high bill with soutern electric

eager2know

Hi,
this is the first time I have rented a flat in UK as previously I was sharing with some other guys. My electric bill seems to be quite high for a 1 bed (+1 living room+ 1 passage and toilet and kitcen) house where I am sharing with my spouse. The bill is £91 incl. vat for about 2 and half months. All the appliances are running on electric with 2 heaters, 1 water heater, 1 washing mc(run once a week usually at night), 1 fridge-freezer, 1 fridge etc. I am suspecting the fridge-freezer as faulty as it keeps working all the time, with the sensor probably needs repair.

My first query is what is "standing charge" in the bill which in my case 18.45 p per day? does that mean I will be paying a fixed amount even if I dont use electric at all? Also surprisingly my day units are more than my night units even though both me and my spouse remains outside all day in weekdays and that is the cause for my large bill i.e. 10.55 p per unit daytime and 4.24 p per unit night time. So, the second query is what counts as night time, is it after 8pm?

Terrylw1

Hi,

Standing charge is paid no matter what. Consider it like a rental fee. Suppliers used to charge it on all types of meters but you tend to only see it on PrePayment typs thesedays.

Is your meter PP by any chance?

As to the E7 element, you would need to check that with your Supplier as it depends on the type of meter. Generally E7 tend to be 12:00-7:00 but there can be variations.

It could also be set to the wrong times.

Heating on electricity is more than gas but if you are not using that in the day when you are out, there must be something else contributing to the high day usage. If the fridge freezer is on all the time due to a fault it may be that or you could have more attached to your fusebox than you know about. Switching off all your known appliances and watching to see if the meter still move on will tell you that.

Bare in mind that on E7 tariffs, you geta discounted low off peak rate and a very high on peak rate. So, if you determine that your usage if more iun the day I would suggest you check your Suppliers standard rate charges and work out whether things are cheaper for you on 1 flat rate as opposed to the regime split rate.

Also, PP meters have higher charges anyway as opposed to credit rate meters. So, it sounds like you need to do some comparisons to other tariffs to get your bills down as well as the fridze & possible time issues.

portsmouthali

Hi,

I would suggest checking if the bill is estimated or based on an actual reading if you haven't already done so. The cheap rate on Economy 7 meters usually kicks in at midnight, so although you are out during the day everything you use during the evening will be charged on the day rate. Electric heating/hot water is unfortunately expensive to run compared to gas, so large electric bills on all-electric properties are quite common. Give your supplier a ring and they can give you advice on the most efficient way to use your heating/hot water.

divadee

we had a 2 bedroom flat all electric about 7 years ago, same as e7 etc...

we used to pay approx £55 a month elec so i would think yours is about right as obviously elec costs have gone up a hell of a lot in the past 7 years!!

As others have said give the company meter readings so your account is on a meter reading not an estimated bill.

southern electric do still charge a standing charge as well, one of the few companies that do i believe.

millymollymandy2K7

If you are on a credit meter as opposed to pre payment meter you could contact southern electric and ask to be changed to a "no standing charge" tariff. This will probably increase your unit price but does mean you will only pay for electric used. This would benefit you depending on your usage. Low users normally benefit most from the NSC but very higher users would probably be better paying the standing charge and getting a lower unit rate. best to weigh up the pros and cons for your situation.