Renting and just recieved my first electricity bill...

rogerblack

macman wrote: »

You need to speak to your LL and ask him why he has connected an NSH to a non-E7 circuit.

It's quite plausible that the whole house (and the spur) is on an E7 circuit, but the sub-meter isn't an E7 meter, so the landlord has just guesstimated the unit mix, and put that in as the price, and used a single unit meter.

dogshome

Two timer switches connected to the output side of your meter is worrying, and suggests that this sub-meter is serving more than your flat - Also as a domestic customer your VAT level should be at 5%, not 20%

Try to cadge a few days away to stay with a friend, that extends to more than just the week-end -Switch off/unplug everything in the flat and take a meter reading as you leave, and then another as soon as you get home - Then obviously anything the meter has recorded has been used by someone else and not by you.
Then it's up to you to speak to the landlord

Hodge123

Thanks for the advice. I'll do a control day tomorrow and see how much I use in 24 hrs and then Tuesday will do a minimum usage.
Will confront about 20% though.
Sigh why are these things never easy!

Fire_Fox

Hodge123 wrote: »

Thanks for replies,
I took down the meter reading when I first moved in, and the numbers do seem to be correct. The meter is in my flat so I can see it going.

The heaters are storage, it's. a sunhouse brand, I had no clue what they were when I moved in so googled. Good to know about input and output, I'll set to 0 on the days when I'm away. I just assumed that last nights stored heat gets released during the day, so turning them back on when I arrived in morning would be useless as they have no heat stored. I think changing to electric heaters may be worth it. Hopefully the cold weather has passed. Just drying washing is a nightmare.

The flat is part of the Farm's barn, the rest of the barn is used as a motorcycle repair workshop. I'm guessing my submeter comes from the workshop hence the business VAT. Should I still be paying the 20% or query that?

The comment about making sure there is nothing else on my meter is what I was worried about. Looking at where the meter is there are two timer switches, connected up and I don't know where they go. They are running and set to turn something on twice a day.... Also there is a sticker on one box which just says loft. I don't have a loft, above me if the office for the repair shop. I mean if the storage heaters are likely to have cost me £150 a month on constantly then that's ok, but if its not going to be that much then I would get suspicious about what is being used.

And yes I am paying in cash as in notes and coins, he did say transfer was ok but I don't have access to Internet banking ATM. January's bill is going to be horrendous!

Forgot to add, I am paying council tax as the property is listed as rental

That is good you can pay by bank transfer and are properly registered for council tax, not too dodgy. Can't you set up a standing order using the iPad when at your boyfriend's for some of these bills? You can even do internet banking on smartphones if you have one.

It is possible your submeter is logging the workshop's and office's electric, definitely worth turning everything in your flat off and seeing what happens. If you can turn off at the circuit breaker or even turn those timer switches off it would be interesting to see if anyone complains. If you do this please ensure your smoke alarm has a brand new battery in, some smoke alarms are hard wired into the electricity so need that battery as a back up when the power is down. Are you sure one of the timer switches is not your hot water, in which case you may be being charged twice?

If you are drying laundry indoors that is a risk for condensation damp, you might consider an electric dehumidifier, these dry laundry superfast and obviously get rid of any other showering moisture if that is an issue. Otherwise put your laundry into a room you are not using, close the door and open the window.

Andy_WSM

Hodge123 wrote: »

Will confront about 20% though.

I wouldn't be too confrontational. The unit rate is cheap and you've not mentioned a daily standing charge, so IMO, it could be much worse - even more expensive if you were on your own supply.