28000 kWh Electricity Usage Per Year - Is that possible??

Calshot

My electricity Direct Debit bill with British Gas has just jumped from £106 to £530 per month! I've been a customer with them for 3 years in the same property.

According to their readings I used 14142 kWh in the period 29 May 2013 to 15 Nov 2013. This is for just under 6 months, and not even including winter. If I continue with that burn rate I'll be doing over 28000 kWh for a 12 month period (likely more as it will include winter heating). This is surely excessive. Is it possible I could be using this much electricity?

Looking at older readings, in the prior 12 months I used about 10000 kWh (which itself seems very high: Google suggests UK average use rates are 3000 - 5000 kWh per year). But assuming this is correct, I don't understand how I could have tripled my energy usage! We are not behaving any differently.

My property is a 3 bedroom flat in London, and there are only two of us (my wife and I). Residential use only!

Do you think there is some kind of fault?

Lokolo

Turn everything off, see if the meter moves....?

bsms1147

Cannabis farm next door.

macman

The UK electricity average of 3,300 kWh is based on a property with gas CH and DHW. Your is presumably all-electric.
To make any sense of your figures you need to say how the property is heated and hot watered, and whether you are on E7 or a single rate tariff. if E7, also post your annual percentage split.

Calshot

We have Gas, but its only used for cooking. Heating and hot water are electric. Heating is delivered through plug in wall radiators and an air-con system.

I can't see any reference to E7 on my bill, so I'm guessing I don't have this. There does appear to be some form of split tariff, as I get charged 21.17p for the first X consumption in a period, and then it drops to 12.96p. 98% is on the lower tariff.

I_have_spoken

Is it possible I could be using this much electricity?

Very cold spring in 2013 and hot summer, you could have been hammering the heating then the air-con

Calshot

We don't use the air-con in the summer - we just open the balcony doors and get a good breeze.

Possible on the winter heating as we hate the cold. But we turn the heating off overnight, and we only heat the rooms were are in (usually 1 at a time as there are only two of us).

Even so, would heavy heating result in this much power usage?

matelodave

You could try reading the meter regularly yourself and then reduce your consumption by turning stuff off when it's not needed.
Your tariff looks everso expensive to me - I only pay 11.053p a unit (fixed until April 2015) so if I were you I'd be looking around for a better one as well.

dogshome

The split charge per Kwh is because you are on a No Standing Charge tariff whereby the Standing charge is collected by a fixed number of units per annum being charged at higher price.
Because Ofgem the regulator have now outlawed NSC tariffs, when your present contract finishes you will go onto a Standing Charge tariff that collects the Service Charge by a fixed daily fee

14K+ Kwh between May & November can't really be explained away by the heating, although the Air Con will and does cost.
1) Is this May-Nov bill a catch-up bill where previous bills have been issued on, (Under), Estimated readings - Estimated bills are marked with an E against the reading/s

2) Is the reading on the bill on a par to what you meter reads now ?

3) Do you have a 'Dial' meter - 7 little dials each with one hand? If you do these are difficult to read accurately and even Meter Readers can get it wrong
The classic error is with the dial on the Left that records in increments of 10,000 Kwh: For example if the pointer on this dial is resting on, or even a little past '6', it should not be read as 6 unless the pointer on the dial next to it is showing O or 1 - If that dial is reading 8 or 9 then the 10K kwh dial should be read as 5

retiredin2011

There does appear to be some form of split tariff

You are on a single tariff that has so many a year at 21.17p then the rest at 12.96p.

900 kWh at 21.17p a year and the rest at 12.69p.

Or 225 kWh per quarter or even 2.46 kWh a day.

Depends on the way the power company works it out.
These type of tariffs are being phased out in favour of a standing charge and single rate.

scaredofdebt

Is the meter inside the property?

If not check they are reading the right meter, check the serial number on the bill against the meter.

If you are electric for heating etc then 10,000 kwh per annum isn't unbelievable but 28,000 kwh would be extreme unless you've got a heated swimming pool or a hot-tub.

The split you can see in your bill is normal and nothing to do with Economy 7, you appear to be on a single rate meter/tariff. Economy 7 would be worthwhile considering if you have storage heaters as it may save you some money.