THTC 2 meter astronomical Electricity bills

thtcnightmare

I’ll try keep the story short….(oops, failed)
Brother moved into tiny 2 room flat in NE Scotland on February 1st this year. Flat has old storage wall heaters (2 in one room, 1 in hallway and convection wall heater in bedroom). He has 2 meters, one for THTC presumably wired up to hot water heater and storage heaters and the other for standard use - lights, appliances etc. From February to late April his electric bill was £657 and his second which we’ve just received is £829. Bear in mind he didn’t use radiators over Summer months. He has instructions to keep the water immersion on all the time (written above the switch). There is no timer for this. He was cold during the winter months despite having storage heaters on. The meter readings are correct on the bills, not estimates. I need to know if this is ridiculously excessive as I’ll need to take it further. The first bill was paid after a family whip-round. My brother is vulnerable with learning difficulties and on indefinite disability benefits but it pains me that he could end up in serious debt over this. Any advice appreciated.

Swipe

thtcnightmare said:

He has instructions to keep the water immersion on all the time (written above the switch). There is no timer for this. 

I think you've already identified his problem

Sea_Shell

"He has instructions to keep the water immersion on all the time (written above the switch). There is no timer for this"


IS there an on/off switch for this?.   Is he able to cope with remembering (setting a reminder) to switch it on/off manually?


This will be using a lot of power, if it's on constantly.

Does this hot water supply a shower, or does he have a separate electric shower?

MWT

Do you have his tariff details?

I appreciate that the meter readings are correct, but knowing what the tariff is would be helpful in determining where a saving might be made...

Similarly with the immersion heater on all the time it makes a huge difference if this is switched to run only when on the low rate or if it really is running 'all the time' ...

coffeehound

The immersion may be connected to the same circuit as the storage heaters so it is switched automatically.  

The original idea with THTC was that the storage heaters are switched on automatically according to the weather forecast.  Plus there should be an 'always on' circuit charged at the same, lower, unit cost for powering towel rails and other installed heating.  Then the other circuits are charged at the higher rate.

From many an unhappy poster on here though, it seems the costs have gone up so much that it offers little advantage over a single-rate tariff.

thtcnightmare

Thanks for responses. He is following the instructions on the switches, perhaps a legacy from the previous tenant, I’m not sure. There is a separate Boost switch for the hot water but this remains switched off. 

SSE Scottish Hydro
Standard THTC Evergreen Tariff
Heating control rate = 17.59p per kWh
standard unit rate = 21.76p
standing charge = 32.18p

coffeehound

I'll post a few previous thread links here.  Some THTC users have successfully transferred to other, cheaper, providers

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6237541/total-heating-total-control-thtc-all-electric-home-tariff-monopoly-by-sse

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6135000/any-thtc-advice-please

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5957327/sse-thtc-monopoly

thtcnightmare

It says Economy on the bottom switch

Fyne

thtcnightmare said:

Thanks for responses. He is following the instructions on the switches, perhaps a legacy from the previous tenant, I’m not sure. There is a separate Boost switch for the hot water but this remains switched off. 

SSE Scottish Hydro
Standard THTC Evergreen Tariff
Heating control rate = 17.59p per kWh
standard unit rate = 21.76p
standing charge = 32.18p

Try calling EDF Complex Meter Team on 0333 009 6980, I was SSE with THTC metering until they wanted to increase my rate by nearly 20% in July this year.

Make sure you are speaking with the Complex Meter Team as the lady I spoke with understood my meters and offered me more reasonable tariff than I was on with SSE.

I am on EDF's standard tariff and a singleheat tariff, it has just increased with the energy price cap increase.

Here are my rates form 1st October inclusive of VAT:

Standard Variable unit rate = 20.84p
Standard Variable - Singleheat unit rate = 13.65p
Daily standing charge = 27.40p

Good Luck.

Apbm42

This is excellent advice. I recently did exactly the same thing, living in NE Scotland with almost identical setup. I switched from SSE after they hiked my payments, switching to EDF energy. Fixed at around £130 pm for everything. Easy online 2 year fixed tariff and the standard variable.

My water thermostat is always on, we were told its efficient, we never use the booster.

Finally received credit from my old SSE account in the form of a cheque this week. Switched end of July...but still no statement or final bill, have been using Resolver to escalate complaints. I really do not understand why these companies treat customers so badly. With EDF I have no complaints so far.