Bring down electric bill: help pls.

ollym_3

Just got my electric bill - I'm electric only, no gas.

From 24/03 to 10/06 (about 10 weeks) I have used 1418KWh (about £50-£60 a month)

What the hell is going on? I am living in a 2-bed flat alone.

I called Scottish Power who say that they had a lot of calls from my block and that our electric heaters (I rarely use) and boilers are REALLY inefficient.

I have a combi boiler - it is part immersion - part heat to order. I turn the immersion bit on for an hour each morning.. should I take this off and just let it heat to order?

Cardew

What do they mean about boilers and electric heaters being "REALLY inefficient".

Electrical heating is 100% efficient - its not like a gas/oil boiler which can have a very low efficiency.

If they mean expensive, that is entirely another matter and absolutely true if you are using it at daytime rates.

ollym_3

Well isn't efficiency what you get for what you pay? So I would call electric heating inefficient?

Cardew

I see what you mean, although when talking about energy efficiency it is normally used in a different context, which is what I assumed they meant-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_efficiency

Gas boilers are typically 70% to 90% efficient, electricity is 100% efficient.

However without getting into a semantic discussion, I certainly agree that electric heating on daytime rates is very expensive, poor value if you like.

Do you have Economy 7 electricity and/or storage heaters?

Without knowing details of your boiler, I wouldn't think that having it on for an hour each morning would make a huge difference to your consumption, but obviously 'on demand' would be cheaper.

Bearing in mind that the average household bill for gas/electricity is around £1,000 pa. - and all electric is more expensive than average. Even allowing you live alone, if your year round bills are £50-£60 a month, that would be quite normal.

elsien

Are you sure your meter hasn't gone on the blink - could you get them out to do a proper test?

anniecave

is 1418 based on real meter readings both ends (not estimates)? Bear in mind that March and some of April was still quite cold. We have a 2 bed flat (with two people in it) and we used 1390 units during a similar time period.
Is your flat well insulated? Ours would be fine if the windows were double glazed and there wasn't a big badly fitting bay window that the heat goes straight out of.....

ollym_3

1418 is based on two precise meter readings.

I didn't use any heating in the period... it is a brand new flat with great insulation.

The boiler is a pulsacoil which are apparently cheap to install but quite inefficient - anyone know more?

Also, no i don't use economy 7 - apparently I'd need an engineer to come out so I'd have to pass that by my landlady!

Cardew

I thought the whole point of pulsacoil was that they were designed to be run on Economy 7. They heated water on E7 and released it during the day. Similar principle to storage heating, except using water not 'bricks' and warm air.

Without E7 it is simply electrical heating; which used at daytime rates is very expensive.

kit

elsien wrote: »

Are you sure your meter hasn't gone on the blink - could you get them out to do a proper test?

Will they do that? I am concerned about the amount of electric we are 'meant' to be using so it would put my mind at rest if they tested it.
what do I do? Just phone and ask?

tripled

kit wrote: »

Will they do that? I am concerned about the amount of electric we are 'meant' to be using so it would put my mind at rest if they tested it.
what do I do? Just phone and ask?

If there is nothing wrong with the meter most companies will charge you £60 to £80, so I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you are convinced the meter is faulty.

For a normal 2 bed flat with two people in, £50 a month is around average.

ollym_3

I'm just one person.. do you know anything about pulsacoils tripled?