Does my bill look big in this?

JibTeenuc

Hello,

I wonder if someone could advise me regarding my electricity consumptions which I feel are unusually high and appear so, when compared with readings of friends and family's bills.

We (or rather our landlord) had a new boiler fitted at the tail end of last year and also had a smart-meter installed at the same time.

I did telephone the electricity supplier to query our bills but was told they were not unusually high for a three-bedroom property. When I pointed out that two bedrooms are effectively sealed (since the kids flew the nest), with no electricity usage, the guy on the phone stammered a little, before he collected himself and said it is what it is.

As said, we (an elderly - not yet retired couple) live in a smallish three bedroom rental.

Small lounge and small kitchen.

We cook on gas.

The new boiler serves the hot water and the central heating.

We never have the heating on a timer and only use it via the one-hour override button, whenever it gets really cold. During the winter we may use that button f or 5 times per day.

We each take a 5 to 10 minute shower, sometimes two, each day.

Our tariff is something called Economy 20+.

We were advised to try not using hot water between 1pm and 3pm as well as 5pm and 7pm. That was the only warning we were given.

We do not have a TV but do have 1 computer and 2 laptops (each with a separate 19" flat screen attached) which stay on but are set to sleep (computer and screen) after half-an-hour inactivity. One sleeps pretty much all the time. One is on most of the time and one is on half of the time.

We do have two under-counter fridges and two under counter freezers.

We have a washing machine which we use around twice each week at either 30 or 40 degrees.

We use a hot water dispenser for tea and coffee so only the water that is used is boiled.

We have a microwave oven used a few times each day (mainly for one minute at a time to reheat my mug of tea I forgot to drink).

We have a Fibre Broadband Router.

We have a laser printer which is usually off but which sleeps, if we do forget to switch it off.

We charge an iPhone and a Samsung cellphone once each day.

We do not have so much as an electric alarm clock in the one bedroom which is used. Nor TV or radio (or anything else apart from the light).

We do have a radiator in the bedroom switched on only from 8 or 9 pm.

We have a radiator in the bathroom which we cannot switch off but only gets hot when we use the heating, anyway.

We have a radiator in the lounge.

The radiators in the 2 spare bedrooms are switched off, permanently.

We have a light in the bedroom (rarely used) and a light on the landing (rarely used).

A light in the kitchen, used from dusk to midnight and a light in the lounge used from dusk to midnight.

All the lights are low energy LEDs (although I hate them).

We have no cooker/oven (only a four ring gas hob).

We do have a glass halogen table-top cooker for grilling but that's only used maybe 2 or 3 times each week for around 20 minutes each time.

I do drink a lot of tea though!!!.

*I have attached a copy of my bills.

Any ideas, please?

*At least I was going to but when I click on the Insert Picture button, it asks me to enter a URL. How can I upload a PDF or JPeG without a URL (if at all)?

Neil_Jones

You don't attach pictures to forum posts and you shouldn't really attach anything anyway that has your personal address or contact details on.

It will be easier if you can post your readings and your unit costs per kWh and standing charge.

Never heard of Economy20+, but on a Google are you in Jersey by any chance?
https://www.jec.co.uk/your-home/our-tariffs-and-rates/economy-20-plus-(e20plus)/

welshmoneylover

JibTeenuc wrote: »

Hello,

I wonder if someone could advise me regarding my electricity consumptions which I feel are unusually high and appear so, when compared with readings of friends and family's bills.

We (or rather our landlord) had a new boiler fitted at the tail end of last year and also had a smart-meter installed at the same time.

I did telephone the electricity supplier to query our bills but was told they were not unusually high for a three-bedroom property. When I pointed out that two bedrooms are effectively sealed (since the kids flew the nest), with no electricity usage, the guy on the phone stammered a little, before he collected himself and said it is what it is.

As said, we (an elderly - not yet retired couple) live in a smallish three bedroom rental.

Small lounge and small kitchen.

We cook on gas.

The new boiler serves the hot water and the central heating.

We never have the heating on a timer and only use it via the one-hour override button, whenever it gets really cold. During the winter we may use that button f or 5 times per day.

We each take a 5 to 10 minute shower, sometimes two, each day.

Our tariff is something called Economy 20+.

We were advised to try not using hot water between 1pm and 3pm as well as 5pm and 7pm. That was the only warning we were given.

We do not have a TV but do have 1 computer and 2 laptops (each with a separate 19" flat screen attached) which stay on but are set to sleep (computer and screen) after half-an-hour inactivity. One sleeps pretty much all the time. One is on most of the time and one is on half of the time.

We do have two under-counter fridges and two under counter freezers.

We have a washing machine which we use around twice each week at either 30 or 40 degrees.

We use a hot water dispenser for tea and coffee so only the water that is used is boiled.

We have a microwave oven used a few times each day (mainly for one minute at a time to reheat my mug of tea I forgot to drink).

We have a Fibre Broadband Router.

We have a laser printer which is usually off but which sleeps, if we do forget to switch it off.

We charge an iPhone and a Samsung cellphone once each day.

We do not have so much as an electric alarm clock in the one bedroom which is used. Nor TV or radio (or anything else apart from the light).

We do have a radiator in the bedroom switched on only from 8 or 9 pm.

We have a radiator in the bathroom which we cannot switch off but only gets hot when we use the heating, anyway.

We have a radiator in the lounge.

The radiators in the 2 spare bedrooms are switched off, permanently.

We have a light in the bedroom (rarely used) and a light on the landing (rarely used).

A light in the kitchen, used from dusk to midnight and a light in the lounge used from dusk to midnight.

All the lights are low energy LEDs (although I hate them).

We have no cooker/oven (only a four ring gas hob).

We do have a glass halogen table-top cooker for grilling but that's only used maybe 2 or 3 times each week for around 20 minutes each time.

I do drink a lot of tea though!!!.

*I have attached a copy of my bills.

Any ideas, please?

*At least I was going to but when I click on the Insert Picture button, it asks me to enter a URL. How can I upload a PDF or JPeG without a URL (if at all)?

Never compare your consumption to your friends.
For a start, you will all have different appliances which are used at different times of the day. Your lifestyles will also be different.
If you want cheaper bills, use less electricity.

Robin9

JillTeenuc - you say high but don't say what they actually are.

Can we have some detail please ? ie 12 months consumption using actual readings

JibTeenuc

Neil_Jones wrote: »

It will be easier if you can post your readings and your unit costs per kWh and standing charge.

Thank you for the advice, Neil.

Here's those details you requested:


10/05/18 to 09/08/18:

Service Charge £ 17.29

General power & lighting units: 1441 £ 212.22

E20 Units: 768 £ 79.54

E20 Plus Units: 49 £ 7.22

TOTAL: 2258 £ 316.27


09/02/18 to 10/05/18:

Service Charge £ 16.83

General power & lighting units: 1643 £ 238.24

E20 Units: 3001 £ 306.70

E20 Plus Units: 164 £ 23.78

TOTAL: 4808 £ 585.55


09/11/17 to 09/02/18:

Service Charge £ 17.20

General power & lighting units: 1702 £ 246.79

E20 Units: 3401 £ 347.58

E20 Plus Units: 208 £ 30.16

TOTAL: 5311 £ 641.73


09/08/17 to 09/11/17:

Service Charge £ 17.20

General power & lighting units: 1616 £ 234.32

E20 Units: 1257 £ 128.47

E20 Plus Units: 85 £ 12.33

TOTAL: 2958 £ 392.32

JibTeenuc

Robin9 wrote: »

JillTeenuc - you say high but don't say what they actually are.

Can we have some detail please ? ie 12 months consumption using actual readings

Thanks, Robin.


Please see above.

PeterGr

So Power & Lighting 6402 kWh/pa does seem high, and probably where you should try and reduce consumption. As it is charged at the highest rate you'll make good savings.
The 1-3pm & 5-7pm periods are when you pay a higher rate for heating & hot water so you should try and avoid these periods. But this is only £73 in an annual bill of £1936 so the savings are limited.
You seem to be operating heating with the controls that you have and 8933 kWh/pa for heating and hot water is ok.


Suggest you take monthly readings of the 3 rates, so that you can track the consumption, and hopefully see the Power and Lighting come down. Good luck

PeterGr

Also your May-July bill (no heating?) suggests you are using about 9kWh per day for hot water. You don't mention what controls you have for hot water but if you could reduce this by a third, savings would be about £110 pa.

JibTeenuc

PeterGr wrote: »

So Power & Lighting 6402 kWh/pa does seem high, and probably where you should try and reduce consumption. As it is charged at the highest rate you'll make good savings.
The 1-3pm & 5-7pm periods are when you pay a higher rate for heating & hot water so you should try and avoid these periods. But this is only £73 in an annual bill of £1936 so the savings are limited.
You seem to be operating heating with the controls that you have and 8933 kWh/pa for heating and hot water is ok.


Suggest you take monthly readings of the 3 rates, so that you can track the consumption, and hopefully see the Power and Lighting come down. Good luck

Thank you for explaining things a little, as I have no idea how to read an electricity bill.


Am at a loss as to why the General Power & Lighting is so high because we are already so careful to minimise usage and we cook almost exclusively with gas (we're also not fond of ironing and don't have hair-dryers or other heat-producing items - no tumble dryer or dishwasher, for instance).

JibTeenuc

PeterGr wrote: »

Also your May-July bill (no heating?) suggests you are using about 9kWh per day for hot water. You don't mention what controls you have for hot water but if you could reduce this by a third, savings would be about £110 pa.

Yes, we try to live without heating as much as possible (jumpers in the daytime, duvet covers at night).


The water seems interesting as we only use it to shower with. We even wash up with cold water so as not to use the boiler.


Perhaps I should check what settings the engineer used for the hot water to come on and go off. Gonna have to try and get my head around the Programmer they fitted.


Incidentally, when they set the programmer, they set the time 20 minutes late so at, say, 8am it says the time is 7:40am. Are the actual charges for the time the boiler comes on governed by the Programmer or by the real-time (ignoring the Programmer's time)? If the charges correlate to the Programmer, that would mean 2 x 20 minutes overcharge per day (or roughly a solid 20 hours per month) of being charged at the highest rate, guess.

Alter_ego

JibTeenuc wrote: »

Incidentally, when they set the programmer, they set the time 20 minutes late so at, say, 8am it says the time is 7:40am. Are the actual charges for the time the boiler comes on governed by the Programmer or by the real-time (ignoring the Programmer's time)? If the charges correlate to the Programmer, that would mean 2 x 20 minutes overcharge per day (or roughly a solid 20 hours per month) of being charged at the highest rate, guess.

That could be part of the problem. Your charges are based on clock time not the programmer. Also check what happens when clocks go back etc.