Outrageously high electricity bill.

ZIgo123

Hi MSEs,

I’m hoping you might be able to help with an electric bill issue.

My partner and I have just moved into a 2-bed flat from a previous smaller 1-bed flat. We are renters.

We’ve had our first electricity bill come in and it’s incredibly high.

Our peak usage is c. 450kwH over 3 months, and our off-peak usage is c. 4300 kph over 3 months. This has led to a bill of £230+ per month.

To put this into comparison, the new bill is over 4x higher than our previous apartment, and off-peak usage is 10x higher!!! We’re comparing same times of year (winter months) so heating was in-use over this time. Another comparison, our in-laws pay around about £100 less than us per quarter for a 3 bedroom detached bungalow house with 2 large reception rooms.

We expect our off-peak usage is attributed to our underfloor heating, which is set to come on at off-peak hours (to save money, ironically). Considering we’re sleeping all night, I don’t see what else it could realistically be.

My first point of call is to request a test of the off-peak meter, which could be faulty. Alternatively, do you think that the heating could have a fault, leading to significant loss/use of electricity?

I don’t think I’m crazy in thinking that this is much too high, and very unsustainable both financially and environmentally.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

[Deleted User]

Hi,

what you have to do first is check meter readings.

Is it an estimated reading, did you provide readings when you moved in, and up to date readings?

ZIgo123

Hello, yes the readings are correct. The bill is based on the reading we provided when we moved in, and then readings provided again a few weeks back.

jk0

The off peak looks to be about 47 units per day, and the peak about 5 units per day. Sounds about right to me for the winter quarter. I suspect that if you read your in-laws' meter over the same period, theirs would be more.

It's just that your energy company have only these 3 months to go on, so they erroneously assume that you will be using this amount every month of the year.

ZIgo123

Thanks jk0. I guess we will need to speak to our landlord to control the timings of on and off peak heating. This is automatically set to 12 hours over a 24 hour period which we have no dial or access point to alter.

Do we have a legal right to be able to change this? We are, after all, paying the bill.

jk0

ZIgo123 wrote: »

Thanks jk0. I guess we will need to speak to our landlord to control the timings of on and off peak heating. This is automatically set to 12 hours over a 24 hour period which we have no dial or access point to alter.

Do we have a legal right to be able to change this? We are, after all, paying the bill.

No, and I suspect your landlord won't either. The times are set by the electricity company.

Robin9

Your bill covers the worst quarter of the year. You should notice a big drop next time and the summer and autumn will be quite small.

I would guess that the year figure will be about 11,000 kwh. At about 7p this is £770 a year; plus your very small on peak of less than 2,000 units at about 12p overall you are talking of £1000 (plus standing charges plus VAT a year)

D_M_E

I suspect your ginormous bill is caused by the underfloor electric heating - these things are well known for causing big bills.

Your best bet is to either turn it off completely - there must be a switch somewhere which will allow this - or reduce the temperature it is set at, or reduce the time it is on for.

Personally, I would shut it off altogether if I could.

Also check that any immersion heater(s) are not permanently on, this could run up the bill. Turn the things off at the wall switch and only turn on the top one for 20 minutes or so before you have a shower then turn off immediately after showering and for washing up boil half a kettle full of water and use that.

jk0

I don't think I'd be in a hurry to turn off the underfloor heating, as you will have to top up with peak rate energy. (Same with the hot water tank.)

I thought underfloor heating was the most efficient you could get?

ZIgo123

Well this is what we thought too - electricity usage at night to heat the place up is cheaper. At least this is what we were told.

The electricity companies I've spoken seem to be confused about the times our heating comes on or off. One company says it might be controlled by a meter, another says it has a separate control and isn't to do with the energy company. All I know is that we have two meters (related meters?) other than turning all heating off at the switchboard, no other way to control it. We can't select when it comes on or off. It happens sort of magically... So if we want to run heating from 4am to 7am, we'd literally have to get up at 4am and switch it on, unless we want to have it running all night. Similarly, if we wanted to run it from 11am-2pm, we could switch the underfloor heating on, but it won't start until 3pm (which is when our assumedly off-peak meter starts to kick in). I'm incredibly confused.

We've tried reducing the temperature that the thermostat in each room is set at. It seems to be either on or off from what I can tell, with no temperature control.

I'd also add that during the time of that gigantic bill we were away for 3 weeks and all heating was turned off. We also have the thermostats 'off' in two rooms for most of the winter. We only turn them on when we feel necessary (e.g. sub 0 temps). So essentially that cost is for 9 weeks and not to full use.

Thanks for your help.

House_Martin

Suppliers have no control of the meter and apart from Scottish Power they are nt interested in when the night and day switch on. Other suppliers will come out to adjust it after a complaint but will not routinely come round to check or adjust them.
There are 3 types of time switch in use. Digital meters which have their own built in clocks.The time the meter thinks it is is displayed on the meter. They are fixed in GMT so even if they are accurate, and many are not, its an hour behind now in BST, I have seen digital meter clocks 4 hr hours adrift of the correct time.
Radio Teleswitch time switch ,which is very accurate. receives a radio signal to switch the various rates on and off is also fixed in GMT.These are not far off spot on with published times for your area. Even so the night rate will end at 8.30 am in BST and 7.30 am when its back to GMT
The old analogue meters can be controlled by a circular 24 hr time switch which have 3 pointers. One points to the time it thinks it is as you view it, then the other two switch the night rate on and off 7 hrs later.With these time switches the cheap 7 hrs could be anywhere in the 24 hrs.
There are suppliers now offering really good Eco 7 rates which are better overall than nearly all single rate tariffs on yearly fixes.Iresa Energy ( suspended at the moment ) and iSupplyEnergy both offer cracking Eco 7 rates beating most suppliers cheapest single rate tariffs