Average electric bill for 1 bed flat?

MoneyEM

I've just bought my first flat which I'll be moving into in a few weeks, I was just wondering what I should be estimating my electric bill at?

A few things to note;
I will be living alone
I work full time in London and will only be at the flat evenings & weekends
I have an electric only flat with wall mounted heaters, there is no boiler

British gas have estimated I should be paying £83 but I think this is way too high!

KingS6

Are you living in London? As you say you work there but you do not say if you live there. London is pricey for a lot of things so I would not be surprised. Different regions in the UK have different costs for transmissions and this can have an effect on prices. Plus British Gas are not cheap to begin with.

Once you've moved in try to give lots of meter readings maybe even weekly. You will have an accurate rate of usage, plus once you're in the property you can shop around for a cheaper deal if you're able to do so.

Robisere

It may not be too high, but I would not trust British Gas as a Supplier anyway. What make/model of heaters are fitted? Are they modern?

Somwhere on or in each heater will be a manufacturer's code for each one. Knowing the manufacturer and model, you can access the website and email them for the information as to how old they are. I will explain this a bit more later.

Is the supply Economy 7 and the heaters Night Storage? Again, I will explain all: -
We have spent almost 14 years in a Senior's Sheltered Housing complex of 23 bungalows. Until we had GCHeating fitted last year, we had Economy 7 and Night Storage Heaters. The heaters were over 30 years old and did not work economically. I found the age of the heaters by the method I describe above. The manufacturer in my case, was Creda and they were very happy to tell me that these models were discontinued years ago and were unsuitable for us anyway. That type of heating is fine for people who are out all day at work (as are you) but no good for those who are in all day. By 3 or 4 pm, the storage blocks have lost all heat and the house is no longer heated until Economy 7 has heated the blocks overnight.

COST: At one point in the cold winter of 2010, we were paying £195 per month, for all electric usage. This never reduced below £173 and you can imagine the effect upon the finances of pensioners. Now we have a Dual Fuel system, with new meters for gas and electricity, my last DD payment was £66 and in winter it has not exceeded £73. This means that we can take another small holiday this year, whereas before GCH we struggled to afford one!

Of course, you may find that you have modern, more efficient and controllable heaters and you may be able to turn them on and off at will. However, the older heaters are not built that way, once 'on' they produce heat until it runs out. And the Weather forecast has to be checked for the next day: they must be set to produce whatever heat is probably needed tomorrow! Furthermore, when the weekends come and one is in the house more, they will run out.

I sincerely hope that your new heating is modern, controllable and NOT Economy7 - driven. Good Luck!

Robisere

Just had another thought: No boiler? How do you get hot water?

KingS6

Robisere wrote: »

Just had another thought: No boiler? How do you get hot water?

An immersion heater.

MoneyEM

KingS6 wrote: »

Are you living in London? As you say you work there but you do not say if you live there. London is pricey for a lot of things so I would not be surprised. Different regions in the UK have different costs for transmissions and this can have an effect on prices. Plus British Gas are not cheap to begin with.

Once you've moved in try to give lots of meter readings maybe even weekly. You will have an accurate rate of usage, plus once you're in the property you can shop around for a cheaper deal if you're able to do so.

No, the flat is about 35 miles away in Kent.

I definitely will be giving regular meter readings, I was hoping it would be £30 a month or around that. I currently live in a rental in London (2 bed, storage heaters which are less eco then i have now) and we are paying £60 a month.

MoneyEM

Robisere wrote: »

It may not be too high, but I would not trust British Gas as a Supplier anyway. What make/model of heaters are fitted? Are they modern?

Somwhere on or in each heater will be a manufacturer's code for each one. Knowing the manufacturer and model, you can access the website and email them for the information as to how old they are. I will explain this a bit more later.

Is the supply Economy 7 and the heaters Night Storage? Again, I will explain all: -
We have spent almost 14 years in a Senior's Sheltered Housing complex of 23 bungalows. Until we had GCHeating fitted last year, we had Economy 7 and Night Storage Heaters. The heaters were over 30 years old and did not work economically. I found the age of the heaters by the method I describe above. The manufacturer in my case, was Creda and they were very happy to tell me that these models were discontinued years ago and were unsuitable for us anyway. That type of heating is fine for people who are out all day at work (as are you) but no good for those who are in all day. By 3 or 4 pm, the storage blocks have lost all heat and the house is no longer heated until Economy 7 has heated the blocks overnight.

COST: At one point in the cold winter of 2010, we were paying £195 per month, for all electric usage. This never reduced below £173 and you can imagine the effect upon the finances of pensioners. Now we have a Dual Fuel system, with new meters for gas and electricity, my last DD payment was £66 and in winter it has not exceeded £73. This means that we can take another small holiday this year, whereas before GCH we struggled to afford one!

Of course, you may find that you have modern, more efficient and controllable heaters and you may be able to turn them on and off at will. However, the older heaters are not built that way, once 'on' they produce heat until it runs out. And the Weather forecast has to be checked for the next day: they must be set to produce whatever heat is probably needed tomorrow! Furthermore, when the weekends come and one is in the house more, they will run out.

I sincerely hope that your new heating is modern, controllable and NOT Economy7 - driven. Good Luck!

The heating is new, it's a brand new conversion so they have been bought/fitted this year. I have attached a picture. I don't live there yet and i don't have access to the name but i think they are a brand beginning with S... I know they definitely aren't storage heaters as I have dimplex storage ones in my rental and they are terribly expensive.

MoneyEM

Robisere wrote: »

Just had another thought: No boiler? How do you get hot water?

from this tank upstairs

KingS6

Yes that's an immersion heater, with a hot water tank.

KingS6

With regards to the heaters/radiators themselves. From the picture you've shown us it looks like there is not a great deal of controls on top of the units, which would suggest being able to have them on some sort of timer is less likely. I'm unsure if they are "thick" enough to be storage heater so could just be bog standard panel heaters, this is what I have in my flat for reference.

I notice what looks like a small screen and controls in the hot water tank cupboard so you should be able to set the hot water on a timer if you so wish.

ColinFishwick

If your in evening and weekends like you said thats just covers a lot of UK households. Heating with electric and heating water via immersion isnt best way to be economical as electric often is 3x times the price of gas.

Doesn't make much difference how efficient your heating is electric is 100% efficient only way to cut bills down is insulate your property and not use as much both equate to same things

I personally would be paying £100 that would cover most of usage unless your a high user it would be less if you heat you water and heating with gas