Electricity bill 200 pounds

Troggers11

Hi all im new to this but Im wondering if anyone has advice on my electric bill. Me and my girlfriend live in a one bed flat which we moved in last month With storage heaters and a immersion boiler. It's also a old building. 

We are on economy 7 I've set the boiler to heat up 4 am to 7 am.

And turned one storage heater off and left 2 on with a input setting of 2 and 1 out we find this makes the flat just warm enough to not have to wrap up to much. We use the washing machine twice a week and use the tumble dryer at night once a week. All the windows are double glazed. Apart from that we have a computer and TV on in the evening and use the oven for about 40 min.

Are estimated annual bill is 2400 pounds which seems insane for how little we use.

Anyone got any ideas on why this is the case thank you. 

tim_p

What were the meter readings when you moved in and what are they now?

Troggers11

25852. For the night I think.
And 18271 for the day. It's a very old meter. Which is outside the flat. 

theoretica

Does the boiler need to heat for 3 hours?

Gerry1

Make sure the immersion heater only comes on during the cheap rate.  Any second immersion heater halfway up the tank is for emergency use only on the 24/7 supply and should be left switched off.

If the estimate is 12 times one month's usage then it won't be accurate because you use less in the summer.  If the NSH is a simple box of bricks, remember to turn down the output control when you go to bed and turn it up only when it gets chilly.

But the may problem may be that you are on an expensive tariff.  What are the day, night and standing charge rates, inc VAT?

Troggers11

Day unit rate

20.28p per kWh

Night unit rate

11.55p per kWh

Standing charge

23.48p per day

Assumed annual consumption

14712.00 kWh

I changed to bulb as soon as we moved in to be on a cheaper rate they quoted 47 pounds a month. Which has since gone up to 200 pounds. 

The storage heaters have been left to output 1 at all times and only set to 2 on input i did some research when I moved in as have never seen or heard of them before now haha. 

I found the water wasn't hot enough with anything less than 3 hours I have tried less time but the water seems like warm at best.

I'm normally Pretty good at working these things out but just can't understand how we are using 200 pounds worth a month with minimal things being used.

Also thanks for the help. 

Gerry1

Those rates are daylight robbery !  You'll never use 14,712kWh in a year, Ofgem's figures are Low 2,400, Medium 4,200 and High 7,100.

Start comparing with Citizens Advice and 'Which? Switch', guesstimating your annual kWh usage.  Just compare annual costs, always ignore all projections and savings claims: they aren't realistic because of Ofgem's daft rules.  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 !

Make sure you always send monthly meter readings.

tim_p

Troggers11 said:

25852. For the night I think.
And 18271 for the day. It's a very old meter. Which is outside the flat. 

So that’s when you moved in and what are they today or now?

cattom

would it not be easier and cheaper to leave immersion on all the time? that way provided the thermostat cuts in and out when it should, you are not heating 60 gallons of water from stone cold. also you got hot water all day.

Gerry1

cattom said:

would it not be easier and cheaper to leave immersion on all the time? that way provided the thermostat cuts in and out when it should, you are not heating 60 gallons of water from stone cold. also you got hot water all day.

No, for several reasons.  Firstly, it should on be on E7 cheap rate.  Secondly, it's a myth that DHW or HW costs less if you leave it on the whole time.

The loss from a well insulated tank is probably less than 2kWh per day (less than 25p on a good tariff) so there is only limited scope to save money for running it only for short periods.  The resultant lower temperature can reduce the bills but increase the risk of listeria.  If the water runs cool later in the day and has to be topped up at expensive daytime rates then shorter heating times can be counterproductive.

The OP also needs not to use any instantaneous electric showers which are very expensive, again because of daytime rates.

Troggers11

I'll just respond to a few comments in one here.

I'm working at the moment so will get the meter readings when home.

And with the immersion heater is 3 hours enough then or shall I run it longer as I would rather not get any risk of bacteria haha.

I've also put a jacket around the immersion heater to save on any heat loss.
I feel as if I'm doing all the correct things in the flat energy saving wise but the bill is still massive. I've been trying to get though to bulb but I'm not having much luck.