Electric Coin Meter costing a fortune

graceplant

Hello everyone, I'm looking for some advice about how to proceed. My partner and I just moved into a very small one bedroom flat with a coin meter for the electric. There is no gas, so everything runs off the electric.

We are using an eco heater to heat the flat, which has proven to be cheaper to run than the heaters which are installed, and we only use this very sparingly, yet we are spending well over £5 per day. At this rate we will be paying over £150 per month on electric, which just seems crazy given how tiny the place is.

We barely use the cooker, only heat one room at a time and switch the heater off as soon as the room warms up. We've checked around and there really isn't anything that could be using up electric without our knowing it.

I don't think any other flat in the building is wired to our meter, as when we go out and when everything is switched off at night, it doesn't seem to move very much. To me, it seems as if it's either a problem with how many units are being consumed, or how many units we get per coin.

I've asked the landlord and told him I think there's a problem with the meter. He says he doubts there is, and that its not unusual for it to cost a lot during winter, and that most people spend around £100 to £120 per month. I work from home, so obviously thats a factor, but I still think £150 per month is extreme.

I have a feeling he may have somehow set the meter to overcharge tenants. The meter says it's set to 19.60 kwh which is apparently relatively normal, so I'm not sure how to proceed from here.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? There's no way we can afford to pay that much for electric each month, but we also can't afford to move again, so we're kind of stuck right now.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

matelodave

You might find this useful - https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2005/10/11782-resaleupdateoct05_3.pdf

The landlord is not allowed to resell energy (gas or leccy) at a higher price than he pays for it, so you are within your rights to request to see his leccy bill to check what he's paying to ensure that he's not overcharging.

graceplant

That's useful, thank you. I was thinking of asking to see the bill, but as we've only moved in 6 days ago, we'll probably have to wait at least another month or so until he gets any bill through.

Carrot007

graceplant wrote: »

The meter says it's set to 19.60 kwh which is apparently relatively normal, so I'm not sure how to proceed from here.

Is that 19.6p per kwh? If so very expensive. I am not on the best tarrif at mine is around 15p



Also a electric flat would usually be on e7.


Are the installed heaters storage heaters? If so they would be cheaper if you are charged right.


However as you are using daytime cost heating in an electric flat I think your bill is low! Me I like the heat though!


Definatly demand a bill, you may end up having to move again but that's better than a bad landlord. (and it really should not come to that for the fixed term, so plan to move then and demand he does things right for now).

Swipe

19.60 kwh? :eek:

JC_Derby

I would suspect the coin meter is a sub meter fed from a normal meter somewhere else within the building. Whilst you might not have other flats wired from your meter it is conceivable that your meter and other flats could be wired from a credit meter.
So even seeing the bill, would not give you a true representation as to what’s being used within your flat, as you might well be seeing a bill for the whole building.

So some quiestions for you.

Are you a flat above...either shops or other flats. Or are you a flat in a block of flats or a house converted to flats.

You have a right of access to read your meter, a bill may help but is not a definitive answer.

matelodave

JC_Derby wrote: »

I would suspect the coin meter is a sub meter fed from a normal meter somewhere else within the building. Whilst you might not have other flats wired from your meter it is conceivable that your meter and other flats could be wired from a credit meter.
So even seeing the bill, would not give you a true representation as to what’s being used within your flat, as you might well be seeing a bill for the whole building.

So some quiestions for you.

Are you a flat above...either shops or other flats. Or are you a flat in a block of flats or a house converted to flats.

You have a right of access to read your meter, a bill may help but is not a definitive answer.

Even if you see a bill for the whole building it should have the standing charge and price per kwh which would enable you to reasonably try an evaluate whether you were being ripped off.

If there are multiple users then the s/c should be apportioned between them and not just paid by one tenant.

If the OP has a problem then the CAB should be able to offer advice, alternatively find a better place to live ( I know that may not easy but it's a possibility)

graceplant

JC_Derby wrote: »

So some quiestions for you.

Are you a flat above...either shops or other flats. Or are you a flat in a block of flats or a house converted to flats.

You have a right of access to read your meter, a bill may help but is not a definitive answer.

Thank you for your reply. We are the top attic flat, in a house converted to flats. There are 5 flats in total.

RelievedSheff

Electric heating is the most form of heating.

If you are on an Economy 7 tariff and have storage heaters use those as they will be cheaper to run than the heater you are using now.

£5 per day isn't overly expensive for an all electric flat but you can probably reduce it a bit.

Do you have an immersion heater for the water that you are leaving switched on all day? This only needs to be on for an hour or so each day.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

graceplant wrote: »

how many units we get per coin.
The meter says it's set to 19.60 kwh which is apparently relatively normal,

so 5 units for each £1 coin?

graceplant

RelievedSheff wrote: »

Electric heating is the most form of heating.

If you are on an Economy 7 tariff and have storage heaters use those as they will be cheaper to run than the heater you are using now.

£5 per day isn't overly expensive for an all electric flat but you can probably reduce it a bit.

Do you have an immersion heater for the water that you are leaving switched on all day? This only needs to be on for an hour or so each day.

There's no water heater, there are just old fashioned kettle type water heater by the sinks that you can use to generate hot water, but we tend to just boil the kettle for washing up etc. The shower I assume just heats the water on demand.

I'm surprised that £5 per day is normal, I never thought we'd end up paying £150 a month for such a small place.
The landlord mentioned that he has storage heaters but previous tenants didn't use them so he removed them, I'll ask him if we can borrow one for the time being.