Energy Bill way too high

BellaRouse

Hi everyone, 

I really need some help. So I live in a studio flat and I'm with bulb energy because I was advised it would be the cheapest provider. So far they are saying my usage for electricity is going to be around £1000 for this year. They're saying even in the recent months with no heating on at all that we are using £100 a month. I've tried to talk to them, at first I thought that maybe the day and night readings were the wrong way round and that's why they're over charging us but I checked and it's not that. They've said that I've used £200 a month in the winter months. We never had the heating on during the day and we have a very energy efficient heater. We also only have one radiator in the flat because that's how small the flat is. They've said they can check the meter to see if it's working correctly but in order to do so we would have to pay £120 upfront to get it checked. I'm at a loss really and could do with some advice. 

Robin9

You need to deal in consumption using Kwh rather than £ and DD.
Give us your meter readings for the last 12 months or so please and show which ones have the letter A, E or C against them. 
£1000 for an all electric flat is not unusual. 


PS put your annual consumption into a comparison site - II am sure you will find someone better than Bulb.

Biscuit_Tin

BellaRouse said:

Hi everyone, 

I really need some help. So I live in a studio flat and I'm with bulb energy because I was advised it would be the cheapest provider. So far they are saying my usage for electricity is going to be around £1000 for this year. They're saying even in the recent months with no heating on at all that we are using £100 a month. I've tried to talk to them, at first I thought that maybe the day and night readings were the wrong way round and that's why they're over charging us but I checked and it's not that. They've said that I've used £200 a month in the winter months. We never had the heating on during the day and we have a very energy efficient heater. We also only have one radiator in the flat because that's how small the flat is. They've said they can check the meter to see if it's working correctly but in order to do so we would have to pay £120 upfront to get it checked. I'm at a loss really and could do with some advice. 

Welcome to MSE
You could do a lot worse than read this
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity/

But you will need to pay off any arrears before switching.

All suppliers reserve the right to charge you to have the meter checked. You will be refunded that charge if the meter is proven faulty.

RelievedSheff

Have you been submitting regular meter readings?
How long have you got your immersion heater on for and is it set to come on during off peak hours?
Do you have an electric shower? How long is this used for?
What is this energy efficient heater you talk of? Do you use this during peak or off peak hours?

An all electric property is always going to cost more to run than one with gas. Foe example we pay 13.13p per kWh for electric but foe the same kWh of gas we pay 2.22p. The cost difference is massive for the same unit if energy.

Robin9

BellaRouse said:

...…………………. we have a very energy efficient heater. …………….

Please - I do hope this is not filled with magic dust.

Gerry1

BellaRouse said:

I'm with bulb energy because I was advised it would be the cheapest provider.

Well, they would say that wouldn't they?  Absolutely nothing to do with the £50 bribe they received for bagging another punter.

You need to do the sums yourself.

Gerry1

BellaRouse said:

We never had the heating on during the day and we have a very energy efficient heater.

All resistive electric heaters are equally efficient, a kWh is a kWh.  The only qualification to that is that some modern storage heaters have better insulation so heat doesn't get wasted overnight when it's not needed and during the day if you're not there.  But it sounds like you're using a plug in heater on the expensive daytime E7 rate which is probably the worst possible thing you can do.  Ditto for the immersion heater if that's on in the day (e.g. Boost switch left on).  An instantaneous shower shouldn't be used, use the hot tank heated overnight at cheap E7 rate.

BellaRouse said:

They've said they can check the meter to see if it's working correctly but in order to do so we would have to pay £120 upfront to get it checked.

Why not check it yourself?  Switch everything off, plug in a high current load and see how much is recorded by the meter over a time interval.  Even easier if there is a flashing red light on the meter.  If it says '1000 Imp / kWh that means 1000 flashes equals 1 kWh, costing you 16p or whatever rip-off rate Bulb are charging you.  Just do the sums, e.g. plug in a 3kW kettle or fan heater and expect it to flash about 50 times per minute.  The meter is unlikely to be faulty, the problems seem to be that you're on an expensive and possibly inappropriate E7 tariff and you don't understand how to use apparatus effectively and how to do the sums.

BellaRouse

 The only qualification to that is that some modern storage heaters have better insulation so heat doesn't get wasted overnight when it's not needed and during the day if you're not there.  But it sounds like you're using a plug in heater on the expensive daytime E7 rate which is probably the worst possible thing you can do.  Ditto for the immersion heater if that's on in the day (e.g. Boost switch left on).  An instantaneous shower shouldn't be used, use the hot tank heated overnight at cheap E7 rate.

Why not check it yourself?

I have a modern electric storage heater not a plug-in, I also have a boiler strictly used for the supply of hot water which is on a timer to come on from 7pm to 9pm, which I will change, now you mention it. We have an electric power shower and our washing machine takes cold water. I will check it myself and I'll get back to you all on how it goes. Thanks everyone

matelodave

 if you've got a proper storage heater (not a Fischer, Rointe or some other magic device) then you should be on an e7 tariff and your hot water should be heated overnight on the off-peak rate, not between 7 and 9pm when you pay peak rates. You can reduce your bills a bit by having your showers between midnight and 7am to take advantage of the off peak rates as well as using the the washing machine between those times. Using your shower, any sort of heating or hot water heater or even the washing machine during the day between 0700 and around midnight will incur peak rate costs which are usually significantly higher than either off-peak or even single rate tariffs.

How long do you spend in the shower, don't be be fooled that it's cheaper - an electric shower on peak rates could be costing you up to 20p,for five minutes,  linger longer and it will cost even more, do it daily and you can see how the costs ramp up.

You really need to reappraise what you are doing to ensure that you can maximise your use of off-peak leccy and minimise using stuff at peak times. Do you send in regular (at least once a month) readings and check your bills/statements every month if so you should be getting a good idea of your consumption to enable you to skew your consumption towards the off peak periods.

You could also look to see if you can get a better tariff from another supplier, Bulb and Octopus might be fashionable but they aren't the cheapest.

molerat

Things you need to do to start to get in control of your use :

If your meters are in a communal cupboard check the meter being read is actually the one connected to your flat.

Check when the meter switches over to peak and off peak periods.

Check which register reading is peak and off peak

Check the meter serial number is the same as on the bill.

Read the meter daily and write them down / compile a spreadsheet.

Check your bills for correct / actual readings being used

Ensure any water and stored heat devices are set to charge only in the off peak periods

Please tell us the make and model of your storage heater.