Electricity bill 200 pounds

Troggers11

Tallerdave said:

Troggers11 said:

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Bulb is the cheapest rate I've already done the research when I moved in maybe its due to location but I used every comparison site and found bulb to be the cheapest tariff.

 

That cannot be true. You would even be better off on a non-E7 single rate than what you're paying, so it's highly likely that cheaper E7 options are available. 

Did you select the "show me everything,  not just suppliers you get backhanders from" option on all the comparison sites you used?

Tallerdave said:

Troggers11 said:

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Bulb is the cheapest rate I've already done the research when I moved in maybe its due to location but I used every comparison site and found bulb to be the cheapest tariff.

 

That cannot be true. You would even be better off on a non-E7 single rate than what you're paying, so it's highly likely that cheaper E7 options are available. 

Did you select the "show me everything,  not just suppliers you get backhanders from" option on all the comparison sites you used?

Hi yes I did I've looked at nearly every comparison website and the smaller company's octopus energy ect was still more expensive and the smaller company's were 13 p at night 21 at day. 

I'm not trying to insult anyone but have they looked at economy 7 tariffs for the South West they are all more expensive than bulb i really couldn't find cheaper without looking at some very dodgy company's. 

Troggers11

bagand96 said:

Agree with others, it's worth a sense check that the meters are correct, the meters have serial numbers on, check that corresponds with your bill.  On the information you've given from the opening readings in March and the readings yesterday....

Rate 1   18271 -> 18498 = 227 kWh  @ 11.55p = £26.22  
Rate 2   25852 -> 26203 = 351 kWh @ 20.28p = £71.18  

That gives a total use of £97.40.  Add on standing charges (around another £16 depending when in March you moved in).   So on those numbers you're using nowhere near £200 a month currently, nearer £50.

I think the posters above may have it in that Bulb have made an estimated annual use that is wildly out, either by some sort of error, or they're working to very different readings to what you've shared here. Check that the readings tally with the Bulb bills, if they do then get in touch and ask them to revise their estimated use and monthly DD.

Hey

Thanks for the info and the breakdown of energy rates into cost. I did think something was really out due to us not using a lot of energy most of the time we are working.

It must be a error somewhere I will get someone with more knowledge then me to check the meter and make sure it's the correct one for the flat.

Hopefully my bill we go down soon. 

Gerry1

Troggers11 said:

Bulb is the cheapest rate I've already done the research when I moved in maybe its due to location but I used every comparison site and found bulb to be the cheapest tariff.

As suggested in Post 7, have you compared with Citizens Advice and 'Which? Switch'?

Unless you are very clued up, the commercial sites will steer you towards expensive suppliers that pay a kickback.  If you're not sure, try 4200kWh annually, 42% at night (2436kWh day, 1764kWh night) and see who is cheapest (probably Symbio but best avoided because of likely aggro).  But look at the kWh rates, you'll easily be able to beat Bulb.

Gerry1

Troggers11 said:

It must be a error somewhere I will get someone with more knowledge then me to check the meter and make sure it's the correct one for the flat.

It's very easy do do it yourself, and you'll get a far better understanding.

Switch absolutely everything on including all the high power items such as the oven, hotplate, kettle, iron, tumble dryer etc.  Look at the red lights on the meter and you should see one marked 1000 Imp/kWh that's flashing crazily.  Then phone your GF and ask her to switch everything off at the consumer unit.  The light should stop flashing completely.  If that's not the case, repeat the test looking at other meters until you find the one that matches up.  Take a photo of the meter's serial number and make sure it appears on the bill.

After 1000 Impulses (flashes) you've used 1 kWh so so it's easy to work out how much you are using at any moment.

There's no golden rule that Rate 1 is Day and Rate 2 is Night or vice versa, so that needs to be checked against the bill.  Many meters default to showing the rate that's currently in use, so if you check it at noon and it shows R2 then that may give a clue.  The acid test is to turn everything on in the middle of the day and see which register increments.

Gerry1

Reed_Richards said:

Gerry1 said:
That's at the tap, not in the tank.

Do you personally have Thermostatic Mixing Valves on all your hot water outlets?  Most domestic plumbing only uses TMVs on the showers and not all showers have those.   

• Hot water should be distributed at 50°C or higher (thermostatic mixer valves need to be fitted as close as possible to outlets, where a scald risk is identified).

is a recommendation for institutions or commercial buildings, surely?  In domestic plumbing you either distribute hot water at the temperature it is in the tank or, if your are fortunate, you have a TMV on the tank outlet. 

Best ask the HSE if you think Legionella comes in commercial and domestic flavours and never the twain shall meet; don't be so keen to shoot the messenger, I didn't write their document.

QrizB

Troggers11 said:

I'm not trying to insult anyone but have they looked at economy 7 tariffs for the South West they are all more expensive than bulb i really couldn't find cheaper without looking at some very dodgy company's. 

I've just run a comparison at Which Switch for a relative's address in west Cornwall (can't get much more South West than that) using Gerry1's suggested 4200kWh/yr and 42% switch.

Bulb Vari-Fair (your tariff?) - 20.276p/kWh day, 11.550p/kWh night, 23.478p/day SC, £783/yr

There were 18 cheaper tariffs on offer, including:

PFP Energy Green Variable s2 - 13.157p/kWh day, 10.374p/kWh night, 20.179p/day SC, £557/yr (cheapest tariff)

Neon Reef Marine v2 - - 12.849p/kWh day, 12.849p/kWh night, 25.436p/day SC, £632/yr (single rate tariff, supplier has fans on MSE forum)

Are you certain you aren't elegible for either of these?

Reed_Richards

Gerry1 said:
Best ask the HSE if you think Legionella comes in commercial and domestic flavours and never the twain shall meet; don't be so keen to shoot the messenger, I didn't write their document.

I think it is really unfair on the OP to cite HSE recommendations aimed at social care institutions as if they were gospel for what you should do at home.  If you really care, have a read of this short Canadian paper https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2094925/ .  This makes very clear the conflict between preventing Legionella and preventing scalding and the difference between what you should do in a home and what you should do in larger buildings with more complex water distribution systems.

NewLeaf1986

Troggers11 said:

Robin9 said:

Can we just double check what you did when you moved in please ?
You read the meters and gave details to the existing supplier ?    Who was that supplier ?
You then contacted Bulb and in due course they asked you for meter readings ?  What estimate of annual consumption did you give Bulb?

As Frugal has said we are talking ESTIMATES    Accurate bills need regular and accurate readings

When I contacted bulb I did not have any previous readings to give so just picked the one bed flat option for power consumption and they would have estimated it from that

But did you have opening meter reads to give Bulb? Normally they ask for the current reading on or around the day they take over the supply? Or an opening read for the day the account changed in to your name?

Are we saying that your landlady changed to Bulb, in her name, and then you put the bulb account in your name? At this point, Bulb should have asked you for an opening read to produce an accurate final bill for the landlady and to be able to bill you accurately.

Without an accurate opening read they'll never be able to bill you accurately. 

Troggers11

QrizB said:

Troggers11 said:

I'm not trying to insult anyone but have they looked at economy 7 tariffs for the South West they are all more expensive than bulb i really couldn't find cheaper without looking at some very dodgy company's. 

I've just run a comparison at Which Switch for a relative's address in west Cornwall (can't get much more South West than that) using Gerry1's suggested 4200kWh/yr and 42% switch.

Bulb Vari-Fair (your tariff?) - 20.276p/kWh day, 11.550p/kWh night, 23.478p/day SC, £783/yr

There were 18 cheaper tariffs on offer, including:

PFP Energy Green Variable s2 - 13.157p/kWh day, 10.374p/kWh night, 20.179p/day SC, £557/yr (cheapest tariff)

Neon Reef Marine v2 - - 12.849p/kWh day, 12.849p/kWh night, 25.436p/day SC, £632/yr (single rate tariff, supplier has fans on MSE forum)

Are you certain you aren't elegible for either of these?

You are correct as someone mentioned it wasn't showing those smaller companies so my own damm fault for missing it.

Bulb is the cheapest of the bigger companies I'll look into better tariff now.

Troggers11

Just to give everyone a update thank you all for the advice.

I've got on the phone to bulb who are going to install the second generation of smart meters in for me and change out the old meter which was last serviced in 2014 apparently.

I'm gonna stick with bulb for a little bit and see if we can get the bill down as it seems like we aren't using a great deal of energy which is why I was so shocked by the estimate.

From what I was told from the land lady the last person had all 3 storage heaters on all the time and on a high input level so not surprised about the high estimated costs.

I'll keep the immersion heater set to 3 hours every morning unless someone can tell me for definite that it should be on longer.

And hopefully when I buy my own house I won't have to deal with outdated technology's like storage heaters and can just rip it out and put a heat pump in.

Anyhow I will update this when I get the next bill hopefully it's much much cheaper.

Thanks everyone