Is my Ovo energy really expensive? Or is my usage high?

greensalad

Gerry1 said:

greensalad said:

Sadly with S21's being given out for any or no reason it seems a risk to go against anything in the tenancy agreement or try and point out our legal rights. Seems like an easy way to get evicted It says in our tenancy agreement we can't change suppliers and despite asking we've just been ignored.

IANAL and all that, but I'd just switch, say nothing, and move back just before leaving the property.  How will the LL know you've switched?  It's probably an Unfair Contract anyway.  See what Citizens Advice recommend.

That's a good idea. It looks like there are quite a few suppliers with no exit fees so I guess as long as I go with one of them then switching back shouldn't be too hard. Looks like the process for switching into Ovo is pretty simple so hopefully won't be hassle to switch back if we move. So frustrating that it's in the contract in the first place if it's not legally enforceable.

Gerry1

You need to understand how your room heating and hot water systems work.

Sounds like you may have an immersion heater that's permanently switched on.  Hot water provided by an immersion heater costs about 4 - 6 times that of water heated by gas, so it could be providing much of your hot water, especially if the boiler is switched off for the summer, its thermostat is higher than one for the gas and / or the boiler's programmer doesn't have a hot water only setting.

Switch it off !

greensalad

If we switch off the boiler, would that not mean we wouldn't get any hot water from the taps for washing up etc?

It's not something really within my understanding as I've never owned a property and all our previous places were electric only and only had storage heaters.

Gerry1

Just leave the boiler's programmer set to hot water only until winter kicks in, then it should be hot water and central heating.

Talldave

Landlords/letting agents can't prevent you choosing your own supplier. But they won't know you've switched anyway. They'll only find out after your tenancy ends, at which point you can't be evicted!

[Deleted User]

Gerry1 said:

You need to understand how your room heating and hot water systems work.

Sounds like you may have an immersion heater that's permanently switched on.  Hot water provided by an immersion heater costs about 4 - 6 times that of water heated by gas, so it could be providing much of your hot water, especially if the boiler is switched off for the summer, its thermostat is higher than one for the gas and / or the boiler's programmer doesn't have a hot water only setting.

Switch it off !

Eighteen months ago, I would have agreed with you 100%. However, having moved into a new home with a highly efficient condensing gas boiler; a well insulated unvented cylinder; PV solar and a diverter, the facts tell me something different. Looking back at my usage when just the gas boiler was reheating my hot water cylinder (ie; the period when there was insufficient PV solar to divert and gas CH was OFF), my average gas consumption was 8kWhs/day just to reheat the 250L unvented cylinder. For the past month, my PV solar diverter graphs show an average of 3kWhs/day to do the same amount of cylinder reheating using just electricity.

Why might this be the case? Some things come to mind. Gas is not 100% efficient: modern condensing gas boilers are programmed to run at maximum flow temperature when reheating HW cylinders, and the pipe run/area between the boiler and the cylinder is short compared to full CH so it is unlikely that the boiler ever gets into a true condensing mode.

I appreciate that the different houses have different systems. What I can say with confidence is that reheating my unvented cylinder from the Grid overnight would have cost me broadly what it costs me for gas: my overnight tariff price is 5p/kWh.

[Deleted User]

Gerry1 said:

You need to understand how your room heating and hot water systems work.

Sounds like you may have an immersion heater that's permanently switched on.  Hot water provided by an immersion heater costs about 4 - 6 times that of water heated by gas, so it could be providing much of your hot water, especially if the boiler is switched off for the summer, its thermostat is higher than one for the gas and / or the boiler's programmer doesn't have a hot water only setting.

Switch it off !

Eighteen months ago, I would have agreed with you 100%. However, having moved into a new home with a highly efficient condensing gas boiler; a well insulated unvented cylinder; PV solar and a diverter, the facts tell me something different. Looking back at my usage when just the gas boiler was reheating my hot water cylinder (ie; the period when there was insufficient PV solar to divert and gas CH was OFF), my average gas consumption was 8kWhs/day just to reheat the 250L unvented cylinder. For the past month, my PV solar diverter graphs show an average of 3kWhs/day to do the same amount of cylinder reheating using just electricity.

Why might this be the case? Some things come to mind. Gas is not 100% efficient: modern condensing gas boilers are programmed to run at maximum flow temperature when reheating HW cylinders, and the pipe run/area between the boiler and the cylinder is short compared to full CH so it is unlikely that the boiler ever gets into a true condensing mode.

I appreciate that the different houses have different systems. What I can say with confidence is that reheating my unvented cylinder from the Grid overnight would have cost me broadly what it costs me for gas: my overnight tariff price is 5p/kWh.

Helen28

Is it just me but how can someone not know whether they have an electric shower or not?

After all it usually just has one water pipe for the water and the temperature is varied by adjusting the water flow rate.

Also if it is electric it should have an isolating switch and you can't have a shower if the electricity is off.

Whereas if the water is heated by gas from a combi or a hot water tank regardless if heated by gas or electricity(immersion) it has a mixer valve to regulate the water temperature and flow rate and 2 water pipes going ro it.

greensalad

Helen28 said:

Is it just me but how can someone not know whether they have an electric shower or not?

After all it usually just has one water pipe for the water and the temperature is varied by adjusting the water flow rate.

Also if it is electric it should have an isolating switch and you can't have a shower if the electricity is off.

Whereas if the water is heated by gas from a combi or a hot water tank regardless if heated by gas or electricity(immersion) it has a mixer valve to regulate the water temperature and flow rate and 2 water pipes going ro it.

Is it really that crazy? I don't make a habit of turning my electricity off, and it's not like my first instinct during a power cut is "quick check the shower is working!" 

macman

greensalad said:

That's interesting to read. Sadly with S21's being given out for any or no reason it seems a risk to go against anything in the tenancy agreement or try and point out our legal rights. Seems like an easy way to get evicted It says in our tenancy agreement we can't change suppliers and despite asking we've just been ignored.

Such a clause is unenforceable and can simply be ignored. How would your LL even know if you switched? Your bills, your choice-nothing to do with the LL. Do you let your LL decide which bank you use?
No sane LL will evict an otherwise reliable tenant for switching suppliers, and evicting you at present would take a minimum of 6m and probably more than a year.
Equally, there is no requirement to switch back at end of tenancy, it's pointless, as the incoming tenant will switch to his own preferred supplier anyway.