Help! Electricity bill quadrupled in a week!

Emilyinengland

I'm at my wits end here because I don't know what's happened.
My husband and I have recently had a baby and now I'm home with her all day. She is now 10 weeks old.
We've obviously been using more energy at home since she came along, but I received news from my electricity provider yesterday that my usage has quadrupled in the last week!! How is this possible?
I'm wracking my brains to think of what we could be using that would create this surge, but I can't think of anything...which makes me think that something is wrong with my meter (which was apparently only fitted in March last year, so not old), or with some appliance which is going berserk!
Anyone have any experience with this? Any suggestions for what it could be, or how I could figure out what it is?
As it stands I'm bleeding money and don't have a clue how to stop it!

Many thanks.

HappyMJ

Do you use a dryer to dry the babies clothes? A dryer uses a lot of electricity and could easily account for the large bill. Try line drying as much as possible.

Heating also uses a lot if it's an electric heater try only heating the room the baby is in...and keep it at around 16-20 degrees. Use a room thermometer to check.

Nada666

How do you know your use has quadrupled? Or, rather, how does your supplier know this? They can't. It may be just be some form of catch-up.

Read your meters day to day and week to week for a while until you know your usage.

If you weren't previously at home then it is possible for a quadrupling of electricity - if you are a low user then even lights and television can be significant.

How much were you using previously? How much are you using now? There's a big difference between 2kWh per day changing to 8kWh per day (sort of understandable) and 9kWh increasing to 36kWh per day.

Emilyinengland

Thanks guys.

I don't have a clothes drier - am line drying everything.

And keep in mind that the quadrupling has only happened in the last week and I have been home with the baby for the last 10 weeks - and it's been pretty cold at least 3 of those. We have storage heaters, which we're not using even twice as much as before.

The energy company knows it's quadrupled because we've been doing multiple meter readings lately to resolve another issue with them (unexpected back-billing) - unrelated.

And yes, it actually has quadrupled from 9 units per day to 36! We're only in a 2 bed flat...I can't imagine what it could be!

Limey

Turn off at the main circuit breaker and see if your neighbour's lights go off?

On a serious note I'd be doing a systematic check of the circuits. Start off with all unplugged and see if there is a significant change in reading over a few hours, then start adding your usual appliances back into the equation and check to see if the readings go up to the degree that your supplier has quoted.

Are you using low energy bulbs?

Cardew

Emilyinengland wrote: »

Thanks guys.

I don't have a clothes drier - am line drying everything.

And keep in mind that the quadrupling has only happened in the last week and I have been home with the baby for the last 10 weeks - and it's been pretty cold at least 3 of those. We have storage heaters, which we're not using even twice as much as before.

The energy company knows it's quadrupled because we've been doing multiple meter readings lately to resolve another issue with them (unexpected back-billing) - unrelated.

And yes, it actually has quadrupled from 9 units per day to 36! We're only in a 2 bed flat...I can't imagine what it could be!

Do those 9 and 36 units(kWh) a day include the storage heating and hot water(presumably on an E7 or E10 tariff)

Emilyinengland

I'm on an E7 tariff and, yes that includes everything in the flat (storage heaters and hot water too).

Nada666

Are you talking averages over summer or usage this week? 36 kWh used yesterday is not exactly noteworthy.

Cardew

Do those 9 and 36 units(kWh) a day include the storage heating and hot water(presumably on an E7 or E10 tariff)

Emilyinengland wrote: »

I'm on an E7 tariff and, yes that includes everything in the flat (storage heaters and hot water too).

9kWh(units) a day(for a week) in an all electric house in mid-Nov is just not plausible. Even 36kWh when you are home all day is excellent IMO.

Are you sure you are reading the meter correctly?

McKneff

Unless you gave your supplier a reading at the start of the week and another at the end of the week, they cant possibly know that it quadrupled in that particular week. How could they know?

Takeaway_Addict

What cost are we looking at?
If its going from 25p a day to a quid a day its not bad, if its £2 a day to £8 then it isn't a good thing