Electricity advice please

tubzy2001

Hello there, I live alone in a small 2 bed bungalow which I moved to end of sept 16. I switched to Co Op energy 14th November. Beginning of this week I rang them to see if I had been awarded the warm home discount scheme which I had, I gave meter readings, rate 1 and 2 as I have economy 7. I was told I've used £455 on rate 1 and £83 rate 2 in under 8 weeks. I was told my economy 7 rate 2 is during 12-5pm and 8-10pm. I use my tumble dryer during those times anyway and my heating would be 3 hours of that cheaper rate. I have an electric boiler which comes on 2 hours in the morning and 4.30-10pm. I do not have the heating on the full 6 hours especially last minty when it was mild. I can't see how I have used so much electric. I can't do anything til 14th Feb when my quarterly bill will be produced. Any advice will be gratefully received, many thanks

molerat

If you are on E7 your timings will not be as stated as they are set by your local distributor and are usually between around 11pm - 8am. You could be on some sort of hybrid scheme but I doubt Co-op would support that type of tariff. You need to check exactly what tariff you are on, what times your meter switches over to off peak and exactly which register measures the different rates as they often get switched. If you are using a wet electric heating system you have probably the most expensive form of heating conceivable and would need specialist tariffs and metering to make it anywhere near affordable.

footyguy

tubzy2001 wrote: »

Hello there, I live alone in a small 2 bed bungalow which I moved to end of sept 16. I switched to Co Op energy 14th November. Beginning of this week I rang them to see if I had been awarded the warm home discount scheme which I had, I gave meter readings, rate 1 and 2 as I have economy 7. I was told I've used £455 on rate 1 and £83 rate 2 in under 8 weeks. I was told my economy 7 rate 2 is during 12-5pm and 8-10pm. I use my tumble dryer during those times anyway and my heating would be 3 hours of that cheaper rate. I have an electric boiler which comes on 2 hours in the morning and 4.30-10pm. I do not have the heating on the full 6 hours especially last minty when it was mild. I can't see how I have used so much electric. I can't do anything til 14th Feb when my quarterly bill will be produced. Any advice will be gratefully received, many thanks

a) I would question the off peak periods you were given. Check your meter to see for yourself when it is on cheap rate.

b) keep a daily check on your meter. Or perhaps get yourself a OWL type meter (other manufacturers are available) and keep a constant eye on when you are using energy, and how much.
Try to maximise usage during off peak times (the correct ones) to minimise cost

tubzy2001

I noticed myself that the rate 2 cheap rate is on during the day and not overnight like it should be

tubzy2001

How cheap are portable oil filled rads to run? I have one 2000W and one 2500W

[Deleted User]

Hi,

what type of heating do you actually have?

BargainGalore

if you pay 13p per kWh it will cost you 26p per hour for 2000w and 32p for 2500w but they may not always be on all time depending of room temp and your settings

tubzy2001 wrote: »

How cheap are portable oil filled rads to run? I have one 2000W and one 2500W

footyguy

tubzy2001 wrote: »

How cheap are portable oil filled rads to run? I have one 2000W and one 2500W

1000w =1 kW

Refer to your tariff for how much 1kW costs per hour (i.e. cost per kWh)

tubzy2001

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,

what type of heating do you actually have?

Hello, I have an electric boiler with radiators

Rubidium

tubzy2001 wrote: »

Hello there, I live alone in a small 2 bed bungalow which I moved to end of sept 16. I switched to Co Op energy 14th November. Beginning of this week I rang them to see if I had been awarded the warm home discount scheme which I had, I gave meter readings, rate 1 and 2 as I have economy 7. I was told I've used £455 on rate 1 and £83 rate 2 in under 8 weeks. I was told my economy 7 rate 2 is during 12-5pm and 8-10pm. I use my tumble dryer during those times anyway and my heating would be 3 hours of that cheaper rate. I have an electric boiler which comes on 2 hours in the morning and 4.30-10pm. I do not have the heating on the full 6 hours especially last minty when it was mild. I can't see how I have used so much electric. I can't do anything til 14th Feb when my quarterly bill will be produced. Any advice will be gratefully received, many thanks

I would say that you are on the wrong tariff for your needs and you will be paying more per kWh for the 17 peak rate hours than you need to be paying.

When you say "an electric boiler with radiators" I'm assuming that you actually mean a domestic hot water storage tank with an immersion heater 3kW and the two oil filled radiators 2kW and 2.5kW mentioned above?

I do not think that you have been advised correctly about your E7 times by the Co-op but that does not surprise me as they are pathetic in my experience.

What type of meter do you have? Can you post a picture of the meter and any time switch? If you have an old mechanical time switch, then the E7 time could have drifted but not to the times that you have been told.

tubzy2001

Rubidium wrote: »

I would say that you are on the wrong tariff for your needs and you will be paying more per kWh for the 17 peak rate hours than you need to be paying.

When you say "an electric boiler with radiators" I'm assuming that you actually mean a domestic hot water storage tank with an immersion heater 3kW and the two oil filled radiators 2kW and 2.5kW mentioned above?

I do not think that you have been advised correctly about your E7 times by the Co-op but that does not surprise me as they are pathetic in my experience.

What type of meter do you have? Can you post a picture of the meter and any time switch? If you have an old mechanical time switch, then the E7 time could have drifted but not to the times that you have been told.

Hello there, I have a huge green water tank in one cupboard and in another a boiler that looks just like. Gas boiler, I have a Drayton programme. The 2 oil heaters are portable ones fgw I plug into the sockets. Co op energy transferred me to sales to be placed on a lower tarrif but they can not do this until this matter is resolved and will backdate from today's date. The sales lady told me I've used over £600 of electricity