Sky high bills

aestheticdebris

Hi, I am a newish poster so please be gentle if I am in the wrong place!

I have a 2 bedroom end terrace maisonette. There is myself, husband and 5month old baby here.

Our dual fuel bills are outrageously high. We are paying by DD and at the moment it is £130 a month but we are in debit by approx. £160 from the 2 years since we've been here so obviously not paying enough as it is.

How can my bills be so high? Any ideas would be appreciated.

victor2

Look at the kWH used on your bills and tell us that along with the setup you have using gas and electric. Do you have gas central heating etc?
If recent bills tell you your annual usage in kWh, that will be a good pointer to where you should be looking to make savings.

aestheticdebris

Thank you for responding so quick victor2.

I am currently with Eon on their regular plan but I have changed that this morning after shopping around but from the sounds of it my annual billing will only reduce by about £80-£90 so not a lot still.

We have gas central heating and also our stove is gas/oven is electric.

To be honest, the whole thing is a total minefield for me. I just don't understand and surely not meant to be using this much? Even before my son was born our bills were high and then we were both at work fulltime during the week.

I have my recent bill with Eon online if this makes sense to anyone:


E.ON EnergyPlan
Gas charges between 03/04/2013 and 17/07/2013
Gas previous01017 read by us on 03/04/2013
Gas current01361 estimated on 17/07/2013
Difference - 344 units - with multiplier value 1.0, conversion value of 1.02264, calorific value 39.2Converted into - 3831 kWh (kilowatt / hour) used
ChargesGas units used3831 kWh at 4.128p each£158.14
Standing Charge104 days at 26.09p per day£27.13

Electricity charges between 03/04/2013 and 17/07/2013
Normal previous01577 read by us on 03/04/2013
Normal current01660 estimated on 17/07/2013
83 Normal kWh (kilowatt / hour) used
Normal previous06098 read by us on 03/04/2013
Normal current06608 estimated on 17/07/2013510
Normal kWh (kilowatt / hour) use
dChargesNormal units used593 kWh at 12.85p each£76.20
Standing Charge104 days at 26.09p per day£27.13

thriftylass

Take a monthly meter reading, or even weekly to see what activities use the most. Are your bills estimated, provide them with monthly updates. Are you on the cheapest tariff, shop around on Moneysupermarket etc. Are you at home all day with the baby with the heating/hot water on all day? Turn the heating off (don't need it yet anyway) and see if you can put the hot water on a timer to come on once in the morning and once around tea time? When I was home on maternity leave the bill were higher than now but all those measures kept them on maybe £70 in the summer and £120 in the winter in a detached 3 bed house.
Hope that helps

Seeing from your bill you have estimated reading. Give them an actual one!!!

E.ON EnergyPlan
Gas charges between 03/04/2013 and 17/07/2013
Gas previous01017 read by us on 03/04/2013
Gas current01361 estimated on 17/07/2013
Difference - 344 units - with multiplier value 1.0, conversion value of 1.02264, calorific value 39.2Converted into - 3831 kWh (kilowatt / hour) used THAT IS OVER A 1000 kWh PER MONTH IN THE SUMMER, WE USED 219 LAST MONTH, COOKING SHOULDN"T BE TO BAD, BUT TURN THE HEATING OFF AND TIME THE HOT WATER, READ THE METER
ChargesGas units used3831 kWh at 4.128p each£158.14
Standing Charge104 days at 26.09p per day£27.13 (unit price could be lower but close to what we pay)

Electricity charges between 03/04/2013 and 17/07/2013
Normal previous01577 read by us on 03/04/2013
Normal current01660 estimated on 17/07/2013
83 Normal kWh (kilowatt / hour) used
Normal previous06098 read by us on 03/04/2013
Normal current06608 estimated on 17/07/2013
510 Normal kWh (kilowatt / hour) use DO YOU HAVE TWO ELECTRICITY METERS?
dChargesNormal units used593 kWh at 12.85p each£76.20 593 FOR THREE MONTHS LOOK OK, WE USED 263 LAST MONTH
Standing Charge104 days at 26.09p per day£27.13 (we pay 12.31 per unit and 14 p a day standing charge, try EDF)

DragonQ

Your bills are estimated. Provide E.On with monthly meter readings so they can provide you with accurate bills for a start.

aestheticdebris

Hi guys, thank you for taking a look. I took meter readings this morning and updated the account which actually took us more in debit....

aestheticdebris

I think it must be the usage but I can't see how we are using that much with just 2 adults in the house.

thriftylass

aestheticdebris wrote: »

I think it must be the usage but I can't see how we are using that much with just 2 adults in the house.

See my post above, I think the problem is your gas usage it's massive. What do you use the gas for each day?

victor2

What are your current meter readings?
Also, does the bill show what your 12 month usage has been? If not and you still have some older bills, get your readings from approximately a year ago so we can establish what your annual usage is in kWh.
Did you once have economy 7, but are now on a single electricity tariff? That could explain the two electricity readings.

aestheticdebris

thriftylass wrote: »

See my post above, I think the problem is your gas usage it's massive. What do you use the gas for each day?

Ok thank you for breaking it down, I really appreciate it. I am not usually ditzy but certain things just turn my brain to mush haha.

Well gaswise it is the stove...which perhaps doesn't get used every day. The boiler I assume is gas which does the water/heating. Obviously we've not had the heating on but perhaps we're able to do something about the water.

Can I just switch my boiler off at the wall? I think I need to jump on hubby when he gets in to investigate the gas side.

Thank you so much guys, you're absolutely brill!

aestheticdebris

victor2 wrote: »

What are your current meter readings?
Also, does the bill show what your 12 month usage has been? If not and you still have some older bills, get your readings from approximately a year ago so we can establish what your annual usage is in kWh.
Did you once have economy 7, but are now on a single electricity tariff? That could explain the two electricity readings.

Our bill doesn't show what 12 month usage is. Just compares daily usage. I shall download some older ones and see what I can find.

We've never had economy 7 in the time I've been here. We just have the one meter but you have to click the button to get a secondary reading.

I took them today and they are follows:

Electricity 1744 & 8821
Gas 1315

So they take the usage up a bit more.

I shall definitely be looking into the gas further. Perhaps our boiler needs servicing?