Ecotricity HUGE bill

Mr.Wrong

Just called. They say it is smart meter readings from when we moved in.
17.6p kWh
Standing charge 27p

I have the spreadsheet,
They claim I can try and switch as I’m not in arrears for another two weeks. They may not accept the switch though.

Advice please?
Shall I contact other providers

elsien

Is the bill accurate based on your current reading. I'm confused as to why they said the previouis bill was an estimate if they're using smart meter readings.
Stop phoning them and use emails or webchat you can screen shot in case you need evidence of your conversations, moving forwards.

If the bill is accurate/you can't find any grounds to dispute it, and as you would then appear to owe the money unless you can dispute their initial reading ( is there anything on your inventory/check in report?) then if you can afford to you may want to pay off the arrears so any switch can go ahead.

You've given two lots of charges though, in posts 11 and 12. Where did you get them from and are you sure you now have the correct ones?

Use the starting reading from ecotricity and the current reading to give you your readings for the last 6 months. You can then extrapolate these to 12 months, bearing in mind that summer usage should be lower which will give you your annual usage to put into the comparison sites.
Then take it from there.

heartbreak_star

For what it's worth, the standing charge is what it is, but that does sounds fairly high for a unit charge - I suspect as a new tenant you're on a Standard Variable tariff. Most properties will default to this - it basically means they supply you with electricity at a standard rate with no savings or discounts, and the price can vary at any time.

Ecotricity will have far cheaper tariffs - can almost guarantee some of the reviews have been written by people who don't know the ins and outs of tariffs (which was me when I first moved out).

Working for an energy company was an eye-opener...

HBS x

tlc678910

Hi,
Electric heating is expensive - hopefully now the weather will be warming up you can try to catch up while your usage will be lower.

Look and see if it is an immersion heater that heats your water - this is a tank that boils up water like a kettle. Instead of leaving this on so it constantly heats the water turn it on just when you will be needing hot water. Experiment how long this takes but 20 minutes should do it. If your shower is electric you may be better just boiling a kettle for the washing up and leaving it switched off (or if you have a dishwasher it will heat it’s own water).
Tlc

EssexHebridean

Robin9 wrote: »

In an all electric property these sorts of bills are not unexpected.


The answer to accurate bills is accurate meter readings - do get into the habit of reading your meter at least monthly, give them to your supplier, keep your own records .

When did you last read your meter ? Read it again today and give us the readings - we want kwh not £

We are essentially all electric (just use gas for the cooker and that comes in at under £2 a month) and I pay less than the OP's 6 month bill for en entire year - and a fair bit less, too, and for what i suspect from the sound of it is a larger property.

EssexHebridean

OP - is your heating via storage heaters? if so you should be on an economy 7 tariff & meter - this is something to check. (Can be identified by your meter having "day" & "Night" readings). If so the first thing to do is to make sure that the immersion heater & the storage heaters are all operating correctly and drawing their power overnight. some modern storage heaters also have the ability to use them as manually operated heaters during the day - this is best turned off and just used as a boost if needed as otherwise it would be very expensive.

Should you contact other suppliers - yes and no. As already said you don't contact them direct, go through something like the MSE Cheap Energy Club or another comparison site and input information to find your likely best suppliers that way.