hours a day. I'm presuming you have a water timer somewhere near your electric boiler? We heat our water for about 45min in the morning and about 45 mins in evening. We never run out of hot water & will save you money. With these wet electric systems you can boost for an hour if you need extra hot water.

Make sure your using your room thermostat properly & out it on a timer. We pay £78 per month for all our electric.

Get straight on the phone to npower & get your metre changed ASAP. I would complain as npower should really have known by your usage that you were not on economy7. Lastly change your tariff to standard electric. I've just moved to M&S energy as they have the cheapest rates capped to 2015.

Hope this helps & if you need anymore info on how wet electric works let me know, after 2 years if trouble I'm now an expert!

fed_up_and_stressed

Sorry Johannac but you are wrong e7 meters aren't ONLY for storage meters lots of people choose E7 tarrifs due to the way they live their lives e. use lots more electric at night. Admittedly they aren't right for everyone it depends on personal circumstances. Also with certain types of e7 meters npower don't even need to get the MOP (meter operators for your area) to change them they can in certain circumstances change the tarriff without changing the meter depending and bill the culmative rates on single rate

Sorry your level of expertise that you claim worrys me that you are giving advice which is incorrect. I have previously worked in the industry for many years.

Also meter reads taken at 10am and 2pm as given by the post originator both showing 9114 for NIGHT reads do not suggest transposed reads ... No usage on the night rate during the day is correct confused how people seem to think this is transposed.

Johannac

Sorry Fed Up And Stressed but what worries me even more being just a member of the public who does not and has not worked for an utility company, that npower specifically told me they could not charge me the standard electric rate on the e7 meter. Do you not think I would have asked them 1st before having to book wasted annual leave for someone to come out & change my meter?

Your right should not gave said ONLY but personally if you do not have E7 heaters I cannot see how it would benefit anyone to be paying E7 rates? Of course there are still people who have those meters who do not have storage heaters, but then you will probably find it's those people who can't understand why their electric bills are so high (me being one of them)

Sorry if I have offended anyone by simply trying to help as I have been in exactly this situation and now my bills are no where near what they were.

I shall re-phrase to prevent any annoyance. Ask youselves some questions, when do you need and use your heating? What time if day do you normally wash your clothes? When time does your water heater timer come on? What times do you normally put your dishwasher on? Blow-dry your hair? If most of the answers would be during the day & before 11pm the economy 7 meter is not cost effective for you