Is £ 819.87 for 9 months of electricity too much?

Helenjac

Robin9 said:

Give us the readings from 9 months ago please (include the letters A, E or C) and todays readings.

Does the last bill also have E against the readins ?

Copy of bill above. Thank you

Helenjac

Hasbeen said:

Helenjac said:

I'm having a dispute with EDF. I believe there is something wrong with our electricity meter, but EDF aren't having any of it. For 9 months (249 days) EDF have said we have used £ 819.87 worth of electricity only which equates to 4948kwh. We have nothing fancy, we live in a small 3 bed end of terrace house, no hot tubs etc. We have worked throughout lockdown so haven't been at home any more than usual. We are in debt with them.
Can someone tell me of this is normal usage?

Thank you 

Sorry not enough info.

All electric or gas central heating?

What was the reading from 9 months ago and what is the reading on meter now?

What tariff, what pence per kWh, what daily standing charge?

Are bills estimated, E. do you provide actual monthly readings A ?

Please provide photo of last bill with personal details blanked out and photo of meter with current reading.

We do use a dishwasher and tumble dryer but no more than we have done for the last 3 years. 

noh

Whats normal for one household may be high for another.
Your usage works out at nearly 20 kWh per day.
Our usage, 2 people in a 4 bed house with gas heating, both retired works out at an average of 10kWh per day.
All light bulbs are LED we use the dishwaher when it is full around twice a week, washing machine three times a week. there are numerous devices running on standby.

Mickey666

The question is unanswerable in absolute terms.
The real issue here is the accuracy of the meter.  Meters are not expensive, simple to install and it should be possible to get an electrician to fit an additional meter for around £100.  I know this because my house has a self-contained annexe and I wanted to monitor electricity usage just in that part of the house.

The OP could do something similar for the entire house (just connect the additional meter before the main consumer unit) and check if the two meter readings match.  If they don’t, this would give the OP some hard evidence that something is wrong with one of the meters and give EDF an incentive to have their one verified.
Simply arguing that the reading is wrong because the bill is deemed too high is likely to be futile.

Robin9

@Helenjac Read your meter every day at the same time for a week, make a note of what you have been using. The big users are heating, water heating, cooking, showers  - forget your PC's, chargers.
, 
You can do a simple test for the meter by switching off the consumer unit and seeing if the meter continues to record.

Helenjac

Robin9 said:

Helenjac said:

We have gas and electricity and these are based on actual meter readings. ............

Are these your readings  ?  or a meter reader/landlord/agent/caretaker ?

Let's have a photo please - the old dial meters are easy to read wrongly and modern meters are often no better.

These are our readings on a digital meter

Helenjac

noh said:

Whats normal for one household may be high for another.
Your usage works out at nearly 20 kWh per day.
Our usage, 2 people in a 4 bed house with gas heating, both retired works out at an average of 10kWh per day.
All light bulbs are LED we use the dishwaher when it is full around twice a week, washing machine three times a week. there are numerous devices running on standby.

Thanks for your reply. Hubby and I both work full time. We live in a small 3 bed end of terrace all energy saving lightbulbs, no fancy gizmos. 

Helenjac

Robin9 said:

@Helenjac Read your meter every day at the same time for a week, make a note of what you have been using. The big users are heating, water heating, cooking, showers  - forget your PC's, chargers.
, 
You can do a simple test for the meter by switching off the consumer unit and seeing if the meter continues to record.

Thank you. I'll do that. We have a water tank which is on a timer and heating has only just gone on, although it isn't working properly. We haven't needed the tumble dryer over summer as we have had a long hot one. I'm worried what the bill will be over winter if it is that high over summer!

Rodders53

So what are the readings you took for the previous years?  (Same house, same meters I assume?).
That should give you your consumption numbers to compare last year with this year etc.,..

Do look for things on 24/7 - Immersion water heater?  Outdoor incandescent floodlight? Underfloor heating in a bathroom? Fridge or freezer with a poor door seal.

Robin9

Helenjac said:

Robin9 said:

@Helenjac Read your meter every day at the same time for a week, make a note of what you have been using. The big users are heating, water heating, cooking, showers  - forget your PC's, chargers.
, 
You can do a simple test for the meter by switching off the consumer unit and seeing if the meter continues to record.

Thank you. I'll do that. We have a water tank which is on a timer and heating has only just gone on, although it isn't working properly. We haven't needed the tumble dryer over summer as we have had a long hot one. I'm worried what the bill will be over winter if it is that high over summer!

As you've got gas you should always be using your gas boiler to heat your hot water - only use electric when your boiler is broken.