Insanely high electricity usage - storage heaters

allykk

Hi everyone.

First post and sorry if there is already another thread on a similar subject but I'm freezing and want to get into my warm bed!!

Ok so we use Flow energy and recently they told me they were upping my DD. I looked over the last 12 months of statements and found this to be a fair increase. But what I did see is our monthly/yearly electricity consumption and it is UNBELIEVABLE!!

We rent a two bed, ground floor flat with only storage heaters for heating. We're on Economy 7 and our main heater switches on at night as well as our water heater. Generally, I would say we have the same amount of appliances as any other household (TV and various add ons, laptop, basic white goods etc) and we put the booster heater on in the evenings for a few hours as it's so cold in our flat.

But our annual consumption total for 2018 was 12,652kWh...! Is this normal?! I know it's difficult to compare houses as there's so many variables but just wondering if anyone else thinks they have a similar set up to us and what their consumption is?

TIA

Ally

Robin9

allykk wrote: »

...........

But our annual consumption total for 2018 was 12,652kWh...! Is this normal?! I know it's difficult to compare houses as there's so many variables but just wondering if anyone else thinks they have a similar set up to us and what their consumption is?

TIA

Ally

Quite possible - approx 3000 for day use and 10000 for night.

Do a double check - are the readings Actual or Estimated. If estimated read them yourself and give them to the supplier.

allykk

Hi

Thanks for replying so quickly!

It's a mixture of estimated and my own meter readings - Flows website isn't the best at telling you when you have successfully submitted a meter reading so there have been months it hasn't worked and I've been none the wiser until the statement.

However, when there has been a meter reading provided by myself, Flow has adjusted the end of the month reading quite accurately so I wouldn't think it was a problem with the numbers themselves.

Also the split is quite 50/50 for day time and night time usage with night time only coming in 300kWh more than day time.

Richie-from-the-Boro

.1. CAC÷12=(every) monthly payment plan
.2. you open an online account
.3. you send regular 6 week meter reads
.4. you get the best E7 tariff you can in your area
.5. you do the best you can with insulation


CAC ≈ calculated annual consumption. I'm (30 years ago recent) double glazed house not flat and use 8500+ ish for the last 5-6 years. Retired 2 bedroom and like a minimum of 20°C open plan and no heat upstairs - nothing at all special.

I'm assuming you have PartL spec heating and water insulation. I've never opened the damper/output EVER. I'm 65% night and 45% day cost Hope these figures help.

Robin9

allykk wrote: »

................ - Flows website isn't the best at telling you when you have successfully submitted a meter reading so there have been months it hasn't worked and I've been none the wiser until the statement.........

Don't understand this this. I'm with Flow and have today submitted my reading and get a message something like - "subject to validation" ...................

However, when there has been a meter reading provided by myself, Flow has adjusted the end of the month reading quite accurately so I wouldn't think it was a problem with the numbers themselves.

Also the split is quite 50/50 for day time and night time usage with night time only coming in 300kWh more than day time.

So out your 12652 - over 6000 was day time ? That is high. You need to monitor this and find out what is the cause - showers/on peak heating/ etc

matelodave

I agree with Robin your daytime usage seems high, I'd guess that most people would be around 3000-4000 a year with the rest for heating.

If your suppliers accounts are a bit random then you should really be sending in readings at least monthly and keeping your own records.

You can't monitor or control it if you just wait for a bill to come in, especially if it's estimated.

Be_Happy

Not clear from your first post.

You say only heating is storage heaters and your main one comes on at night. All storage heaters should be on at night? Is the other one not switched on, in which case your flat will be cold, or is the other one coming on during the day, in which case it will be using peak electricity?

What settings do you have your storage heaters at?

Is your flat well insulated?

NittyGritty

I,m on all electric my annual usage is 2500 day and 10000 night units on eco 7

mmmmikey

Hi - I live in a well insulated good sized 3 bedroomed bungalow and use about 8,000kWh per year cheap rate electricty for storage heaters, water and any background load (fridge etc.) so assuming a 50:50 split your cheap rate usage (about 6,000kWh per annum) is certainly in the kind of range I would have expected.


As others have said it's your day time usage that looks high and seems worth investigating. You sound like a prime candidate for a smart meter unless you have political objections to this. This will give you a live display of what you're using and you can decide what to cut back on if you choose to do so.


One quick thing to try - make sure that your storage heater controls are set to minimum output (sometimes labelled boost) and maximum input. This will mean you are saving up as much cheap rate electricity as you can to use in the evenings.

MovingForwards

How long does your water heater stay on for and what type is it?

Robin9

allykk wrote: »

.............. our main heater switches on at night..............

An odd description.

Are all your heaters storage heaters or are some on peak panel heaters ?

May be worthwhile checking your time switches.