Student

MWT

zathrasB5 said:

And we only clocked up 3800kwh last year. (Gas central heating and water though).  So we are wondering if Scottish Power is taking the mickey a bit here.  Either that or we are walking into one of the coldest and worst set up flats in the country for electric usage.

Typical dual fuel use is 2900kWh electric and 12,000kWh gas, so when using electric for heating it is going to take the consumption up a fair way.

Add in students with little concept of how it all works and a moderate excess is to be expected unfortunately.

Also if there are no storage heaters, Economy 7 is probably not going to be the best choice...

QrizB

9000kWh/yr might be what the previous resident(s) used (it's their usage that SP should be basing their estimates on). That dosn't mean that your son will have to use that much; he might be hardier than they were.

9000kWh/yr at the October capped single rate of 55p/kWh, plus standing charge, is very roughly £5100/yr.

BUFF

don't suppose that you have the EPC rating?

9000kWh of electricity @52p/kWh + sc should come in under £5k pa (shocking, I know) which would mean that he is paying ~£400 pm for his rent, which is cheap for Glasgow,  I would have thought £550+. Where is it exactly?

400ixl

Who's name is going to be on the account? If the landlord is asking which tariff then it sounds like they will be the account owner and as such they will get the £400. If that is the case you need to ensure that will be being passed on.

If it is the student who's name will be on the account then all is good, but they should be in direct contact with the supplier, not the landlord in that case.

Alnat1

Also, if the flat has an electric shower and an immersion for hot water, I'd be telling him to make sure the immersion is never used, is definitely turned off and simply boil a kettle to wash dishes etc.

Students only do the washing up when they run out of plates/mugs anyway 

brewerdave

Can be even worse in a shared house /flat - heard recently about a friend's daughter who was having terrible problems with an electric bill - turned out one of the sharers had a habit of leaving an electric heater on in her room - and then "absconded" without paying her share of the bill !!

QrizB

brewerdave said:

Can be even worse in a shared house /flat - heard recently about a friend's daughter who was having terrible problems with an electric bill - turned out one of the sharers had a habit of leaving an electric heater on in her room - and then "absconded" without paying her share of the bill !!

I has a similar problem when I was a student. Five of us in a shared house, splitting the bills equally, but when the winter bill was huge it turned out that one of the others (whose bedroom had previously been a living room) had a gas fire that he was switching on when he felt cold ...

zathrasB5

Thank you for all the feedback.  The £5K amount is a bit grim but better than what we original were told.  It will be my son (or more likely partly me - bank of mum and dad) picking up the tab.  The letting agency were simply asking if they wanted my son to remain on the existing tariff or would we arrange our own provider so we should at least get the £400.  
I am guilty of a little exaggeration.  The rent is actually £650 - but come April next year I think that will be less than the electric bill.  And if we were looking at fixed....  
Eco 7 is an interesting one.  Our idea was our son would be out most of the time studying at Uni (it does happen and as he is a mature student he will be more level headed than most)  so only need a little heating in the one room he uses in the evening.  Washing up would indeed be by kettle but we had the idea of the immersion heating coming on for say 6am to 8am when the Eco 7 finished and he would then have hot water in the morning to do all the washing up, shave etc.   But I have been trying to find out if anyone does actually do a rate which supports Eco 7.  I am beginning to think not.

Magnitio

I think there may be more students in the library and gym this year. Free heating and showers.

macman

Why would you set the immersion to come on after the end of the E7 hours? If you set it fo, say, 4am to 6am it will still be perfectly hot at 8am in a lagged tank.
Please don't let the LA have anything to do with supplier or tariff selection, they'll mess it up, invariably. Tell him to register with SP on day one and make his own choice.
If the flat has only an immersion heater and no NSH's and an electric shower, then it shouldn't be on E7 metering anyway. If it is, then probably cheaper to ask SP for a single rate tariff and to totalise the 2 registers. His only E7 hot water usage will be to wash up
How does a flat in Glasgow with single glazing even meet the EPC Grade D legal requirement for renting anyway? Have you seen the EPC?