HELP!! £400 pcm Electricity!

Gerry1

Unfortunately the bad news is you're making most of the classic mistakes.

• Think of consumption in kWh, not ££.  Ditto when comparing properties, which isn't a good idea anyway because so much can vary (property type, size, location, insulation, number of occupants, in or out in the day, temperate / tropical preferences etc).
• You don't know the cost per kWh and the daily charge.  Both are probably uncompetitive.
  

• When comparing, always use annual consumption from actual meter readings.

• MSE DD advice

• You've probably misread the meter.
• Cancel the meter check. You're clutching at straws unless you have rock solid evidence, which you don't and probably won't.

• Do a meter sanity check.  Switch everything off at the consumer unit and watch the red flashing light on the meter for five minutes and makes sure it never flashes once.  Then switch on all the high power appliances (kettle, tumble dryer, hotplate, oven etc) and make sure it's flashing rapidly.  Finally, switch off everything except one item of known power rating (e.g. a kettle) and count the number of flashes (impulses) per minute.  If the light says '1000 Imp/kWh' then a 3kW kettle should make it flash about 50 times per minute.  Not an exact test because the kettle's rating may be approximate and the power it draws will depend on the local voltage, but near enough.
  

That said, the good news is that you'll probably have lower expenditure when you've understood how everything works and sorted it out, although being all electric will always be very expensive.

Start comparing with Citizens Advice and 'Which? Switch', entering your annual kWh usage derived from actual meter readings a year apart.   Just compare annual costs, always ignore all projections and savings claims.  Also have a look at the customer service ratings on Citizens Advice and the 'Add your feedback on energy supplier xxxx...' threads here on the forum: Symbio are cheap but might not be the best choice !

ChuggerChugger

Tallerdave said:

Even if you'd halved the consumption, you were still only paying half that amount, at the coldest time of the year.  The monthly billing is a no-brainer and will help you see what's happening.

It's still worth taking weekly readings (same day, same time) so you know precisely what you're using.

Yes I will certainly be doing this. Also, as I said in the OP, I have got a monitor coming tomorrow so that I can start experimenting with different appliances on and off.

MWT

ChuggerChugger said:

15/01/2021 - Normal: 92175 Night: 201546
29/03/2021 - Normal: 93522 Night: 204441

Are you sure that night reading shouldn't be 20154.6 & 20444.1 ?

Gerry1

Let's see those meter readings !

theoretica

The main issue seems to be in the night readings at about 40 kWh a night, so work through everything that is on at night and check readings daily as you experiment.    Check that the electricity really does switch between meters at the right time.

Are the night storage heaters definitely off at the wall, not just turned down to cold?

What happens if you go a night with the one heater you use turned off?

When is the water heater on?  Similarly try a night with it off.

niktheguru

Please send us pictures of your meters, and a picture of your fuseboard and the main fuses in the house (the black or white block that is attached via thick cables to the main meter. - This will help us to help you if you are reading the meters correctly, and if you have a single phase or dual phase supply.

How long do you have the immersion heater/boiler on?
Are your storage heaters actually night storage heaters or panel heaters? How long do you keep them on for?

ChuggerChugger

niktheguru said:

Please send us pictures of your meters, and a picture of your fuseboard and the main fuses in the house (the black or white block that is attached via thick cables to the main meter. - This will help us to help you if you are reading the meters correctly, and if you have a single phase or dual phase supply.

How long do you have the immersion heater/boiler on?
Are your storage heaters actually night storage heaters or panel heaters? How long do you keep them on for?

I have taken pics of the whole setup:

ChuggerChugger

MWT said:

ChuggerChugger said:

15/01/2021 - Normal: 92175 Night: 201546
29/03/2021 - Normal: 93522 Night: 204441

Are you sure that night reading shouldn't be 20154.6 & 20444.1 ?

Pics of meter readings are above. Here are tariff details:

ChuggerChugger

I watched this evening and the Meter switched from Day to Night rate at 1:00 am (presumably it is usually 12:00 but the clocks have gone forward).

Reed_Richards

It might be helpful if you posted a picture of your electricity meter so we can check that you are reading it correctly.