Unexpectedly High Electricity Bill

matelodave

If you want to get control of your consumption then you need to identify what is using it and when it's being used so you need to read your meters regularly and frequently - say daily for a week or so and then weekly until you've got it under control.

When you've sorted it out get into the habit of reading them at least once a month and sending the readings into the supplier. Also check your bills and on-line statements to ensure that the bills do reflect actual meter readings - get them corrected immediately if they dont.

You can't control it if you dont monitor it and it's too late once you've used it. It only takes 5-10 minutes once a month and you can see if there are any anomolies and get them sorted out before they become difficult or impossible to diagnose.

jrdutton

Thank you for your responses.

Our heating is gas, averaging around £1000 a year.

We have an immersion heater, but it is rarely used.

The house was built in 1999 and has cavity wall insulation.

The meter is a digital one.

Regarding electric appliances, we have nothing beyond a 'normal' four person family.

Speaking to the energy saving 'expert' last night, he suggested that 15-20KW is average for a four bedroom house with four inhabitants.

And finally, I'm not disputing the fact that the bill has gone up based upon an actual reading rather than an estimate. My dispute is the 55W per day usage (on average), when even today with everyone at home, we have only used 20KW,

Robin9

Any thoughts on any problems in reading the meter and the suggestion there is a missing "1" ?

Is there a decimal point on the meter ? ie 001234 (decimal) 5 ?


PS Your 4 bed house is newer than my 1973 and both your gas and and elec are nearly double mine.

OPMDaze

Npower can't be trusted at all. How they still get away with this I don't know. Never go DD with Npower. If it was me I'd stop the DD and close the bank account then open another and pay quarterly.

matelodave

Unfortunately if you dont send in regular readings some energy companies will estimate stupidly high or stupidly low figures which can distort your bills if you dont get them corrected. Likewise you wont see if something has been inadvertantly left on for a long period of time, like an immersion heater.

However it should sort itself out when they do finally get an actual verified reading and your bill will then adjust up or down to compensate.

As I said above if you keep on top of it and dont leave it for months or even years you can maintain control.

We are all electric (cooking, heating, hot water etc), at home all day and there are only two of us but we only use an average of around 7-8kwh/day in the summer. Vastly more than that in the winter (averaging around 35kwh/day but sometimes peaking up to 60kwh/day) so I'd suggest that your consumption is pretty high if you've got gas central heating.

I'd be doing a bit on investigating to see what being left on when it doesn't need to be - turn stuff off at the wall when it's not in use and that include the TV, video recorder, computers, playstation etc.
Turn light off when not in use and swap out incandescent bulbs with LEDs in heavily used rooms. notably in the kitchen of you've got halogen downlighters.

Only run the washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher with full loads, they cost the same to run when half empty.

Electric showers can gobble up the energy especiallyif everyone showers everyday and spend ages in there - limit showering tie to 5 minuts max (I can have a decent shower in 90 seconds)

ajbell

Even 20kwh a day is unbelievable, I use 3kwh a day.

D_M_E

Another thought - is your meter an economy 7 one and if so have you been supplying the total reading instead of separate day/night reads?

If you can, check when/what hours the high usage occurs and see what is powered up then.

Have any of the family got hidden electric heaters blasting away all day?

OPMDaze

matelodave wrote: »

Unfortunately if you dont send in regular readings some energy companies will estimate stupidly high or stupidly low figures which can distort your bills if you dont get them corrected. Likewise you wont see if something has been inadvertantly left on for a long period of time, like an immersion heater.

However it should sort itself out when they do finally get an actual verified reading and your bill will then adjust up or down to compensate.

As I said above if you keep on top of it and dont leave it for months or even years you can maintain control.

We are all electric (cooking, heating, hot water etc), at home all day and there are only two of us but we only use an average of around 7-8kwh/day in the summer. Vastly more than that in the winter (averaging around 35kwh/day but sometimes peaking up to 60kwh/day) so I'd suggest that your consumption is pretty high if you've got gas central heating.

I'd be doing a bit on investigating to see what being left on when it doesn't need to be - turn stuff off at the wall when it's not in use and that include the TV, video recorder, computers, playstation etc.
Turn light off when not in use and swap out incandescent bulbs with LEDs in heavily used rooms. notably in the kitchen of you've got halogen downlighters.

Only run the washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher with full loads, they cost the same to run when half empty.

Electric showers can gobble up the energy especiallyif everyone showers everyday and spend ages in there - limit showering tie to 5 minuts max (I can have a decent shower in 90 seconds)

Yes I'm all electric using 35Kwh a day under the same or similar circumstances in winter. Beats feeling cold though

Xbigman

The estimated readings are a red herring. From first customer read to last customer read 19 months later the consumption was nearly 40 units a day. There's something wrong there. Unless the first read was a mistake and there was indeed a missing 1 from the reading (which I think unlikely) then something is burning a lot of electricity.
Meter readings every day is a start. If that doesn't throw anything up then try turning everything off and see if the meter is still moving. After that turning various appliances on and off using a process of elimination is the way to go.
It's annoying to have to do all that but its the only way.



Darren

nPower

jrdutton wrote: »

Dear All

Today I have realised that my monthly duel duel bill has risen from £135 per month to £650 per month. I have investigated and spoken to nPower. Here are the facts:

Annual electricity bill:
2006 to 2016 - increased linearly from £550 to £750
Joined nPower
May 2017 to Sept 2017 - Customer readings. Average daily usage of 14.5KW
Monthly standing order £135, then £110 for dual fuel.
Sept 2017 to Sept 2018 - All estimated readings. Average daily usage of 55KW
Monthly standing order £650 for duel fuel.
Sept 2018 to December 2018 - Customer readings. Average daily usage of 17KW

Having spoken to nPower, they cannot explain why my usage should have more than tripled for a full year. Nothing has changed in my house. However, because the usage has reverted to normal, they will not test the meter, nor admit to there being any chance of a fault.

So I feel that I cannot prove anything, and my annual electricity bill has sky-rocketed for one year from £750 to £2400. And I stress again, nothing has changed in our house beyond lights being left on for longer than normal.

Do I have any redress, or can I contact a third-party for help with this matter?

Thanks for any help and advice you can give.

James

Hi jrdutton,

Thank you for your message. We will be able to review your payment amount if you contact us using the details on our profile page.

Thanks,

Jen