Help! £400 a month electric bill - one person, 2 bed flat!

MWT

What were the opening readings that you provided when you first moved in?

On that meter the active rate will have the rate number flashing when you look at it.

Also it is often printed on the face of the meter case to the right-hand side

Is there also a mechanical time switch fitted near the meter? If so please take a photo of the clock face as it isn't uncommon for them to be set to the wrong time...

theoretica

Winter use and heating will usually use vastly more than summer.  see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2380355/ratio-between-winter-and-summer-usage

Is there a sticker or card on the meter that says when it was installed?  Sometime after September 2015, which I take to be when it was made.  Because then you would know the total use since then - assume it was zero when installed - and can work out what the average was for previous people in that flat.

lovelouise

I didn’t input the ‘t’ reading as assumed it was a total and I was only asked for day and night readings, so don’t think that’s the cause of the bill.

The number 1 is flashing when I look at the meter. So is this the day rate? As that’s the lower one. An electrician was out when I first moved in as the heaters weren’t working at all, and he looked at the timer etc and said all was fine.


Readings when I moved in:

lovelouise

This is the final bill for the period up until I moved in. It has the day rate as the higher one which is what I’ve submitted? I’m so confused!

Gerry1

lovelouise said:

storage heaters on always

Water heater switched on for an hour at night to do dishes.

Make sure that the storage heaters are on a circuit that's switched by the meter.  When it's cold, set the input control to maximum but turn the output to minimum before going to bed.  Turn the output control up if it gets cool in the evening.

Don't heat water for the dishes during the day; make sure the immersion heater is on a circuit that's switched by the meter.  If there's a Boost switch, leave it off.  There may be two immersion heaters, one at the bottom of the tank on E7 to give you a full tank at cheap rate, and another halfway up to give half a tank at expensive daytime rates.  Make sure the latter is left switched off and used sparingly only if you run out during the day.

As others have noted, do not enter the t (total) reading, just the two rates.

lovelouise

@Gerry1 thank you. The electrician confirmed that the storage heaters are on the correct circuit, but the immersion heater for the water isn’t on the same circuit. There is no boost function either, just a switch on or off so there is no way for me to ensure it’s heated overnight. 

lovelouise

I think I have entered the readings the wrong way round, as the lower one is the day rate. But it also looks like it has been entered this way for a while judging from my final bill for moving into the property? I can’t get through to my supplier to discuss til Monday now but do you think this will make a difference to the bill? I hope so!

MWT

lovelouise said:

 I can’t get through to my supplier to discuss til Monday now but do you think this will make a difference to the bill? I hope so!

It will make a considerable difference as you've currently told them you've used over 3x the day units that you actually used and those are the expensive ones...

lovelouise

@MWT excellent! I shall try and stop stressing until I confirm that with them and see what damage I’m really looking at £-wise. 

lovelouise

Although I am still confused as the final bill from the previous supplier does have the higher reading as the day rate.