Immersion left on in error - high electric bill!

Lun71

Hello. My elderly mum's immersion was switched on for who knows how long in error and now she has a really high bill. Would the utility company make an adjustment for a mistake or don't they care?

System

Lun71 wrote: »

Hello. My elderly mum's immersion was switched on for who knows how long in error and now she has a really high bill. Would the utility company make an adjustment for a mistake or don't they care?

Harsh as it sounds, why would they care? Energy has been consumed and the supplier will expect payment. She could ask for time to pay.

Wookey

Highly unlikely they would reduce a bill, it may be worth checking though that the immersions stat is working properly or installing a timer onto it so that it can't be left on for more than an hour or so at any one time, also check there is adequate insulation on the hot water tank to prevent heat loss.

Cardew

Provided your mother's hot water tank is well insulated, the losses are surprisingly small; this is why many people leave their immersion switched on 24/7.

The loss from a modern hot water tank can be as low as 1kWh every 24 hours with the water kept at 65C - which is higher than most people heat their water. This loss figure is tested to a British Standard and is usually stamped on the tank; for example my extra large tank loses 1.3kWh in 24 hours.

In any case during the winter the 'lost' heat warms the fabric of the house, so is not wasted.

Robin9

Perhaps an opportunity for you to check on her tariff and arrange a switch ?

JJ_Egan

Tank may not lose much heat until you use HW and replace it with very cold water .

macman

Do you really think that any supplier would offer to reduce a bill just because the customer says they 'left something on by mistake'? If they did, they'd be doing nothing all day but processing demands from other customers seeking a reduction on the same basis.
As Cardew points out, it is very unlikely that her 'higher bill' results solely from the immersion being left on. Forget £££'s, what you need to check is her actual kWh usage over a similar period a year ago.

JJ_Egan

If they do reduce the bill i want to swap to them asap .I may have high usage next winter and a bill reduction due to me leaving the heat on in error will save all this swapping suppliers .

jackandcoke

......in your dreams