EDF - petrified?

BooJewels

As a quick plausibility check, I used the numbers already given on page 1 for 56 days usage and the new post-April capped rate (for my area, yours may differ) and leaving the electric the same for the whole year, but dropping the gas for half the year, I came out with a very roughly estimated annual bill of £2398, which would be a monthly DD of £200.  I think that's a worst case scenario for you - I think you can get your gas usage down with the suggestions already made, at least.  And for what it's worth - I use a chunk more than that!

theoretica

RoseGold2021 said:

There are loads of radiators in the house, however 2 of the radiators I have turned off as the rooms are not in use. The rest of them I have turned down because with the new boiler, the house is too hot. 

You say repeatedly you are being frugal - but I think as others have said you are not being frugal in effective ways to save power use.  You want to stop the power use at the boiler.

1) turn down the flow temperature as far as you can for the radiators to still heat the house.  Mine is 55 over summer and 65 or 70 in a cold snap.

2) do you need the thermostat at 21?  can you set different temperatures at different times?

3) how long does the house stay warm after the heating has gone off?  You want it to be getting cold as you leave for the day, not the heating turning off then.

Your electricity use is not low either - do you have electrically heated showers?

You say you got the smart meter to make it easier to monitor energy use - use it for that!  I think there is an app where you can download your data rather than needing to check the device all the time.

EssexHebridean

I’d suggest you put in writing to EDF that the level they want to set your DD at would leave you in financial hardship and unable to pay other priority bills. I’d do that on email rather than in a live chat as it’s unlikely to flag the right alarm bells on a chat. I’d also raise a formal complaint that the agent you spoke with when you fixed misled you into believing this was the cheapest option for you if that was what was said. Aside for anything else allowing that you’d only use moved into the property at the time, what basis were they basing the calculation on? 

There’s some great advice been given here already. Only you know what level of warmth will be acceptable for you in your home, but it’s very likely you could turn down the thermostat a degree at least without noticing much. Think specifically about what you’re wearing when just sitting about indoors - you obviously don’t want to bundled up to uncomfortable levels  but small changes can be surprisingly effective - I find that a long sleeved t-shirt under a fairly thick hoodie works well for me. If currently wearing something like PJ bottoms when at home in the evenings, maybe change to either winter-weight leggings or sweatpants in a heavier jersey type fabric. And those fluffy socks that you see everywhere are really cosy - particularly if you also wear slippers when walking about. We use 20°c in the centre of the building as our base temperature (no thermostat here) knowing that the living room will likely be a degree lower than that. By keeping the bedroom door pulled-to that rooms stays a good 2-4 degrees below the baseline which is ideal for us. (We’re all on one level - but your upstairs rooms will benefit from heat escape from below of course). 

Curiousgirl1

Do you really need your heating on  until 10pm? Switching it off at 8 will make a huge difference. 

wild666

The smart meter should calculate the electric in kWh so no working out on that part of the bill but the gas will be in M3 meaning every unit used is between 10.96 and 11.39 kWh of gas. Take electric and gas readings at least every week and make a note of every reading, if no office software you can download Libre office of a similar free office software package, even if the company gets readings from your smart meter. Look at turning off appliances left in standby mode, one or two friends have tried my method of if it's not in use then turn it off at the socket and were amazed by how much the weekly electric usage lowered. 
With the huge rise in electric standing charges from around 25p to 48p or higher they SC is going up by around the price of nearly 1 kWh of electric or 4 kWh for gas.
If you have a combi boiler turn down the temperatures to 50 for hot water and 55 for the heating, it may take slightly longer to warm the place but it will save around £80 or more per year on the gas bill. Same with turning everything off that's not in use it could save you nearly £200 per year depending on how many appliances you turn off that are not in use. My usage dropped 50% this way down from 2400 kWh E to 1200 kWh.

wild666

RoseGold2021 said:

I should also add I have installed a new boiler as well, as the previous one was not efficient. However that has made no difference to my gas bill @ all. 

Turning the temperatures down to 50 for hot water and 55 for heating will see the heating bill lowered by around £80 per year and turning the thermostat on the heating down to between 18 to 21 degrees could see a similar saving.  

QrizB

wild666 said:

RoseGold2021 said:

I should also add I have installed a new boiler as well, as the previous one was not efficient. However that has made no difference to my gas bill @ all. 

Turning the temperatures down to 50 for hot water and 55 for heating will see the heating bill lowered by around £80 per year

That's quite an optimistic prediction. It might improve boiler efficiency by 3-4% but for that to result in an £80/yr saving would mean a gas bill of £2000/yr.

wild666

RoseGold2021 said:

BUFF said:

Looking at your figures provided earlier you are using ~ £250/month in electricity & gas at what should be the highest consumption time of the year. That is what I would be aiming to draw the line at for DD  - they may, however,  have something in their T&Cs that allow them to recover additional if your balance goes negative & to put you back into a credit situation.

 . . . I have looked @ my bills, and they are giving annual estimate figures. The previous owner was a family, and so naturally they would be using more energy. But as a single person, it does not seem fair that I have been walloped with the previous owners usage / estimate, and now having to pay for it. 

£250 seems excessive for a 2 bed mid terrace, which only accommodates me. Frugal with my energy usage, yet I am still given this hike!  

Is the loft adequately insulated? A lot of heat can be lost through the roof if there is insufficient insulation in the loft. Same with doors a draft excluder can save you pounds, if you make one yourself with tights and old clothing stuffed inside, and tied off at the end. 

BooJewels

@wild666 - I think there are several issues in play here.  Firstly, the OP may not be using the boiler etc. in the most efficient manner.  Secondly, her supplier is grossly over-estimating her use (possibly swayed by the previous occupant's use) and setting a monthly DD accordingly - all of which may be complicated by the previous occupant defaulting on a big debit and there being some dscrepancy as to where one batch of usage ended and the new occupier's began.

Even if the OP carried on using both fuels at the current rate and tariff (I don't know if SC and VAT were included in the only quoted figures) all year, which won't be the case, that would be a bit under £8/day so a monthly DD of 240 pounds would cover it - not the 429 they want her to pay.  I think that was the main thrust of her OP - their wanting her to significantly increase her monthly payments.   So there's more than one issue to address.

ETA:  She's also been put on an expensive fixed tarif which isn't helping.

Gerry1

BooJewels said:

Even if the OP carried on using both fuels at the current rate and tariff (I don't know if SC and VAT were included in the only quoted figures) all year, which won't be the case, that would be a bit under £8/day so a monthly DD of 240 pounds would cover it - not the 429 they want her to pay.  I think that was the main thrust of her OP - their wanting her to significantly increase her monthly payments.   So there's more than one issue to address.

The OP has said that she will be changing to Variable Direct Debit, so that will get rid of the stupidly high DDs as well as providing welcome feedback about usage.