SSE unbelieve-e-bill

Gerry1

Deborah_51 said:

I've put a call in to the agent to see if I can switch suppliers when the account is settled.

Stuff the %+!@#** agent, it's nothing whatsoever to do with them !  You're paying the bills, so you can choose whichever supplier you like once SSE let you go.  The agent probably got a kickback, but you're paying heavily.

Deborah_51 said:

The landlord was clearly under the impression it was an economy 7 meter, at least this was the impression I got when the agent relayed her comments back to me.

Do you or do you not have an E7 meter?  Please just have a look and find out.  Similarly, are you on an E7 tariff?  Just look at the bill and see.  Facts please, or we can't help you !

Deborah_51 said:

There is a timer next to the water heater, and yes a boost switch. It was suggested that I use this as otherwise I only get about 7 minutes of shower before the water runs cold.

It sounds like you're only using the upper immersion heater if HW only lasts seven minutes.  The normal arrangement is that the lower immersion heater is powered solely by cheap rate E7, preferably controlled by the meter so that it's guaranteed never to charge peak rate, and the upper heater has a 24/7 supply that should only be switched on if you've messed things up or have been away and returned to a cold tank.  Find out what the timer controls (follow the output lead), make sure the clock is always correct GMT and that it matches your E7 cheap hours.  Or is it just an 'egg timer' that stops the boost heater being left on?  Facts, please !

Deborah_51 said:

When the wall thermostat kicks in, the control unit starts with a loud clonk and loudly hums and makes the wall vibrate. I did bring this up at the last inspection.

Do you have electric heaters, or an electric boiler, a pump and wet radiators?  Or even gas central heating?  You need to be much more specific.  I can't understand why plain electric panel heaters or suchlike would vibrate.

Deborah_51 said:

I hadn't paid the bill straight away, as I didn't have the money at the time.

D'oh !  If you're not on DD you'll pay far more.  You've probably been switched to their worst possible standard or deemed tariff which always cripplingly expensive.

Deborah_51 said:

It seems shocking, but maybe this is in fact all down to the water heater...

Nope.  Sadly it seems you may have been sold a pup, and/or been given inaccurate information, you don't understand your set up and you have ended up on an extortionate tariff.

There's only one solution: don't rely on hearsay from the landlord, the agent, neighbours etc, sadly they haven't done you any good so far. Instead, you must do your homework and fully understand your set up and tariff, then escape as soon as you can onto the cheapest tariff.  If you don't understand anything, the forumites will no doubt be happy to help.

 

The good news is that provided you learn and understand your set up and sort it all out, your bills should soon be MUCH cheaper - and summer time starts this weekend !