Sub-meter electric bill is £450 more than I expected

JC1440

Hello,

I moved in to a flat that is sub-metered six months ago. At the time my landlord said he receives a bill from Eon then works out, from my reading, how much I have to pay him. I've been putting aside £7 a week, as that is roughly about what my bill was in my last flat. Well, I got the bill from him yesterday and it works out at £26 a week for six months :eek: My usage is about the same as my previous flat, and the only new electric thing I have to pay for are an electric gate and alarm system, but I've checked them and they use about one unit per eight hours, which seems nothing. I've asked my landlord to look in to it. Anybody have any advice about sub-meters?

lstar337

How many units have registered on your meter?

You cant base consumption off an old flat, what are your actual consumed units for the 6 month period?

With the unit figure we can tell you if the landlord is pulling a fast one.

JC1440

Thanks for the quick reply. Quite stressed out about this, obviously.

Total amount used is 4782. I gave him a reading, and he used a reading that was on the tenancy agreement from when I moved in. I don't think the units are off, but... I don't know?! It makes no sense!

JC1440

And he says it is 12.92p per unit

Andy_WSM

Neither of those figures sound particularly unreasonable, but assuming you are all electric your assumed £7 a week sounds way off the mark to me.

JC1440

I have gas central heating, if that's what you mean?

I am very energy efficient. I switch my router off when it isn't in use; if I nip out to the shops for twenty minutes it goes off. Nothing stays plugged in in my flat. I'd even go so far as to say you'd struggle to find someone more energy efficient, which is part of what bothers me here. A regualr electric user in a small flat would be using £35, £40+ plus a week? Sounds really off to me.

matelodave

The 12.92p/kwh sounds reasonable however based on your consumption of 4782'kwh in six months = about 25kwh a day during the summer which is a lot. I'd guess it should be nearer 8-12kwh/day in the summer increasing in the winter if you've got electric heating.

Perhaps you should start reading your meter daily to see what is using it and when - do a few checks to make sure that the meter is roughly accurate by turning stuff off & on and checking what is being consumed.
Make sure you aren't leaving the immersion on all the time and that stuff is turned off or unplugged from the wall when not in use

lstar337

JC1440 wrote: »

I have gas central heating, if that's what you mean?

I am very energy efficient. I switch my router off when it isn't in use; if I nip out to the shops for twenty minutes it goes off. Nothing stays plugged in in my flat. I'd even go so far as to say you'd struggle to find someone more energy efficient, which is part of what bothers me here. A regualr electric user in a small flat would be using £35, £40+ plus a week? Sounds really off to me.

Turn off all your stuff and see if the meter is still going up. If it has a blinking red light it should stop blinking.

If the red light is still blinking or the meter is still going up then you are paying for somebody else's electric too.

Andy_WSM

JC1440 wrote: »

I have gas central heating, if that's what you mean?

Yes, that makes a world of difference. About £10 a week electric in that case would be reasonable, so seems you are either using too much or there is some problem as stated above.

JC1440

matelodave

I have been checking stuff and it seems about right. For example, I believe the electric gate is powered by me and the alarm system too, and they use one or two units during the night, about eight and a half hours. Whereas when something like a heater or the oven goes on, the meter is clicking constantly (it's in my kitchen and you can hear the dials moving) I worked out today that having the oven on full power (250 degrees) for twenty five minutes costs £1.20. Is that normal? (it looks an old oven).

lstar337


It isn't possible to switch everything off entirely, as I have an alarm system, but like I said, the alarm system/electric garage/fridge (only things on during the night) use one or two units, which doesn't seem much?

Andy_WSM

I really don't think I'm using too much. The only things that are new in this flat from my old are the electric garage gate, alarm system and a small Tinnitus masker (little device that makes noise to mask Tinnitus) but like I say, I've tested all these and they appear to use little units. The Tinnitus masker, which I was a little worried about at one point as I have it on throughout the daytime, uses about a quarter of a unit per hour of being on.

I emailed the landlord today and he said he will speak to the electrician that fitted it to see if there is a fault. This is what bothers me. It seems like the meter isn't being unreasonable, but going from around £7 a week electric use in my old place (I know you said it is irrelevant but it must be some kind of gage) to £26 a week is mental. It was easier to see my costs with my old place as I used a top up card for my electric. And I know I didn't top up £25 every week!

JC1440

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