£1,040 electric bill for 6 months...

Lou67

That is a MASSIVE bill! Can't be right surely?!

gaz141

unfortunately the moral of this story is to stand over the agents shoulder, never trust what they are doing is in your best interest no matter how nice they seem, question everything and ask for everything in writing. Look at meter readings with your own eyes and get in writing and agree the readings, take photos of the meters and note everything you are not happy with in your inventory.

robatwork

Agree with Camptown - when I had hateful storage heaters the Elec Co got the economy 7 and the daytime !!!! about face but once I realised and got the meter numbers it was no problem.

You really need to get into that cabinet to check and work out what meters are yours

lindsloo

This doesn't sound right. Agree with pp, find out last tenants exit meter reading. You need to get into that cupboard and make sure it's the correct meters the readings are being taken from. Get meter readings every month, you will get an idea of your useage then. What sort of key is it for cupboard? Are they legally allowed to stop you having access to that cupboard?

Rain_Shadow

Lou67 wrote: »

That is a MASSIVE bill! Can't be right surely?!

Could be.

All electric heating.
'Inexperienced' tenants in their first home and not familiar with minimising the cost of heating.
Particularly cold winter.

It can all combine to make a big bill.

thelem

Deleted_User wrote: »

I know we're idiots for running up such a big bill - don't need the grief for it.

You're not idiots for heating your home, although you do need to understand how much energy you use. You should have insisted your LA provide you access to read your own meter or switch to a bill-included agreement - it's a basic facility that should be provided in any property. It wouldn't surprise me if this was even a ploy by the agent to get you to pay the electricity for the period the property was empty.

Do you know how to use storage heaters properly? You should be on an economy 7 electricity tariff, and they should only be heating up over night using the cheap rate of electricity (check with your energy supplier for the exact hours). They then store that energy to be released during the day. If you are on a standard tariff or they are using daytime electricity then they're costing you more than they should.

hazyjo

Sorry if hijacking, but interested in this thread as had major issues with EDF re gas.

Our first gas bill arrived after 17 months (don't ask, complicated - nobody would admit to 'owning' us, despite us being supplied with gas). Was for £1,200.

In December 2012, we were around £3 in credit (read not estimated meter). We'd been paying £75pm direct debit. When we sold the house in April 2013, they claimed we'd used over £1,000 in less than 4 months!

What can you do?! We had to pay and swallow it as that's what the meter reading said.

Another similar point - my BF had a one bed flat (rented) with two storage heaters he used. He would be paying around £300-odd a quarter for electric (no gas). He barely had any other electrical equipment in the flat (no oven, washing machine, hob, tumble dryer, dishwasher, nothing).

Do you have a tumble dryer? They EAT electric!

Do you use all your 'electric-guzzling' items during the economy 7 period (after around 11pm/midnight, can't remember?). It can be ridiculously expensive if not used properly - also, have you been using the storage heaters correctly? Charging them overnight (closed) and opening them slowly to release the hot air slowly through the day/evenings? (Most people don't actually use them properly.)

It's a pain, isn't it. All I can do is compare with my BF's flat which was stupid-money for such a small place. And it was still always freezing (actually, the second heater in the bedroom packed up so we only had one in the lounge going through winter).

Jx

ValHaller

thelem wrote: »

You're not idiots for heating your home, although you do need to understand how much energy you use. You should have insisted your LA provide you access to read your own meter or switch to a bill-included agreement - it's a basic facility that should be provided in any property. It wouldn't surprise me if this was even a ploy by the agent to get you to pay the electricity for the period the property was empty.

Absolutely agree. You always need to take a good record of your opening readings and you need to see your meter for yourself. In an apartment with a shared meter cupboard, I would also require access to prove that the meter was mine.

People are too naive and trusting about meters - unfortunate because it can and does come back to bite you

sharp910sh

I do not blame them. You should know electricity is very expensive 15p/kWh. Whilst gas is 5p/kWh. Electric heating is very expensive. Do not use electric heating, get a flat with gas heating no matter how "pretty the flat looks"

finchyboy82

I've a 1 bed very well insulated flat with 2 storage heaters, electric water heating and electric hob/oven.

Annual bill is around £500. So I think £1040 in 6 months is crazy!

You need to get access to your meter. Turn everything off in the house and see if the meter is still recording usage (either a spinning disc or a flashing light depending on the meter type)
I'd suggest you monitor your usage for a day or two and do the maths to work out your monthly/quaterly/yearly usage.


Could the immersion heater be running on your water tank? (usually a red light on the switch).
Is there an instant heat option on the storage heaters?
These are the only things I can think of using that amount of electricity.