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Why are we paying so much for electric?

13

Comments

  • Streaky_Bacon
    Streaky_Bacon Posts: 656 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 7 December 2020 at 9:04PM
    £0 on both. Honestly so confused and had the worst help from British Gas :(
    So it would seem that you are not paying off somebody else's debt, which is good.
    It looks like your meter is pre-payment only, and so you would ideally get it switched to a credit meter so that you can get the best tariff. Some info here:
    If you are having trouble getting a response from BG, then you may wish to start a switch to a different provider. I don't know the best place to search for pre-payment tariffs but there is a search here:
    Consider that if you do switch, you want to make sure that you are switching to somebody who will be prepared to put you on to a credit meter.
    There is some further info here:
    Note that you can change the meter without your landlord's permission, but they may be able to deduct from your deposit to change it back, so you probably want to have a discussion with them first. A lot of landlord's won't want a credit meter, and so even though they can't block you from changing it, they will likely try to change it back at the end of the tenancy.
    Whatever you do, heating your flat with electricity rather than gas is likely to cost you 3 or 4 times more, which is obviously very substantial. My gas bill is about £500 a year, but could easily be £2,000 a year if I was heating the same property with electricity.
    Are you able to move again at short notice, or are you tied into a longer tenancy agreement?

  • We are renting from a close friend so changing the meter is no problem.

    I checked the meter before bed last night and it’s gone down another £1 and absolutely nothing is turned on 
  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,472 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    ........... absolutely nothing is turned on 
     ???? fridge / freezer / items on standby/ water heating  and don't forget standing charges 
    Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill
  • RelievedSheff
    RelievedSheff Posts: 12,346 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 8 December 2020 at 10:03AM
    We are renting from a close friend so changing the meter is no problem.

    I checked the meter before bed last night and it’s gone down another £1 and absolutely nothing is turned on 
    Don't forget all of your items on standby and as others have said the fridge/freezer, any alarms, lighting etc. It is surprising just how much your standby consumption can be.

    You must remember that each kWh of energy you use in your home is electric. Electric is 4 or 5 times more expensive per kWh than gas. So to heat a home with electric is more expensive than to heat a home with gas.

    Also worth bearing in mind that as you are on a prepayment meter you will be paying well over the odds for each kWh of electric as well. You certainly won't be on a good value tariff.

    £5 per day probably isn't that bad with how cold it currently is outside. We spent £3 yesterday as we had the heating on pretty much all day and had the washer dryer on a couple of times.
  • David28
    David28 Posts: 139 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary
    edited 8 December 2020 at 10:33AM
    Don't forget all of your items on standby and as others have said the fridge/freezer, any alarms, lighting etc. It is surprising just how much your standby consumption can be.


    I have a fridge and a freezer, a Sky Q box and 5 chargers  plus a cooker clock and microwave clock, an Amazon echo and other small gadgets all on during the night and a computer on for an hour this morning and according to my IHD I have used 1.5kWh of electricity costing £0.44, including standing charge, since midnight, 
  • Ok thanks guys that’s very helpful indeed. I am a bit clueless when it comes to all this stuff. Can I please ask whether you think I should switch from British Gas to another supplier or stay with British Gas until we can switch to a credit meter? 28 days from the 26th Nov. 
  • We are renting from a close friend so changing the meter is no problem.

    I checked the meter before bed last night and it’s gone down another £1 and absolutely nothing is turned on 
    Don't forget all of your items on standby and as others have said the fridge/freezer, any alarms, lighting etc. It is surprising just how much your standby consumption can be.

    You must remember that each kWh of energy you use in your home is electric. Electric is 4 or 5 times more expensive per kWh than gas. So to heat a home with electric is more expensive than to heat a home with gas.

    Also worth bearing in mind that as you are on a prepayment meter you will be paying well over the odds for each kWh of electric as well. You certainly won't be on a good value tariff.

    £5 per day probably isn't that bad with how cold it currently is outside. We spent £3 yesterday as we had the heating on pretty much all day and had the washer dryer on a couple of times.
    How big is your house? We have the heater off, the hot water off, and haven’t used the washing machine and still using £5
  • RelievedSheff
    RelievedSheff Posts: 12,346 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    David28 said:
    Don't forget all of your items on standby and as others have said the fridge/freezer, any alarms, lighting etc. It is surprising just how much your standby consumption can be.


    I have a fridge and a freezer, a Sky Q box and 5 chargers  plus a cooker clock and microwave clock, an Amazon echo and other small gadgets all on during the night and a computer on for an hour this morning and according to my IHD I have used 1.5kWh of electricity costing £0.44, including standing charge, since midnight, 
    That doesn't sound out of the ordinary. Our stand by usage is about 300W.

    Our house is a 3 bed detached but that is irrelevant to this topic really as no two houses are the same with regards energy consumption.
  • Gerry1
    Gerry1 Posts: 10,568 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 8 December 2020 at 11:53AM
    You seem to have ignored previous advice to think in kWh so that you can understand how your usage is being charged.
    You now know you are on a stupidly expensive tariff, 20.84p/kWh in the day, 8.67p/kWh at night and a daily charge of 28.423p.  (I pay only 12.11343p per kWh at all times plus a daily charge of 13.2825p. No wonder your credit vanishes so rapidly !)
    What were the results of these tests, or did you ignore them as well?
  • RelievedSheff
    RelievedSheff Posts: 12,346 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    David28 said:
    Don't forget all of your items on standby and as others have said the fridge/freezer, any alarms, lighting etc. It is surprising just how much your standby consumption can be.


    I have a fridge and a freezer, a Sky Q box and 5 chargers  plus a cooker clock and microwave clock, an Amazon echo and other small gadgets all on during the night and a computer on for an hour this morning and according to my IHD I have used 1.5kWh of electricity costing £0.44, including standing charge, since midnight, 
    That doesn't sound out of the ordinary. Our stand by usage is about 300W.

    Our house is a 3 bed detached but that is irrelevant to this topic really as no two houses are the same with regards energy consumption.
    On the 6th December which is the latest info we have to hand we used 9kWh of electric and 42kWh of gas.

    As a comparison our gas costs per kWh are 2.33p with a daily standing charge of 14.8p and for electric per kWh are 13.79p with a daily standing charge of 16.85p.

    As you can probably see by now your unit charges are extremely high which is why your credit is reducing so quickly. You need to change tariff ASAP. Have you contacted BG to check that you are on their cheapest tariff? 
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