£600 Electricity Bill for Two Months Electricity!!!

oliviabethemmerson

Hi all,

I will try and keep this as short and sweet as possible.

Basically me and my partner moved into a brand new 2 bed duplex apartment (all electric) in Leeds back in the first week of January 2019. We were told by the landlords that our electric would be dealt with by Ecotricity. I contacted them numerous times before we moved in to set up an account and was quoted £50,00 per month. We waited and waited and were told they were waiting to see until everybody had more or less moved in, then we would receive our first bill.

Fast forward to 22nd March, we received a bill via email stating our two months electricity bill was £600... for TWO months electricity. Bear in mind me and my partner are out of the house from 8am - 6pm every working day with also nothing being on from 11pm onwards on a night. I am majorly OCD so I make sure we do NOT have unnecessary lights on, no heating has ever been turned on upstairs ever, just the one in the living room, for two hours a day, sometimes never.

So our landlord had provided us with a move in meter reading of 257.7 KWH whereas Ecotricity provided me a move in meter reading of 1300 KWH (HUGE difference). Ecotricity also stated that we had used 4500 KWH of electricity in 2 months, with the annual consumption of a 3 bed detached house is normally 2000KWH, so in essence we had used DOUBLE the annual consumption of electricity in two months...

We do not have access to our meter readings as they are in the basement locked away, so I then contacted the landlord company and asked for access. We had to wait for days and when we finally went down, the readings were completely different to those of Ecotricity, the meter read 1000's of KWH's less. The meter serial ID does match up though.

Fast forward 2 weeks later to the present day... my landlords have been no help whatsoever in trying to figure out what could be the cause of the high elec. However, yesterday we were told that it was probably the immersion water cylinder and that 'you were provided with an information booklet on how to use the appliances within the flat so this is not our issue'...

As far as I am aware, the landlord is, by law, obliged to solve any issues to do with electricity, gas or water. Funnily enough this was also included in the booklet given to me by the landlord...

We then proceeded to once again read the booklet, the booklet basically said that the 'programmer' was behind a grey panel on the water cylinder and to check that, to remove the panel. At first glance, this proved to be an extremely difficult job, we had to borrow specialist tools from a friend which rang alarm bells that if it was so difficult to obtain access to, that a non electrically trained individual should NOT be accessing it. However, as it stated in their precious booklet and I am being faced with another electricity bill for this month for another £300 which would bring my total to just under £1000 for 3 months electricity, I decided to proceed.

When the panel was removed we were faced with a series of LIVE wires and a little box which funnily enough, turned out to be a thermostat, NOT a programmer.

Thankfully my Father is an electrician so I video called him and he told me to NOT access or go anywhere near live wires as I did not have a clue as to what I was doing. On the back of the grey panel that we had removed there was a sticker with WARNING written all over it saying that this should only be accessed by an experienced technician.

I then called the manufacturers of the cylinder whom seem very shocked and told me that this cylinder should never be accessed by non experienced individuals and that they needed to be provided with my landlords details etc. as they would be seeking legal action against them for providing such dangerous information and instructions that are completely against all aspects of health and safety.

It also means that our cylinder is just ON all of the time and has not been fitted with a progammer which could be the cause of our sky high electricity bills?

Thankfully, I kept a 2 week timeline of every single email, photo and every bit of evidence that I have had regarding the matter... this booklet with these instructions have been given to the entire block of apartments and I have raised the issue with my neighbours.

I am trying to look for some advice as to whether we can raise any more information to give to them to support our claim? This matter is extremely dangerous and thankfully nobody has tried to fix their cylinder issues themselves... however, should they front the £600 bill as we should not have to move into a new build and be receiving £600 electricity bills?

Nobody showed us how to function the boiler when we moved in. I asked if everything was ready to go as is, and I was told by the letting agent that yes, everything was in order and there no was need to change anything.

ANY advice, even small, would be greatly appreciated and I apologise for the lengthy thread. This has caused so much anxiety and stress as the bills are MORE than our monthly rent.

Thanks! :j

Robin9

oliviabethemmerson wrote: »

.............................. with the annual consumption of a 3 bed detached house is normally 2000KWH, ............................... :j

This figure is for electricity use in a gas heated house ............ you are all-electric and there's a world of difference.

As this is brand new are your meter readings on a Smart meter - you bill will show a letter A against the readings - what does your meter show. If they are Smart meters that solves the problem of access to the meters (but I would want access anyway)

£50 a month for an all electric property is ridiculous.

D_M_E

Can you get your father over and get access while he is there and ask him to turn down the thermostat or turn off the cylinder completely?

oliviabethemmerson

Hi Robin - Thanks for your reply!

I agree that £50,00 seems a bit low but it definitely should not be £300 a month for a 2 bed flat where we are out 12 hours of the day, surely?

We do have smart meters installed downstairs, however, the readings we get are completely different to the ones Ecotricity get. We went down and a read a meter reading of 1042.5KWH from the 7th January to the 22nd March, whereas Ecotricity have a meter reading (same serial ID no.) of 5000KWH now...

They say they have direct live readings...

The one issue is the difference in meter readings from the landlord and the electricity company but also the fact that our water cylinder clearly has NOT been fitted with a programmer, like it should have...

Thanks so much :-)

Robin9

What tariff are you on ?

I am a bit confused re your 1042.5 kwh - is this the difference in readings of Jan 7th and March 22nd ? Some of the modern readings are very difficult to read and it can be easy to miss a decimal point.

oliviabethemmerson

Hi again Robin, thanks for all your help.

So when we moved in we were told that Ecotricity does not have different types of tariff. They only have one? Weird.

Our landlord gave us a move in meter reading on the 7th January of 257.7 KWH and when we went down to the meter room, we saw that the usage of electricity was 1052.5 (usage from 7th January - 22nd March) so if I deduct the move in meter reading from that figure, we would of used 794.8 KWH which is still quite a lot of electricity for 2 and a half months but I could justify that...

On the other hand Ecotricity gave me a move in meter reading of 1300KWH (nearly 1000 more than the landlord gave me) and then they gave me a meter reading of 4500KWH which means if I deduct the move in meter reading from that, it means we have used 3200KWH in the first two and a half months, when they stated on the side of the bill that our annual estimated usage for one YEAR would be 3000KWH... it's crazy.

So Ecotricity say they have live readings from the meter but I have been down with my own eyes and taken photos which I have sent them... so that is ongoing. Could the meter be faulty? Who knows?

They wanted me to get someone to come out from their company and install some sort of device that monitors whether the meter is faulty, however if deemed not faulty, it would cost us £250,00. Seems pretty silly when it is clear that something is wrong...

That's just the first issue but we are sure it is the immersion water cylinder which has arisen the issue of complete health and safety as we should never have been told to access it and the landlord stated a programmer was fitted, however, it is a thermostat, not a programmer...

jk0

Sounds like you aren't on Economy 7 (two rate meter) though, so there would be no point in a programmer.

Robin9

oliviabethemmerson wrote: »

.........................., we would of used 794.8 KWH which is still quite a lot of electricity for 2 and a half months but I could justify that...............

No its not - 15 units a day in an all electric house in winter is very low. I use more than that in my gas heated house.

oliviabethemmerson

Unfortunately we are on Economy 7... I'm so confused with it all haha!

oliviabethemmerson

OK that makes sense then but do you think that nearly 5000KWH in 2 and a half months is too much ?

Robin9

Can you quote your readings from the Ecotricity bills please inc the letter A etc and the unit rates