Energy Usage One Bedroom Flat

Thonyn

Hi,
I have recently moved to a 1 bedroom flat in Brighton together with my partner. The flat only has access to electricity of which British Gas is the supplier. Recently we received a bill for the months November and December which charged us about 90 pounds per month. Thinking this was quite expensive I have been checking the kwh usage for the last 24 hours and it turns out we have used 16 kwh in the last 24 hours. In that time we have had the heating on for not even an hour in total (electric panel heater 2000W), we have both showered using the electric shower for about 20 minutes in total and we have cooked dinner using the electric hob (about an hour). This 16 kwh per day would mean that we would have to pay 90 pounds again for the month January. Now I was wondering if 90 pounds per month electricity costs is a normal amount or that I am missing something in my flat that is using extra energy. 16 kwh per day just seems off to me, especially because we barely had the heating on in the last 24 hours. We've got an vented electric water heater for the tapwater that we turn off around 10pm and turn on again around 10am, maybe that could be the problem? Do you guys have any suggestions on how I might cut my electricity costs or what I am doing wrong?

Thanks in advance!

daveyjp

Electricity is expensive and all you can do is not use high powered electrical items for a long time.

9kw shower would use 6kw in 40 minutes.
10kw for cooking, heating, hot water.  If you don't have demand for large quantities of hot water turn the hot water heater off and boil the kettle for dishwashing etc.

Gerry1

You have the worst possible setup (daytime electricity for heating and hot water) so your bills will always be very high.  Your usage is far from excessive.  Have you registered with BG and set up a DD?  If not, you will be on a deemed tariff which will be even more expensive.

Apart from moving your only option is to use less energy and make sure you're on the cheapest tariff.  Start comparing using Citizens Advice and 'Switch with Which?' and guesstimate 1800kWh as your annual consumption.  Forget all projections and savings claims, just compare annual costs.

Gerry1

daveyjp said:

9kw shower would use 6kw in 40 minutes.

9kw shower would use 6kWh in 40 minutes.

matelodave

Check what tariff you are on - BG are not the cheapest by far, so you may be able to cut costs by reducing the price of your leccy
.
Secondly, find out what is using it and when - A 10kw electric shower for twenty minutes would use around 3-4kwh, so reducing your showing time by 50% would reduce the consumption by the same. If you've got a hot water tank then do you really need to keep it on all day. I'm assuming that you don't have an E7 tariff or storage heaters

Try using less hot water, just running off a gallon or so to rinse your hands or dishes doesn't sound like much but you may be able to save a kwh or two by being a bit frugal where possible - do you really need to wash up several times a day or could you save it and just do it once. Same with cooking don't use several pots when you might get away with one or two, only fill the kettle with as much water as you need - most people half fill it, make two cups and then let the rest get cold.

What else is turned on or left on standby - turn stuff off when it's not being used.
If you've got a washing machine or dryer only use them will full loads, they use nearly as much leccy when half full as when they are full so be more efficient with your washing regime.

Do you have low energy lighting, you can save 90% of your lighting costs by replacing incandescent bulbs & lights with LEDs

Lastly, the most expensive way to heat your place is with a panel heater on peak rate electricity - just an hour a day will use around 2kwh, how do you heat the bedroom and bathroom.

Dont get overly paranoid at this time of the year, most people use between 60-70% of their energy in winter compared with the summer but if you monitor your consumption you'll have more chance of controlling it than waiting for the bill to come in. Dont forget to check your bills against meter readings to make sure that your bills are correct and not estimated (even if you've got a smart meter - there are plenty of horror stories where people haven't bothered and a ginormous bill has come in)

Thonyn

Thanks a lot for all the help and advice guys! Right now I am on the standard variable tariff of BG and I do have an economy 7 meter where I give BG two meter readings, but looking at my bill they charge me only one rate for the total amount of kwh. Also, would it be cheaper to get a storage heater then?

Again, thanks for all the help!

Thonyn

Also, I have got a DD set up.

Gerry1

You're on single rate with an E7 meter which makes sense because you don't have storage heaters.  But being on the standard tariff with an expensive provider such as BG makes no sense whatsoever.  Switch tonight !

Storage heaters on an E7 tariff make sense (perhaps with just a panel heater in the bedroom) especially if you are at home during the day, but the capital cost will be significant and may not make sense if you are renting.  If you go to E7, don't use an instantaneous electric shower (the day rate is even more expensive on E7), use an immersion heater on an overnight circuit that's switched by the meter.

And don't even think of magic dust heaters...

Thonyn

Alright, I am looking into switching energy suppliers on both citizen advice and switch which. Excuse my ignorance, I'm not orignally from the UK, but are there any downsides to being with a smaller energy supplier like 'Green', 'London Power' or 'Neo-Energy'. They have rates between 0,135p and 0,155p which seems to good to be true when comparing them to some of the bigger energy suppliers.

Gerry1

London Power won't supply you in Brighton.

The rates are OK, I'm paying 12.11343p per kWh plus a Daily Charge of 13.2825p inc VAT, albeit on a variable tariff that no longer available to new customers.

There's always a risk of a smaller company failing.  I've been with two, GB Energy and Robin Hood Energy, but neither going bust was problematic.

Just make sure that you don't allow a significant credit to build up, beware of a DD being taken before the switching date (they'll tell you in the Ts &Cs) and remember that it takes up to eight weeks from the switching date to get a credit refund, possibly a lot longer if they've gone bust (see the Yorkshire and Tonik threads).  So don't run your bank balance close to zero.

The big boys aren't necessarily any better, just have a look at the Shell and E.On threads !

Whatever you do, send monthly meter readings, check your statements and you should be fine.  Don't bother with Look After My Bills or AutoSwitch etc, do it all yourself so that you understand the basics.

Beware the classic mistake of thinking your Direct Debit is All You Can Eat.  It's just a kitty that may or may not turn out to be sufficient to pay the bills.

MSE DD advice

Phones4Chris

Thonyn said:

Alright, I am looking into switching energy suppliers on both citizen advice and switch which. Excuse my ignorance, I'm not orignally from the UK, but are there any downsides to being with a smaller energy supplier like 'Green', 'London Power' or 'Neo-Energy'. They have rates between 0,135p and 0,155p which seems to good to be true when comparing them to some of the bigger energy suppliers.

There could be a downside to Neo-energy as when I last checked, their 0800 number was "unobtainable" and I filled in their clunky website quote page 10 days ago and still not heard anything. I'm going elsewhere.