Is it worth moving house (renting) to save money on energy?

macman

HIU= Heat Interface Unit. Hot water is supplied from a central district boiler and then to a heat exchanger in each flat. The heat and hot water used can then be metered within each property, or unmetered via the service charge.

macman

ExpertMiser said:

pochase said:

Do you have an electricity account with a supplier or does your landlord supply you with the electricity. If it is the supplier it is very possible that he will not get the £400 if he is on a business deal and not a domestic account. The 38.2  is slightly more than the EPG of 35p, it could be due being to a business rates, them slightly slightly over charging or a 3p for administration per KWh.

I don't have an account with the actual supplier. I do have an account with the consultancy firm which manages the supply to the building, though.

It seems you are a single rate and not a E7 tariff, so you are heating cost is very expensive. Possible that your landlord's setup does not support E7.

The landlord's setup must not support E7 then, though that's not what I was led to believe. But checking my invoices it does show the same rate for day and night.

The £280 does matches the 777KWh you have used last months, I cannot see how you would have paid only £40 last year for the same usage, that would be 5p per KWh, excluding standing charge.

It may not have been 777, but it won't have been a massive difference. What I meant was that my habits haven't changed and so I've never had a significantly higher usage.

So what are the comparative unit rates and s/c's from last year to this year? The LL cannot resell electricity at a profit, and it's unlikely that their commercial tariff has increased by 700%.
Have you asked the LL about the availability of E7? If your bill shows separate usage for both day and night (albeit currently charged at the same rate), then your existing metering must support dual rate. Post a pic of the metering.
The water is also sub-metered?
Since the Ll canot resell the gas or electricity at a profit, I'm wondering why the building was wired with 188 sub-meters, and the cost of billing and administrating all this?
You will hopefully be entitled to some support from the scheme for non-domestic electricity account holders to be announced by the end of this month.

ExpertMiser

macman said:

So what are the comparative unit rates and s/c's from last year to this year?

Last years' unit rate was 16.16p. It's now 38.22p. I don't know what the standing charge rate is because they don't say on the invoice - just that it's proportional, but this month it was £31.20. For the same billing period last year it was £7.93.

Have you asked the LL about the availability of E7?The water is also sub-metered?

I haven't no, but I will. Yes, the water is also sub-metered. I used to pay my landlord a fixed fee of £15/month through my rent - as requested by the estate agents - but I'm now being invoiced for it (I immediately stopped paying it through my rent).

Since the Ll canot resell the gas or electricity at a profit, I'm wondering why the building was wired with 188 sub-meters, and the cost of billing and administrating all this?

I've no idea. I've always thought it was a weird set up and I've not heard of others who live in apartments and who aren't dealing directly with the supplier. I've never lived in apartments before so I didn't realise how different the set up was.

Scot_39

macman said:

Since the Ll canot resell the gas or electricity at a profit, I'm wondering why the building was wired with 188 sub-meters, and the cost of billing and administrating all this?

Simple reason - to stop 188 unrelated tennents arguing about the split of 1 communal bill.

One could be near freezing, another sitting at 25 degrees with the windows open 24/7, being subsidized by others.

MikeJXE

IMO you would be better to move to a dual energy flat, gas for heating is much cheaper plus

You would have received 

£150 council tax refund

£400 energy discount 

£300 winter fuel allowance if your a single pensioner 

I live alone and my water is £12 a month

All depends on difference in rent 

macman

Scot_39 said:

macman said:

Since the Ll canot resell the gas or electricity at a profit, I'm wondering why the building was wired with 188 sub-meters, and the cost of billing and administrating all this?

Simple reason - to stop 188 unrelated tennents arguing about the split of 1 communal bill.

One could be near freezing, another sitting at 25 degrees with the windows open 24/7, being subsidized by others.

I wasn't querying why the apartments were individually metered, but why sub-metered? Why not just put in a credit meter for each apartment on a residential account, and let the tenants deal with heir own supply and billing? 

macman

ExpertMiser said:

macman said:

So what are the comparative unit rates and s/c's from last year to this year?

Last years' unit rate was 16.16p. It's now 38.22p. I don't know what the standing charge rate is because they don't say on the invoice - just that it's proportional, but this month it was £31.20. For the same billing period last year it was £7.93.

Have you asked the LL about the availability of E7?The water is also sub-metered?

I haven't no, but I will. Yes, the water is also sub-metered. I used to pay my landlord a fixed fee of £15/month through my rent - as requested by the estate agents - but I'm now being invoiced for it (I immediately stopped paying it through my rent).

Since the Ll canot resell the gas or electricity at a profit, I'm wondering why the building was wired with 188 sub-meters, and the cost of billing and administrating all this?

I've no idea. I've always thought it was a weird set up and I've not heard of others who live in apartments and who aren't dealing directly with the supplier. I've never lived in apartments before so I didn't realise how different the set up was.

So your u/c has gone up by about 236%, (broadly in line with the EPG) but your bill for the same month has gone up by 700%. That can only mean that you are using a lot more energy., despite what you say about reducing usage. The s/c is the total charge for the month divided by the days in the month, so about a pound. It used to be 25p, so 400% more. 

FreeBear

macman said:

Scot_39 said:

macman said:

Since the Ll canot resell the gas or electricity at a profit, I'm wondering why the building was wired with 188 sub-meters, and the cost of billing and administrating all this?

Simple reason - to stop 188 unrelated tennents arguing about the split of 1 communal bill.

One could be near freezing, another sitting at 25 degrees with the windows open 24/7, being subsidized by others.

I wasn't querying why the apartments were individually metered, but why sub-metered? Why not just put in a credit meter for each apartment on a residential account, and let the tenants deal with heir own supply and billing? 

I suspect cost. 188 sub-meters at ~£100 each, or ~£500 each for a DNO to come in and fit the same.

Scot_39

macman said:

Scot_39 said:

macman said:

Since the Ll canot resell the gas or electricity at a profit, I'm wondering why the building was wired with 188 sub-meters, and the cost of billing and administrating all this?

Simple reason - to stop 188 unrelated tennents arguing about the split of 1 communal bill.

One could be near freezing, another sitting at 25 degrees with the windows open 24/7, being subsidized by others.

I wasn't querying why the apartments were individually metered, but why sub-metered? Why not just put in a credit meter for each apartment on a residential account, and let the tenants deal with heir own supply and billing? 

Sorry.

Good point.

But wouldnt that potentially make  management team  liable to legally take over every contract every time a property was vacant - e.g. to pay SC ?

Which could be an admin nuisance as well.

I know some LHAs have similar setups for flats with communal heat systems - each flat has its own metered hiu.

macman

Scot_39 said:

macman said:

Scot_39 said:

macman said:

Since the Ll canot resell the gas or electricity at a profit, I'm wondering why the building was wired with 188 sub-meters, and the cost of billing and administrating all this?

Simple reason - to stop 188 unrelated tennents arguing about the split of 1 communal bill.

One could be near freezing, another sitting at 25 degrees with the windows open 24/7, being subsidized by others.

I wasn't querying why the apartments were individually metered, but why sub-metered? Why not just put in a credit meter for each apartment on a residential account, and let the tenants deal with heir own supply and billing? 

Sorry.

Good point.

But wouldnt that potentially make  management team  liable to legally take over every contract every time a property was vacant - e.g. to pay SC ?

Which could be an admin nuisance as well.

I know some LHAs have similar setups for flats with communal heat systems - each flat has its own metered hiu.

I would assume that the LL would be liable for the s/c on the sub meter in a vacant flay anyway, just as they would on a normal residential credit meter.