Economy 7 Storage Heaters, need advice!

jomz

Hi, We moved into a council house (3 bed) Dec 1st. The house has a total of 7 storage heaters that work on economy 7. We have only been using 5 on a low setting. We received a bill for 1 month Dec 1st - 31st of £344!

We have been told the meter may or may not be running incorrectly but it cannot be checked for a couple of weeks and then it will take a month to run the check. So it will be the middle of March by the time we know, in the meantime we still have to pay our bill every month. At almost £350 a month we cannot afford to do this and so have now turned all heating off except for our son's bedroom.

Is this an exceptionally high amount for a month or am I just hoping that something isn't right? Surely this amount can't be right? Anyone have any idea rough costs a month using storage heaters?

Desperate for some advice

penrhyn

Are you on an economy 7 tarriff?
Do the storage heaters operate during the cheap rate period say 1 am to 8 am as you would expect. How many Kwh are you using a week?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

did you supply an actual meter reading when you moved in, and is the account reading an actual or estimate?

Take a meter reading now and compare.

jomz

Hi yep gave meter readings when we moved in and have been giving meter readings everyday over the last week. The storage heaters operate during the night 12.30 - 7.30am but as I say I've now turned all but my son's off because of the expense. My son has special needs and I am his main carer so I'm torn and unsure what to do for the best. I can't afford to be ill (I'm asthmatic) but I can't afford to pay that much to be warm.

Does that sound like too much to be paying each month?

Be_Happy

Sorry if this is a silly question, but are you sure these are all storage heaters and not a mixture of storage and panel heaters which is more usual. If this was the case, your panel heaters would be running at full rate for most of the time.

In my case I do have 6 storage heaters, but we have unusual house layout and room use. My DD is set for £90 a month and covers our usage well. From my calculations the cost of December's units was around £140. (We are using around 50 units off-peak and 10 day rate per day)

Sorry should have added, house is end-terrace, 3 bedroom, well-insulated.

[Deleted User]

check that the day and night readings are not getting transposed,when people who have night storage get this common mess up, it results in a much higher bill. Find out which readings are day and night on your meter

jomz

They are all storage heaters, my readings over the last week are saying that we were using approx 15 units a day and 50 - 60 units a night.

We had thought that the cost would be around £150 a month so being told it's almost £200 a month more than that was a complete shock.

notbritishgas

jomz wrote: »

They are all storage heaters, my readings over the last week are saying that we were using approx 15 units a day and 50 - 60 units a night.

We had thought that the cost would be around £150 a month so being told it's almost £200 a month more than that was a complete shock.

What are the kwh totals from the December bill.

I have worked out a very rough costing for the usage you quote above.

Day: 15 x 31=465kwh x 18p= £83.70

Night: 55 x 31 = 1705kwh x 5.5p = £93.77

Total = £177. Plus any standing charges.

Obviously I do not know your tariff prices so have taken a guess, so insert your own figures if they differ greatly from mine.

andyrpsmith

Quick calculation:

Say each one is 3.5KWH and having a full charge

3.5KWh x 5 x 7 (econ 7 = on 7 hours) x 6p x 31 (days) = £227

if unit price is 8p = £303

Wywth

jomz wrote: »

Hi, We moved into a council house (3 bed) Dec 1st. The house has a total of 7 storage heaters that work on economy 7. We have only been using 5 on a low setting. We received a bill for 1 month Dec 1st - 31st of £344!

We have been told the meter may or may not be running incorrectly but it cannot be checked for a couple of weeks and then it will take a month to run the check. So it will be the middle of March by the time we know, in the meantime we still have to pay our bill every month. At almost £350 a month we cannot afford to do this and so have now turned all heating off except for our son's bedroom.

Is this an exceptionally high amount for a month or am I just hoping that something isn't right? Surely this amount can't be right? Anyone have any idea rough costs a month using storage heaters?

Desperate for some advice

Have you considered paying monthly by DD?

It allows you to even out the high costs of winter with the low costs of summer consumption.

You also usually get a very good rate/discount for agreeing to pay this way so you win all round :beer:

Wywth

andyrpsmith wrote: »

Quick calculation:

Say each one is 3.5KWH and having a full charge

3.5KWh x 5 x 7 (econ 7 = on 7 hours) x 6p x 31 (days) = £227

if unit price is 8p = £303

3.5KWh x 5 x 7 = 122.5kWh per day of heat.

That's one heck of a lot of heat for a 3 bed house! :eek: