Nasty EDF Bill...

oliviatellier

Hey everyone, sorry to post what is surely one of the most boring and pedestrian worries on the internet, but I am pretty concerned about a huge bill my housemate and I had come in. £800 for four months - two of which I was away with work.

About our flat and energy consumption: We have a small two bed basement flat. Five rooms in total, including an open plan kitchen/hallway, lounge, and under-the-stairs shower and toilet (no bath).

It's pretty damp with single glazed windows, the usual situation for affordable private renting in the city. Everything's on electric, we have four energy guzzling electric radiators which are on timers (and we're frugal with them, the place is always cold) an electric power shower, as well as an eco-air dehumidifier which we rarely use - about an hour a week - an indesit fridge-freezer and washing machine. Other than that in terms of appliances we have a few usuals - a radio, a microwave, an internet hub, my housemate has an iMac but it's only on for a few hours a day.

We both use a hairdryer and occasionally straighteners once a day. I charge a Mac laptop for about 3 hours a day. No TV, nothing else! Turn everything off at the plug after use. So this is the first bill we've had since we moved in from EDF, delayed getting it because there was a problem with the former tenant's account (nothing to do with this bill) but I've lived in all-electric flats before and the bill never looked like this.

EDF have been pretty good about it (stopping short of giving us any money off). They've come and fitted a smart meter and given us a energy monitor, but it isn't really giving us much indication of why the bill was so high. Any suggestions? I have a feeling we're just going to have to find the money and pay it, but because we're in the city the rent is already really high for this flat and that would bring our total bills and rent costs up to £700 each (Bristol, not London!). That's 60% of my monthly salary, and pretty crippling. My job is dependant on me being in the city doing long hours, and prices don't go down much unless you're a 20 minute drive out the city, and I don't have a car plus the long hours and bad traffic would make already long days even more of a nightmare.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be really appreciated! :T

notbritishgas

When you moved in you did take the meter readings?
Is the start reading on this bill the same as the one you took?

oliviatellier

Hey, the former tenant is a friend of mine so I was there and checked her exit readings (and then provided those as my entry readings).

Robin9

Are the readings of your bill estimated or actual and what tariff are you on ?

missbiggles1

oliviatellier wrote: »

Hey everyone, sorry to post what is surely one of the most boring and pedestrian worries on the internet, but I am pretty concerned about a huge bill my housemate and I had come in. £800 for four months - two of which I was away with work.

About our flat and energy consumption: We have a small two bed basement flat. Five rooms in total, including an open plan kitchen/hallway, lounge, and under-the-stairs shower and toilet (no bath).

It's pretty damp with single glazed windows, the usual situation for affordable private renting in the city. Everything's on electric, we have four energy guzzling electric radiators which are on timers (and we're frugal with them, the place is always cold) an electric power shower, as well as an eco-air dehumidifier which we rarely use - about an hour a week - an indesit fridge-freezer and washing machine. Other than that in terms of appliances we have a few usuals - a radio, a microwave, an internet hub, my housemate has an iMac but it's only on for a few hours a day.

We both use a hairdryer and occasionally straighteners once a day. I charge a Mac laptop for about 3 hours a day. No TV, nothing else! Turn everything off at the plug after use. So this is the first bill we've had since we moved in from EDF, delayed getting it because there was a problem with the former tenant's account (nothing to do with this bill) but I've lived in all-electric flats before and the bill never looked like this.

EDF have been pretty good about it (stopping short of giving us any money off). They've come and fitted a smart meter and given us a energy monitor, but it isn't really giving us much indication of why the bill was so high. Any suggestions? I have a feeling we're just going to have to find the money and pay it, but because we're in the city the rent is already really high for this flat and that would bring our total bills and rent costs up to £700 each (Bristol, not London!). That's 60% of my monthly salary, and pretty crippling. My job is dependant on me being in the city doing long hours, and prices don't go down much unless you're a 20 minute drive out the city, and I don't have a car plus the long hours and bad traffic would make already long days even more of a nightmare.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be really appreciated! :T

You don't mention water heating or cooking.

When you say you're frugal with the electric radiators, how often are they on for?

maninthestreet

So now you have a smart meter and electricity monitor in place, what is you typical daily electricity consumption (in KWh) ?

Autumnella

Do you have an immersion heater? Is it left on constantly? If so this could be the cause of your high bills.

Have you agreed a cheaper tariff or just gone onto their deemed tariff (most expensive) when you moved in. Check the right hand column on page 1 of your bill and this will tell you how much you could save by switching to a cheaper tariff if there is one. It's also cheaper to pay by direct debit and it would spread the cost of your usage so you wouldn't have to pay high bills off at my once.

EDF are one of the more lenient companies when it comes to debt, so work out what you can afford to pay on top of your regular usage and bills towards the debt and ask to set up an instalment plan.