Domestic 3 phase boiler installed. Need tariff advice

Chisy

HI everyone, I've recently had a house built and fitted with a 3 phase electric boiler as I have no gas where I am(West Lothian). I was advised when building to install the 3 phase one due to the size of the house.
I'm having major issues with the energy companies trying to figure out who can supply me and at what tariff. Took ages to even get a suitable meter(single rate) installed.
I figured a higher standing charge with a lower unit cost would be better due to the 24kV boiler.
My first bill from British Gas for 1 months usage was almost £750 which almost made fall off my seat!

Please help asap before I'm bankrupt.

Cheers
Neil

jbainbridge

That's a lot of money - not sure what to say. How does the bill breakdown?

What made you go electric rather than oil or lpg?

matelodave

In a new house then some form of renewable energy like a heat pump or even biomass would have been a lot more cost effective than a 24kw electric boiler and you would have got the RHI payments to offset the cost

I'm assuming it works like a conventional boiler and is heating the house & hot water through radiators.

In my view it's the last thing I would have installed as it can really only use a single tariff supply. E7 wouldn't be much good to you as you need to heat the place during the high cost period. Without a lot more information I'd suggest that you've been very poorly advised.

Chisy

@jbainbridge - I've only been in just over a month and so far I have only given them 1 meter reading. From that they calculated my bill. I chose electricity only as the costs of lpg and gas only ever seemed to go up and I'd heard some horrendous stories of massive bills for those two types of fuel. I also had a 3 phase transformer on the pole adjacent to the house so it was an easy installation.

@matelodave - I also have solar thermal panels to provide domestic hot water but winter isn't exactly the best time for them.
I have underfloor heating downstairs and radiators upstairs.

I've just been looking at a company that has a fairly high standing charge but a low unit cost of 9.492p which I think would be best considering I'd be classed as a high electricity user.

Any thought?

Cheers,
Neil

matelodave

You should be able to get an estimate of your anuual heating & hot water demand from your EPC which will give you a ball park figure to work with. Don't forget to add your domestic consumption as well (cooking, lighting, washing, TV etc)

9.492p/kwh sounds reasonable for a single rate tariff, I can get about 10.5 down here in East Anglia however we have an air source heat pump for our heating & hotwater which effectively reduces it to about 3.5p/kwh (COP=3).

My total electricity bill for 2014 was 6000kwh= £738 and we live in a 1986 averagely insulated 140m2 detached bungalow which is occupied all day. Our worst year was 2012 when it was very cold and we used 8886kh = £1035.
We are also getting £672/pa renewable heat incentive for seven years to offset the cost of the heatpump.


Using your sort of heating would add about £700 a year to my bil

macman

Since the bulk of UK electricity production is, (and will continue to be so for some years to come) generated from fossil fuel sources, did you not think that electricity prices will simply follow those of gas/lpg?
You've picked the single most expensive way of heating any property. Who advised you to fit an electric boiler vs an oil boiler?

ChumpusRex

Unfortunately, you have chosen the most expensive (to run) heating system available by a huge margin.

The only option is to try to find the tariff with the lowest possible unit price.

Other than that, it is replace the heating system with something with lower fuel costs (e.g. Heat pump or NSH)

zaax

solid fuel seems to be the cheapest for a house off mains gas

macman

Given that you'll be paying 10p per kWh vs 4p per kWh, I'd bite the bullet now and replace that boiler. With a cost base otherwise more than 250% higher, you might recover the bad investment within a couple of years or so, less if it's possible to sell on the boiler as 'nearly new'.

Chisy

@macman - Downside to that is I then need to buy another boiler of one kind or another. I don't have a budget for an air source heat pump/biomass etc as the house build went over.
And if I got LPG in I'd then need a completely different system to support the new boiler.
I don't think installing an alternative is feasible at the moment.
Until I sell a kidney or something I just need to find a cheap(if there is such a thing) unit cost on a single rate tariff.

Here's hoping!

matelodave

I'd guess the only way you'll get a cheapish unit rate is to phone around the suppliers as most comparison sites are geared towards fairly conventional domestic users which I suspect doesn't include three-phase supplies.