Electric usage

anjahood

Hi
I'm looking for a bit of advice around how to cut my electric bills. 

We live in a 1980s country cottage with electric heating. We have no access to gas. We've lived here for 3 years and it's always been expensive to run the heating but we've accepted it for so long. When the survey was carried out, the boiler had an F efficiency rating I think it was, so we knew it wasn't very good. 

I'm the summer we use around £50 a month of electric which seems reasonable. In the winter we would have the heating on a bit, but would first go for a blanket or extra layers. I had a baby in September so we've obviously had the heating on a lot more.
We pay £170 a month for the electric, and we were using way more than that. We had always planned to get a new boiler, having a combi boiler fit for the hot water convenience.

The boiler was fit yesterday and we also paid for hive thermostats as well. I've set them up so that the rooms which don't get used are sat at 12 degrees. The rooms we are in regularly (baby's bedroom and living room) are set to 16-17 degrees and kitchen set to 14 degrees. This is all set for between 8am-6pm.

Since the boiler guys left Saturday afternoon, till about 24 hours later, we used 60 units of electricity. I've worked that out to be around £10 worth of electric! I honestly don't know what I'm doing wrong. Isn't it normal to have the heating on for that amount of time? We don't have it excessively high. In that 24 hour period we've had the washing machine on using eco mode and then the tumble drier for one load. The washing machine was bought this year and the tumble drier is maybe 4 or 5 years old. The TV is on for maybe 5-6 hours a day, always switched off when not in use. Lights are switched off if we're not in the room. I've run enough hot water to clean dishes and bottles, and ran a bath for my son using his baby bath which only uses 2l of water. 

I honestly don't know what to do. I can't afford to run the heating at £10 a day. 
Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to include all regular day to day usage to give a full picture. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep costs down? 

anjahood

I forgot to add, it's a 3 bed semi detached house. 

We only have one meter reading, so no day and night rates. It's an analog meter if that makes a difference. 

Hasbeen

This is the Oil, Propane Gas, thread.
However people do look here so you will get some replies.

You put an electric combi boiler in with radiators? 

Or did you have wet radiators already and just a new boiler or storage heaters before?

I would have suggested oil or LPG heating boiler rather than electric replacement.

As per the majority of people living in a country location.

Electric will be the very most expensive option.

Edit: Op were you not considering Oil heating in previous threads.

Taking  a reading over 24hrs with dryer and washing machine on at that time will not give you the most accurate usage/ consumption? Perhaps weekly.

Gerry1

Nothing is more expensive than full price electricity used for room heating and hot water.  Sadly, if you have just fitted an electric boiler connected to a wet radiator system you have made a catastrophic mistake.  Sorry, but there's no gentler way of putting it.

All you can do now is damage limitation, e.g. better insulation and a better electricity tariff.  If you're paying 16.6p/kWh inc VAT that's well over the going rate.  Start comparing with Citizens Advice and 'Switch with Which?'.

Also check that you're getting any benefits to which you may be entitled.

Jack_Cork

I think your house must be loosing a lot of heat from somewhere and then is working really hard to keep the heat at thermostat level (which are really low and not that warm). We've just had a ton of insulation work done to our house and when it was 8 degrees outside, it's consistently sitting at 17-18 degrees inside because the heat is retained inside now, not leaking out. Our heating barely comes on anymore. We were paying £250 month on heating before though (gas and electric) so I'm hoping it will go down now!

Hasbeen

Op your previous thread was asking about Oil or LPG. Because the existing electric system was expensive.

Some estimated costs were given at that time. LPG /OIL Boilers / Tanks etc.

So assuming you have now went for the cheapest installation choice which is electric?

You say you went for the combi to get hot water. Can you confirm what your heating system actually is now?

As per previous posters, get online and get a better tariff and  more insulation 270mm thick in loft?

Perhaps even cavity wall insulation etc.

matelodave

Oh dear,

I fear you've been poorly advised if you've gone with an electric flow/combi boiler.

 They really are the most expensive way to heat a place apart from actually burning ten pound notes. An electric combi or flow boiler will be using full price electricity all the time it is running so the only way you are going to save money is by not using it as much by either turning it down or off and getting on the cheapest possible tariff. In a perverted way even a fan heater or oil filled radiator is cheaper to run as you are only heating one room at a time.

Having posh Hive thermostats wont save you much either.

TBH the only sensible way to heat with electricity is with off-peak storage heaters and an off peak water tank for hot water unless you go the whole hog and install a heatpump system, but even then they need to be carefully specified, installed and operated to achieve maximum efficiency.

Robin9

Some of the old fashioned solutions - sausages at the bottom of doors, thermal lined curtains, as above lots of roof insulation .............   

£10 a day in winter but winter doesn't last for ever and you'll be back to the £2 a day in summer.

danrv

matelodave said:

 a fan heater or oil filled radiator is cheaper to run as you are only heating one room at a time.

That's what I'm doing at the moment.
All electric three bed semi detached house.
My main heating is warm air system on E10 but really want to upgrade from this.
It's old, using a limiting tariff and bills are similar to the OP's.

Just using free standing electric convector heaters now and keeping a check on kWh use. Small to medium rooms with one external wall and double glazing/insulation can be heated with a low power heater.
Hope to get my kWh usage down by using these selectively.