1 Bed Flat Electric Heating Cost

Risto

Hi All,

I am writing in hope to figure out if I am paying over the odds for our 1 bed flat and to see how much others in similar circumstances pay to keep warm.

We rent 1 bed top floor corner flat build probably in 60’s. Floor space wise it’s around 55 square meters. There’s no gas and central heating plus hot water cylinder are both powered by 12KW electric boiler. We have no Economy 7 meter and are on the cheapest tariff which is currently £12.75 pence/kWh plus standing charge £5 a month.

Our bills during the summer month when no heating is used are around £60 a month and during the winter with heating usually no less £120 - even hit £160 once. Important point is these figures are also a result of relatively modest usage with temperature hardly hitting 20 degrees celsius during winter and hot water cylinder is heated once a day enough for 2 people to have a shower. During the weekdays we heat only couple of hours in the morning and around 4-5h in the evening. More constant use over the weekend.

Also my wife is expecting and will stay home from October. I am confident that the winter electric bills may easily reach even £200 a month perhaps.

Any comments or thoughts are much appreciated as it will help me to decide regards extending our rental agreement.

Many thanks,

Risto

Robin9

Please put money aside for the moment.

What is important is your consumption and that depends on readings. Please post the readings on your bills and include the letters A for Actual or E for estimated.

You do read your meters and give the readings to your supplier.

12.75 p/kwh does sound quite good but £5 a month is high.

Does your hot water tank feed a hot water system and radiators ?

Risto

Thank you for your reply Robin9. I am very much on top the readings - to be honest even a bit of OCD as I check the meter minimum weekly, log all the readings and calculate the bill. So there's never any surprise how much I've used or need to pay.


I think it circulates the hot water from the tank and then boiler heats it up again when the temp in the tank drops. I think I have tried all kind of different combinations eg. leaving HW on constant, testing heating on constant, dropping HW thermostat to 50 degrees Celsius and so on. Bottom line is that even using the energy as efficiently as I can there's no escape from the high bills due to the 12kWh power consumption and lack of insulation of this old type flat. For example if outside it's around 0 degrees during the winter and I switch the heating off just for overnight then my bedroom temperature falls from 20 to 15 degrees in 6-7 hours and we have double glazing Our EPC is E (42)


I guess I am just interested to find out if that's norm in older styles flats and if anyone is in similar situation. It also makes me wonder how much could I save if I would move to a flat with gas central heating?

PS! Our last years actual bill was around £1300 and I am worried that it's gonna be way more as my wife is goiong to be home all winter.

ianto11

Hi

Doing the maths 12Kw @ 12.75p is £1.53 an hour...a modest 4hrs a day x 30days comes to £183.60.
I know your boiler isn't going to be full on all time, but the figures certainly stack up

Risto

2 and 4 hours are just rough estimate.

Robin9

You said it - old style flat.

Comparing it to a gas heated flat is like trying to compare apples and pears.

Fire_Fox

Welcome to MSE.

Heating your flat for seven hours on a workday is not that modest. Consider using a heated underblanket on your bed and heated throw on your sofa. These cost pennies to run and can massively increase your comfort.

Even double glazed windows can haemorrhage heat, and your flat is dual aspect. Window treatments (blinds/ curtains) that are close fitting to the wall and floor (top, bottom, sides) and thermally lined, OR plastic secondary glazing can be very effective at reducing this heat loss. Well chosen and well fitted window treatments also reduce internal downdrafts which can make a room feel much colder than it really is.

My flat is on a middle floor of a former office block, built in the sixties. Only the front of my building is open to the elements, the rest is protected/ insulated by other flats or unheated communal areas. Double glazed, metal framed windows and, for the first time this last winter, plastic secondary glazing.

I use NO heating whatsoever most winters (finances/ system unsafe). During the colder months, my flat maintains a fairly steady temperature around 16C, dropping to 14C in the harshest of icey/ snowy weather. Free heating courtesy of my neighbours! :T How do these temperatures compare to your top floor corner flat when unheated?

Note that babies do not need as warm a home as many people imagine IIRC experts recommend 16C to 18C. Ventilation is very important to prevent condensation damp and mould which are higher risk for little ones than adults.. With the furnishings mentioned in my first two paragraphs plus sensible clothing, adults should be quite comfortable at 16C to 18C too.

HTH!