My Electricity Bill is now £230pm HELP!!!

AMC82

I have noticed my electricity bill with Scottish Power slowly creep up over the last year but it has now gotten completely out of control.

I am on their 'Online discounted Energy tariff Oct 2013' and stay in a semi-rural area that doesn't have the option to use gas. My heating system is a Redring wet central heating on an economy 7 tariff. I supply 3 readings - day, night, and off peak. Scottish power have my annual consumption estimated at 27369 KWh - this seems to be almost double the average usage. We live in a 2 bed semi and are generally energy efficient I.e EE light bulbs, using appliances after 11pm. My DD has now been set at £230 per month and I feel this is a ridiculous price to be paying. Every time I query with SP they quote prices per Kwh etc but can't seem to explain why the usage is so high.

Could anyone provide any advice? Have you been in a similar situation? Can I request someone checks my meter free of charge? I rent the property but we're pretty rooted here - could I demand (nicely) that my Landlord replaces my heating system or hires an electrician to investigate. I'm also not sure what my switching options are due to the type of meter we use. I've been told by a neighbour that Scottish power is only option - can the be the case?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Consumerist

You really need to know what your consumption has been before you can make any judgement. Get out your bills since you went on the tariff you're on and see what consumption has been and then do the arithmetic.

As for changing supplier in a rented property, you can change suppliers but you will probably have to pay for the installation of meters compatible with a new supply and tariff and also to pay for restoring the current set-up when you leave the property.

The consumption estimated by SP does seem rather high but you really need to take meter readings regularly and keep a record. At this time of year your consumption should be low but, after a pretty nasty winter, it is possible you have slipped into a debit balance without realising it. SP might be trying to get you into credit before next winter.

forgotmyname

Take meter readings hourly if needed, Check the off peak and economy 7 times.
Im sure it varies depending on your location.

Anywhere between 10pm and 1am for the start time.

You can ask the landlord for a more efficient heating system but he will say fine but i want double the rent to pay for it.

Day / Night and off peak readings? When we had economy 7 it was just the 2 readings. Only 2 dials on the meter.

Some of the low energy light bulbs use more power than they state. I tested a 15w low energy bulb and it used 23 watts. Not a hige difference but if it was left on 24/7 it would use about £8 a year more. Add that up over half a dozen bulbs and it bumps the monthly bill up a few £.

Worse thing in my house, Computers. Go into a room and there is a desktop and a laptop going. Sometimes the TV also.

As the bills start getting bigger i find myself moaning about it now where i never used to.

macman

A meter change will be charged if the meter is found to be within tolerance. Why don't you do your own test using a 1000W electric bar fire or similar?

HappyMJ

AMC82 wrote: »

I have noticed my electricity bill with Scottish Power slowly creep up over the last year but it has now gotten completely out of control.

I am on their 'Online discounted Energy tariff Oct 2013' and stay in a semi-rural area that doesn't have the option to use gas. My heating system is a Redring wet central heating on an economy 7 tariff. I supply 3 readings - day, night, and off peak. Scottish power have my annual consumption estimated at 27369 KWh - this seems to be almost double the average usage. We live in a 2 bed semi and are generally energy efficient I.e EE light bulbs, using appliances after 11pm. My DD has now been set at £230 per month and I feel this is a ridiculous price to be paying. Every time I query with SP they quote prices per Kwh etc but can't seem to explain why the usage is so high.

Could anyone provide any advice? Have you been in a similar situation? Can I request someone checks my meter free of charge? I rent the property but we're pretty rooted here - could I demand (nicely) that my Landlord replaces my heating system or hires an electrician to investigate. I'm also not sure what my switching options are due to the type of meter we use. I've been told by a neighbour that Scottish power is only option - can the be the case?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

It's the heating...forget about light bulbs and appliances that use less than 0.1kW. The heater/boiler uses 12kW...120 times the usage of any electrical appliance you could possibly have. You need to use it much less...very sparingly..to the point of being almost cold. Electric heating is very expensive when not used correctly. When the heat store runs out of heat it can be set to use peak rate electricity to generate more heat at a very high cost. Maybe £2 per hour if you aren't on a very competitive rate.

Consumerist

As an added thought - check the times the meters are switching charge rates. If you are using high consumption when you are on peak rates, your bills will be higher than expected.

It is not uncommon for meters to switch rates at the wrong time or for consumers to be unaware of the correct switching times.