Mum's Electric Bills are Massive

misscousinitt

Hi All

I hope that someone on here can help and I hope I have posted on the right forum.

My Mum and Dad have always suffered from massive electricity bills for as long as I can remember.

Dad never wanted to do anything about it and payed between £800 and £1400 per quarter!!!!!

Dad passed away a couple of months ago and now I am on a mission to get the bills down.

Mum has just received a bill this morning for £284 for the last 31 days! (The meter had been read).

A bit of background:

The house is large (5 bedrooms). It has 30 year old storage heaters, they use halogen heaters for warmth - not all the time now granted (dad used to have his on 12 hours a day - but he was ill and felt the cold even in the summer). The water is on a emmersion system. They are on economy 7, standard tariff with N Power. My brother lives with my Mum as up till now he was Dad's full time carer.

Now, I have done a comparison and N power have the best deal to fix with at the moment - but I was wondering whether it might be best for them to come off economy 7 being that most of the electric is used during the day now.

Mum switched the storage heaters off when dad passed away and they haven't been on since - but one morning she felt one of the heaters and it was warm - maybe there is a fault?

She wants to change the heaters, but won't have gas! My boss has a suggestion of some very efficient electric heaters from Germany which I am looking into.

Can anyone tell me if I am heading in the right direction? Can anyone tell me if Warm Front Grants are means tested?

Mum will be in fuel poverty if she isn't careful.

Cheers in advance for any help anyone can give me.

MCI

penrhyn

No electric heaters are more efficient than others, all as a near as makes no difference 100% efficient. For info on German heaters look on the Rointe thread.
What has improved over the years are the control mechanisms on heaters, I'd suggest looking at modern storage heaters from the likes of Creda and Dimplex.

Also check that mum is on the best economy & tariff and that the on off period is working properly, if their is an old mechanical clock then it needs replacing with a radio teleswitch by your utility supplier.
PS Ideally the Immersion heater should be on a timer to work during the cheap rate period.

PPS Whats the state of the lagging and insulation in the property?

lstar337

Can you post day and night usage figures?

These will help determine if the storage heaters are working correctly on the off-peak tarrif.

Storage heaters (used correctly) should be all you need to keep the place warm, with additional heating only required during really cold snaps.

[Deleted User]

please pay particular attention to the meter. Are you sure that the supplier has been correctly reading the meter and not got day and night mixed up ?. Night storage users take a hammering when the supplier incorrectly read the meters. Also check that the timer , which controls the switchover times, is not widely out of time

JamesMason_2

I have a friend who has a three bedroom house, with the same age storage heaters, also on NPower standard.

When compared, the cheapest tariff with a reputable company was about £200 cheaper. Plus there are golden hello deals out there that will bump this up. It's a start.

What I suggest you do is read you Mum's meter every month. Also learn how the heaters work and set them yourself.

Also you may be aware that when selling a house, you need an EPC. I wonder if it is worth getting some form of energy assessment and look at improving the insulation. If you mum is paying for it, well, I'd darn well want to keep that energy in the house for as long as possible!

JamesMason_2

Oh and the subject of gas, how long would it be before it paid for itself? An exercise you can go away and undertake. This may sway your mother.

James

WarrenG_2

Nothing wrong with Rointe Heaters as a modern digital electric radiator.

Well made, stylish, and more ecconomical than others. Its clearly a product that is misunderstood on other threads. Take a look at the K-Series range for yourself.

Gas would be always be the cheaper option.

sheffield_lad

You might find it's the day use using halogen and not the night heaters which are the issue. I would never advocate any form of electric heating other than storage heaters as the costs go through the roof.

GL

penrhyn

WarrenG wrote: »

Nothing wrong with Rointe Heaters as a modern digital electric radiator.

Well made, stylish, and more ecconomical than others. Its clearly a product that is misunderstood on other threads. Take a look at the K-Series range for yourself.

Gas would be always be the cheaper option.

Apart from them being overpriced, and dubious claims for economy

WarrenG_2

penrhyn wrote: »

Apart from them being overpriced, and dubious claims for economy

As said, its a product that is misunderstood. Dubious claims (or should I say chinese whispers) have been proven by Rointe and documented.

As for price, well that would depend on what product they were being compared with on the market today and against Rointe's technology.

A comparision of a 'like for like' would need to be determined to assess a true costing.

penrhyn

Interesting, a like for like comparison would be useful.
On dubious claims I'd refer to the ASA adjudication.

http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2011/1/Rointe/TF_ADJ_49624.aspx