Electric only (underfloor heating + electric boiler) usage & billing

tim_p

4500kWh / year?  How many panels??

Robin9

justinjoeman said:

 British Gas projection when doing the quote. Stuck with them as that is who the developer used.

NO you are not !!!!!!!!!!!! Only when you initially move in.  

justinjoeman

tim_p said:

4500kWh / year?  How many panels??

Not sure how many panels, this is what I need to find out. Basing the energy saved / generated on the "Regulations Compliance Report". Just had a look and actually says 3500kWh / year. But I assume this is best case, ideal circumstances & some kind of "you might not be comfortable but you won't get sick/die" criteria which nobody would live like out of choice.

coffeehound

Just did a comparison on the CAB site for a London postcode and it suggested one supplier would save over £600, so at least that would dwarf the BG early termination fee.

tim_p

justinjoeman said:

tim_p said:

4500kWh / year?  How many panels??

Not sure how many panels, this is what I need to find out. Basing the energy saved / generated on the "Regulations Compliance Report". Just had a look and actually says 3500kWh / year. But I assume this is best case, ideal circumstances & some kind of "you might not be comfortable but you won't get sick/die" criteria which nobody would live like out of choice.

So potentially a 4kW system. Whilst you might generate around 3500kWh per year, you’ll probably struggle to consume anything like that amount (depending on what the house has to use it) 

Hasbeen

justinjoeman said:

tim_p said:

4500kWh / year?  How many panels??

Not sure how many panels, this is what I need to find out. Basing the energy saved / generated on the "Regulations Compliance Report". Just had a look and actually says 3500kWh / year. But I assume this is best case, ideal circumstances & some kind of "you might not be comfortable but you won't get sick/die" criteria which nobody would live like out of choice.

You have been in your property 11 months.  Your tariff is expensive. Leave asap after paying your debt. You are £2000 in debit because you gave BG an estimate of what you considered average yearly usage. Your DD were then set far to low?

Pay the exit fee and switch. You did not have to stay with BG when you moved in. You register with them get an account, get a non exit fee tariff and then you are free to move to another provider.

Use a comparison site such as Switch with Which or the Citizens Advice switch site.

You do not know your daily usage? Have you ever actually looked at the meter, checked the readings against your bills?

You can check it daily / weekly / monthly to get an idea of usage

Are your bills all estimates with an E against the figures? Do not rely on smart meters to do all for you.

To find out how many panels you have, can you not go outside and count them?

matelodave

justinjoeman said:

tim_p said:

4500kWh / year?  How many panels??

Not sure how many panels, this is what I need to find out. Basing the energy saved / generated on the "Regulations Compliance Report". Just had a look and actually says 3500kWh / year. But I assume this is best case, ideal circumstances & some kind of "you might not be comfortable but you won't get sick/die" criteria which nobody would live like out of choice.

Solar panels wont help you much at this time of the year - the days are short, the sun doesn't shine much and generally it's too low in the sky when it does. They really are only effective between spring and autumn when your consumption is usually at its lowest.

You need to put a lot more effort into reading and recording your consumption (weekly would be good) but making sure that you send in a reading to your supplier at least once a month and most important of all CHECKING YOUR BILLS to make sure that they are accurately reflecting your consumption and that your direct debit payments are covering your costs.. You should do this even if you've got a smart meter because they aren't infallible and some energy companies still dont use the readings from them when they are billing.

You wont then get stung with ginormous arrears and you'll be able to adjust your lifestyle and controls to minimise your consumption.

Its a tough lesson to learn. I'd guess that most of us who are advising you have got many years of experience of paying bills and sorting it all out and I'm sure many of us got into a bit of a mess in the beginning. The important thing is to recognise that you need to do something, learn from it and get on with it.

Another tip is to download and save your monthly bills and statements so you've got your own record of what is going on rather than waiting for an annual estimate (its an especially good idea if you go with one of the cheaper suppliers who may not stay the course)

I'm like you, all electric and use around 7200kwh a year but I keep my eye on the ball, put up with the idiosyncrasies and aggro of cheap suppliers (I've even had three go bust) but it's saved me lots of money over the past ten years. My leccy bill is still less than £1000 - its not comparable to yours because we've got a heatpump but by keeping a close eye on my weekly consumption I can minimise my costs

pokora

I live in a rented 2 bedroom flat only electric and with underfloor heaters.  Seems you use heater/boiler all day for such big bills apart of an expensive tariff. We use around 6000 kw a year but the flat have a good insulation and we only put the heaters around 30 days a year only during night time.

justinjoeman

An update in case anyone was interested - I purchased an electricity monitor and went around turning everything on/off to try and get an idea of the usage. When I plugged it in about 5.5 kwh was being used. Turned off all the underfloor heating (most of it was off anyway from the thermostat) and it dropped to about 3.4 kwh. Then I thought "what about the water heater?!?!?" - turned that off and it dropped from 3.4 kwh to just 280W... Default timer on it as well was for it to be running 8 hours a day (5-9am and 4-8pm). It uses 3 kWh, 24 kwh a day which is 8,760 kwh a year! 

Half my usage has been on this which by my current tariff has cost me about £1638 alone!

Well that's an expensive lesson to me and anyone else who might end up reading this - CHECK THE TIMERS AND UNDERSTAND YOUR ELECTRICITY USE!!! Buy an energy monitor as well. 

Gerry1

justinjoeman said:

It uses 3 kWh, 24 kwh a day which is 8,760 kwh a year!
Half my usage has been on this which by my current tariff has cost me about £1638 alone!

Unlikely, unless its thermostat has failed and it's boiling for much of that time.  Always make sure that any immersion heater is on an E7 circuit switched by the meter, or has a local timer set accordingly, and that any Boost switch is left switched off.