Advice on British Gas electricity bills

Gerry1

Several problems arise.  There's a fair amount of bill shock because meter reads generally haven't been given: when there are actual readings they are much higher than the estimates.  So always send monthly readings.

11,408 kWh used in the 170 days from 11 Jan to 30 Jun.  That's roughly equivalent to 24,494 kWh annually, assuming that it's a fairly even split between winter and summer, so it's quite high energy consumption which will be even more expensive because it's all electricity.

Do your kWh rates include VAT?  It's not a very competitive tariff compared to domestic rates, especially if 20% VAT is extra.  As it's separately metered, does it have to be a business tariff for the farmhouse, or could it legitimately be changed to a domestic tariff with 5% VAT?  Perhaps others can advise.

There's no point being on Economy 7 and using oil-filled radiators.  Switch to the cheapest single rate you can find (doesn't need a meter change, many suppliers will bill both registers at the same rate).

If there's no way of getting mains gas, switch to oil or consider installing a heat pump and claiming back much of the capital costs via the Renewable Heat Initiative, but only if they will be staying there for seven years.

niktheguru

As gerry1 has said, seems that the calculations and usage are correct, they’ve been using more electricity this year and made the cardinal mistake of not giving regular readings so a part of it is a catch-up from low estimates previously.

definitely look at changing tariff. Given your high usage it might be worth trying octopus as you can go on their octopus go or go faster tariff with peak rates being between 14.9 and 16p/kWh and a 4hr off peak rate at 5p/kWh per day, but you’ll need a smart meter.

alternatively can go with one fo the smaller companies from the price comparisons like symbio and pfp, but customer services aren’t great and symbio will overestimate usage, however they are very cheap, but have a read of the symbio thread first as it’s not for everyone.

definitely move from British Gas, they are hideously expensive for electricity.

QrizB

I agree with Gerry and nik. Electric heating is expensive, your parents are on an uncompetitive tariff which makes it more expensive, and using oil-filled heaters when you've got a tariff intended for storage heaters is just making it worse!

Have they always heated their house this way, or did they once have storage heaters / oil-fired boiler / a wood stove?

SHJL

Thanks very much to you all for your advice-I really appreciate you taking the time to reply. I'll help my parents to make the changes you've suggested and will sort out the way they heat the house. Thanks again!

[Deleted User]

Hi,

why are they on a business rate for the farmhouse house, can it be changed?

jbuchanangb

Many challenges here, but the first and biggest will be to get the house supply redefined as a residential supply. Start working on that straightaway, because util that is done, none of the advice about switching suppliers for a domestic supply is applicable. The process for changing suppliers for a business supply is quite different.

There is no guarantee that because they have a two rate meter that they are on an Economy 7 Tariff. The name of the tariff should appear somewhere on the bill. In the past I was involved in the energy billing at a business premises which had a two rate meter, and the time was divided night/day in equal 12-hour slots. I never could find out why.

While working on that, serious consideration to changing the heating to a ground source heat pump if they have enough land not far from the house. My daughter and her husband live in a farm house with a good bit of land, which they bought a couple of years ago. Heating was by LPG fired boiler. They took advantage of the government Renewable Heat Initiative to have a GSHP system installed, which did involve digging up a field, and upgrading the electricity supply to 3-phase. They also needed change of hot water tank, and larger radiators. Customer has to pay the costs upfront, and the government repay it all in full in instalments over 7 years.

If that is not an option, making more sensible use of the electricity supply for heating is essential.

Gerry1

jbuchanangb said:

There is no guarantee that because they have a two rate meter that they are on an Economy 7 Tariff. The name of the tariff should appear somewhere on the bill.

Looks like it is E7 or something similar because the OP has provided the Day and Night rates and they are different.

SHJL

@jbuchanangb thanks for the GSHP system suggestion, it sounds good. It's definitely an E7, I've just discovered.