British Gas Tariffs - advice

matelodave

I'd guess you've got something called a thermal store which should heat up overnight during the low tariff and then hot water is pumped through a heat exchanger to give you hot water or heating. Have you got a time switch and thermostat on your heating system to control the times it comes on and off and to control the temperature.

You should also try to reduce your consumption of hot water by not letting it run down the sink, wash & rinse stuff (including your hands) in cold water. Have shorter or fewer showers/baths. Get flow restrictors fitted to your taps and shower to reduce the amount of water you use.

Turn off stuff at the wall when it's not being used - individually it's not a lot but it all mounts up. Leaving computers, TVs, Skyboxes and games consoles on standby all consume power. Four hours with a large plasma TV and Sky box could use 1kwh so having it on all day for the kids to watch could cost you £5 a week or more on it's own.

Turn lights off when you aren't in the room and consider changing some to LEDs especially if you've got a kitchen full of halogen down lighters

Looking at your meter info I reckon you should have a rate 2 reading as well - it looks like you are on a single rate tariff which will cost you a lot more than E7 - you should check with your supplier and try to get onto an E7 tariff.

Why are you limited to using your washing machine to between 9am-9pm - I'd try and challenge that with the landlord as you can't make use of the lower cost overnight tariff. You could also use the timer on your cooker to do some of your baking overnight/early morning to use the lower rate.

Reading your meter every day for a few weeks will help you identify when you are using lots of electricity and you'll be able to reduce your consumption.

CashStrapped

As mentioned above.

1)Firstly, you need to find out what tariff you are on and if it is sutiable for your current set up/type of heating system.

2) Clearly identify your heating system, how it works, and the most economic way of using it.

How do you turn on your radiators? Do you have a switch? Thermostat?

It sounds like it is a complete wet electric thermal store system. Do you have any type of boiler in you house at all, or is everything external to your flat (including these storage tanks).

As others have mentioned, if you are on Economy 7, you should have a Rate 2 reading. If not, look at your bills. If you have an Economy 7 system but are paying a single rate tarrif, it could be very expensive fro you.

Nada666

matelodave wrote: »

Why are you limited to using your washing machine to between 9am-9pm

Common civility.

tjjjenk

That's very interesting because no, I do not have a rate 2 but I did before I asked British Gas to come out to fit an E7 meter. The guys who fitted the heating system told me I should be on economy 10 or 18 but British Gas told me that they don't do either of those so I had to go with E7. I could be paying the higher rate 24 hours a day if there's been a mistake somewhere. I shall contact them.

Each flat has their own cylinder - so technically we should all be paying our own bills. But I have wondered if I'm also paying for someone else's usage, I just don't know how I would find out.

I do have a thermostat and timer for the hot water and heating, which is inside my flat. It also displays the water temp. I do make use of the timer but the thermostat doesn't seem to make much difference. If the water temp is low then the heating just wont heat up.

I do not have any type of boiler/tank in the flat. Just the thermostat, timer and electric meter.

I don't have regular bills as I'm on the prepayment meter but according to my annual summary I'm on the standard tariff, the type is variable and there's only one unit price - 13.550p.

Can I just confirm that I can have a E7 meter on a standard tariff - they are two different things right?

CashStrapped

Whatever the set up, it is not really your responsibility to do the chasing to find out if the system is set up correctly. You should only be choosing the tariff that is best for you based on whether it is an E7 system or not.

It does (if you have radiators that fill with water) sound like you have a wet electric system. What is key is how and when the water is heated and how it is stored for the heating system.

Try your current energy supplier and describe the system as best you can, but it may not be a fruitful conversation if you are not sure yourself.

You should contact the agent/landlord. Explain that the heating system is not operating properly and that it is costing a lot to run. Request that a heating engineer is sent out to check the system over. When he/she arrives find out exactly what the heating system is, and how you should operate it. Try to locate a manual online. You could even look for a model/serial number on the storage tank, and search online to see if that brings up anything.

It sounds like you have a system designed to run on E7 or E10 etc. but you just have a standard meter and tariff. However, without looking at the system it is hard to know.

In my opinion it sounds like the worst set-up ever for a flat. However it depends if it is being set-up/used correctly.

You definitely want to get this sorted before the really cold weather starts.

macman

You can 't get to grip with your debt until you understand what metering you are on and how the system works. And it concerns me that you said your debt was 'over £500' when in fact it's £776. At £3.60 per week recovery it's going to take you 4 years to pay that off-how quickly has this debt built up?

tjjjenk

macman wrote: »

You can 't get to grip with your debt until you understand what metering you are on and how the system works. And it concerns me that you said your debt was 'over £500' when in fact it's £776. At £3.60 per week recovery it's going to take you 4 years to pay that off-how quickly has this debt built up?

You're absolutely right, which is why I came here for advice. The debt was built up over two years due to my partner losing his job and us not managing our money very well. However could many people afford to pay back at a higher rate if they were paying so much on the electric in the first place? If I can get what we are spending weekly down then I will have the money to start paying the debt.

Thank you for all of the advice, it has really helped. will be contacting my landlord and then British Gas again.

tjjjenk

Hi

Just wanted to update you as I received some great advice.

Called British Gas again and explained that I only have one rate on my meter. The lady went off to check something and came back to say that although they have my request for E7 booked for Feb 2013. Only a standard meter was installed - (in fact I remember the guy coming and he didn't change the meter. Just programmed it I thought.) She said the engineer obviously mistook it for a standard install, however I specifically asked him what times my E7 were?!

So I'm now actually going to have E7 installed in November. All thanks to the guys who flagged up the single rate. So thank you very much! Never again will I just trust British Gas know what they're doing!

SwanJon

To add to the above - they should have told you about the British Gas Energy Trust when you called in. (http://www.charisgrants.com/application-forms/)
If you qualify they will pay off your outstanding balance - it'll only save you £3.65/wk but even that will help a little bit.

You asked about the two charges - the Total is standing charge plus debt charge. The meter doesn't show standing charge on it's own - yours is £1.82/week.

It might be worth asking for your bill to be recalculated for the time your were on single when you should have been on two rate. No guarentees, but worth asking.
PS - how many wires come out of the bottom of your meter? If it is only 4 the meter can only be set up as single rate, but if more it should be able to switch from single to two rate by being reprogrammed.

tjjjenk

So British Gas have just been out to fit an Economy 7 meter for the second time....and didn't.

Apparently I have to have two fuse boxes which are my landlords responsibility to fit. Is this correct? Although the guys didn't even have an economy 7 meter with them, so obviously didn't have any intention to fit it. This is the second time.

So they have booked me another appointment for the 27th January. Almost a year after the first engineer came out to fit economy 7 and didn't. Unknown to me.

I can not keep paying out this much for electric. It is crippling us.

SwanJon - There are four wires - therefore only a single rate.