Very high electricity bill

meshy

I received a bill this week that works out to over £90 a month (with Scottish Power).

I live alone in a one bedroom flat, I am at work until 6pm every day and when home I have a couple of lights on, a heater on for a few hours (not over night) and my computer... I have never paid this much even when living in a much bigger house with several people.

I checked the bill and found these details on usage:

About 1400 KWh for 40 days (which is about 35 KWh per day)
16p per KWh

Plus "standing charges" at about £20.

Does this look normal?

I am very frugal when it comes to saving energy so I don't understand where all this came from. The meter reading is the about the same as on the bill...

zagfles

Heating stuff is the big power user. What's the power of the heater? How much do you use it inc at weekends? Do you have an immersion heater for hot water?

meshy

zagfles wrote: »

Heating stuff is the big power user. What's the power of the heater? How much do you use it inc at weekends? Do you have an immersion heater for hot water?

The heater is 2000W. I usually turn it on from 6pm to 11pm, same on weekends really except I might have it on in the morning for a couple of hours.

I'm not sure about the boiler but it's only on for an hour in the morning and an hour before I get home, and the tank is quite small (I get about 20 minutes of shower before the water turns cold).

[Deleted User]

Your kwhr rate is pretty high, ( I pay 11p.in the north of England ) . I am similar to you in my electric heating, 2 bar halogen heater and I am only £50 a month. Is there any estimates in the previous bills and they re catching up ?

zagfles

meshy wrote: »

The heater is 2000W. I usually turn it on from 6pm to 11pm, same on weekends really except I might have it on in the morning for a couple of hours.

So that's 10KWh explained, 14KWh at weekends.

I'm not sure about the boiler but it's only on for an hour in the morning and an hour before I get home, and the tank is quite small (I get about 20 minutes of shower before the water turns cold).

Maybe another 5 or so. It still leave a lot unexplained. Tumble dryer? Dishwasher? Electric shower? Anything else which heats water or the air used regularly? Suggest you get an energy monitor to monitor your usage. I suspect the heater is on a bit longer than you think - try to make an accurate note of how long it's on. Electricty used for lights, computer etc would likely be trivial.

meshy

zagfles wrote: »

So that's 10KWh explained, 14KWh at weekends.

Maybe another 5 or so. It still leave a lot unexplained. Tumble dryer? Dishwasher? Electric shower? Anything else which heats water or the air used regularly? Suggest you get an energy monitor to monitor your usage. I suspect the heater is on a bit longer than you think - try to make an accurate note of how long it's on. Electricty used for lights, computer etc would likely be trivial.

I appreciate your response, it seems like the heater does use up a lot of energy and I think it is the main culprit. I don't use the washing machine or shower or anything else any more than I have in previous homes, the only difference is the electric heater rather than radiators.

sacsquacco wrote: »

Your kwhr rate is pretty high, ( I pay 11p.in the north of England ) . I am similar to you in my electric heating, 2 bar halogen heater and I am only £50 a month. Is there any estimates in the previous bills and they re catching up ?

I did a little search and it seems 11p is close to average, in which case I will try switching to another energy provider.