Electricity bill incredibly high

8amy5

Hi

my mam lives on her own in a 3 bedroomed house. She has received her electric bill and it is for 3 months but it is over £200.
I dont know how this can be as she lives alone and works full time. When she gets in from work (sometimes this is after 10pm) she makes a coffee, has a bath and then goes to bed. Other times she will watch tv for a few hours, but no excessive electric use!
EDF said it was high also.

The only things she uses electric for in the house are:
- TV she has 3 but only one used at a time
- fridge
- Freezer
- Oven (not used often as she cooks for herself so soups etc)
- microwave - used to heat soups and beans etc
- Kettle (used a few times a day)
- Washing machine - (maybe used 3 times a week)
- hairdryer and straightners (used 3 times a week)

no lights are left on overnight and sockets turned off???

anyone shed any light on the matter???

thanks

oldskoo1

Certainly seems a lot for the use you've explained

It just might be possible with leaving lights on all over the house with those older 60w bulbs, frequent washer drier use, old tvs, electric cooking and electric water heating.

Perhaps she left the immersion heater switched on if she has a tank? How about any electric fan or oil heaters? They can use a bit too.

Is the shower electric?


Also check the meter readings are actual readings and not estimates.

macman

All those appliance details-but you don't mention how the property is heated and hot watered? That typically accounts for 80% of your energy usage. Does she have gas CH and DHW?
The amount of the bill doesn't tell us anything about actual consumption, so please post her actual kWh usage in that billing period.
As above, are the readings actuals or estimates (it's shown on the bill)? If the opening one is an estimate, then it's probably a big catch-up bill, probably because she has failed to submit regular reads (at least every 3 months).

8amy5

she turns lights off when moving from room to room (she drilled that into us when we were kids haha)
she doesnt use a drier she just uses a washing machine, she has a newish flat screen lcd tv. She has a combi boiler whcih is gas and her fire is also gas whcih she does use.
im going to check the immersion when i pop round tonight but that hasnt been used for years.
i just cant think of what could possible increase the usage as she is barely in and if she is, she watches tv in living room with a lamp on etc. She doesnt really cook in the oven for herself just occassionally as she can use a microwave for her meals.

she has a shower which is electric but almost always gets a bath??

im stumped!

Cardew

Was the previous bill based on an estimated meter reading? If so it could be a 'catch -up' bill.


An estimated meter reading is usually designated by an (E).

[Deleted User]

As above re Macman and Cardew with the estimates, also check the reading, if its a electric dial meter ( 6 rotating dial s) they are very easy to get one of the digits wrong. I had one today where the lady had read the thousand pointer as a 6 ( it was bang on the border ) when it was a 5. Thats over a hundred quid difference to a bill. Meter readers mess it up also

lindabea

As already stated, her current bill may have been estimated or perhaps her previous bill underestimated and the current bill may include units which were not included on the previous bill.. Check to see if her previous bill was very low compared to others as I would guess that her bills should be roughly for the same amount every quarter.

8amy5

thanks everyone im going round tonight so im going to read her meter and also ring and ask when her meter was last read! ill let you know how it goes! much appreciated :-)

sniggings

nice to see a post with some detail in it for a change, instead of "my bill is £800 why"

macman

You need to check the actual kWh usage as already advised.
If she has a combi boiler, then there shouldn't be any immersion heater, as there won't be a hot water tank-that should have been removed when the combi was installed.

datlex

What wash is she using for her washing machine? Also 3 times every week for a person on their own seems like a lot of washing. I do 1 every week and 2 every other.


Does she only boil the water she needs when boiling her kettle?


Ask the utility company for a monitor then do a spot of experimenting.


Oh and check if she has any outside sockets- just in case some swine has been using them. A guy at work mentioned he'd plugged his Christmas lights in in the past to a neighbour's outside socket!!