Is my electricity bill insanely high?

TBorg

Hello Everyone,

I relocated to London (from a different country) a few months back and have just received my first electricity bill. I think given my lifestyle the bill is insanely high so I wanted to get your opinion on it. Here are my details: -
1. 1 person in a small 1 Bedroom apartment.
2. Nobody at home 5 days a week from 8 am to 7 pm.
3. Heating not switched on yet, not even once! (trying to save some money by wearing woolens instead)
4. Only things switched on during weekdays are my fridge and boiler.
5. Don't have TV. Use Induction stove and microwave for cooking dinner and breakfast. Only gadgets are an internet router, a laptop and two phones. I use small bedside lamp for my reading when I am at home.
6. Hot water is only used for 2 showers a days, dish washing and laundry on weekends.

Even with such frugality, I have ended up consuming 590kWh for last 70 days! At 12.6p/kWh plus some other charges I had to fork out 93 quids! Oh and that is after direct debit discount! Browsing around the forum this definitely looks on the higher side to me, plus adjusted for my lifestyle it should have been much less. Am I right in thinking this? Or is this normal in London?

I've checked the readings, they seem accurate in the bill. So who is the culprit here? I'm guessing the boiler. Should I just shut if off when I leave in the morning and then turn it on for a couple of hours in the evening and again shut if off when sleeping? There is only so much more that I can do.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

balletshoes

so how many months worth of electricity is your £93 bill for?

I have gas heating and cooker, but electricity for everything else (3-bed semi in the Midlands, we're out 5 days a week between 8am and 3.30pm every day). I'm around £25 per month for electricity, gas is much higher.

TBorg

Thank you for your reply. Its £93 for 70 days or roughly £40 pm.

System

we are using about 700 units in 3 months and i think the problem is the electric shower.

forgotmyname

Rough estimate...

Elecric shower uses 1.7p a minute. Microwave 0.6p minute.

Dishwasher for a single person probably costly compared to a bowl of hot water. Washing Machine longer washes seem normal on these newer machines.
We have a 15 minute wash then the next one is well over an hour.

Induction stove.. How many watts is that?

£40 a month sounds right to me. Much less than we pay.

ollski

In a 3 bedroom semi detached house with a family of four, all out at work and school all day and we pay 3 - 4£ a day. Ceramic hob, kettle, laptop, xbox seem to be big eaters of power but I have also just ordered 60 led bulbs to replace all my halogens...hopefully reduce it a little.

spaceboy

ollski wrote: »

In a 3 bedroom semi detached house with a family of four, all out at work and school all day and we pay 3 - 4£ a day. Ceramic hob, kettle, laptop, xbox seem to be big eaters of power but I have also just ordered 60 led bulbs to replace all my halogens...hopefully reduce it a little.

How much did that cost?

ollski

spaceboy wrote: »

How much did that cost?

came to 268.80!, but takes potential 2.16 kw/hr down to 216w. I reckon it will save 50 quid a month in winter.

penrhyn

OP, What do you mean by boiler, is it an immersion heater, for your hot water, and if so is it on a timer or on 24/7.

macman

As above. How is the property heated, and if all-electric, are you on an E7 or single rate tariff? Heating hot water on peak rate E7 is about 400% more expensive,
It's heating and hot water that matters, not whether you switch your router on or off.
Your annual consumption on this basis is about 3,400kWh pa, which is very low for an all-electric property. However once you switch on the heating that will soar (if electric).
All-electric properties without E7 are the most expensive to heat and hot water by far-about 3-400% more than those with gas CH and DHW. You need to budget at least £100pm. Fuel bills have risen dramatically above inflation here in the UK in the last few years, you will have arrived just as the latest round of winter increases was announced.
PS: if on Standard tariff, get off it-it's the most expensive.

frank777

Is it really that expensive?

My average yearly bill is £677.54 for my Gas/Electric for a 3 bed semi, this equates to £1.86 roughly per day. I don't like wasting energy, keep it cool and kill the bugs. Just changed my provider to EDF with £30.00 cashback, fixed until March 2015 no exit fees. I won't be having a smart meter fitted, got a free battery smartpower from npower 2 years ago, shows me how much electric I use!

Think what you are getting for your £1.86 per day.
Heating
Clothes washing
Dish washing -by hand!
Showering
Lighting
TV
Computers
Cooking
Ironing
Vacuuming
Appliance charging
Hair drying