HELP!! Trying to sort my elderly mums electricity bill

QrizB

Glad to have helped you so far.

janejsb said:

She has a calor gas heater for heating. She uses an electric blanket at night when it is cold. She does have an electric convector heater which she uses when the gas goes & has to wait a couple of days for my husband to go round to change it. She uses an immersion heater for hot water & she says she uses it for about an hour each day but she might be wrong there!

Calor gas in 15kg bottles (or smaller) can work out more expensive than mains electricity as a source of heat. Do check the price you are paying; a kg of gas contains about 13kWh.

Electric blankets are low powered and very cost-effective.

The immersion will typically be rated at 3kW, so will use 3kWh per hour, but should have a thermostat that shuts it off automatically once the tank is hot.

janejsb said:

We have worked out from June last year to June this year she was away for 4 months staying with my brother & my sister at their properties so I imagine electricity consumption in the flat would be low during that period.

Were these summer months or winter ones? Most people use less electricity in the summer, so being away from May to August won't save as much as being away from November to February would.

janejsb said:

I have compared my electricity consumption (4 adults in a 3 bed semi) to hers over the last year & she has used about 1200 more units than me! I keep wracking my brains what it can be but I think we will have to accept that she has used this amount & pay the outstanding bill. At least I am now in the picture that the smart meter has never worked since OVO took over the account & I will be watching her meter & bills like a hawk!!!

I can't point to a smoking gun but agree that regular future meter readings will let you and your mum know what's going on and you shouldn't get any more unpleasant surprises.

I hope it all works out and please come back to the forum if you have any more questions!

Robin9

I also think that the consumption is correct and to be expected.

My concern would be the use of Calor bottles  and the condensation it can cause.

Assuming Gas is not an option is it not possible to instal perhaps a single storage rad and go onto E7?

Jonboy_1984

Does the hot water tank have one or two cables running to it? (I am wondering if it has an off peak immersion that has been left switched on?)

janejsb

Awww thank you all for your advice & comments, so nice people are concerned for my mum! Off peak was taken out years ago by the previous occupant. There’s no gas to the property so she uses the calor gas heating, mainly because the electric panel heater in the room is not very effective. I think we have got to accept what the usage is, is correct & draw a line underneath it. Will be interesting once the meter is changed & now I’m fully aware of the situation, that I can keep an eye on it & just hope the replacement meter actually works as a smart meter! 

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read my posts!

doodling

Hi,

Assuming that she is using one of those electric fires with a 15kg butane bottle in the back then:

15kg of butane is 207kWh and appears to cost around £50.  This is 24.2p per kWh.  Electricity should be costing around 30p per kWh.

The calor gas is cheaper and would need to cost £62.10 a refill before it became more expensive than electricity.

Alternatively, you could spend a little bit of money on a more powerful electric heater and give your Mum £10 at the same frequency as your husband currently changes the bottle.  This would have the benefit of being safer and reducing the dampness in her home (LPG heaters basically make CO2 and water when they give off heat).  Obviously a lot depends on your ability and desire to support your Mum in this way - the Calor heater might be the best thing taking into account all your circumstances and does have the advantage that it works in a power cut.

KxMx

Tbh being on the Priority Services Register doesn't seem to do much at all, British Gas added me when I took over a property supplied by them, but never asked what support I actually needed. 

Switched 8 months later to Octopus, again on PSR, now struggling to get a problem with the gas smart meter fixed.

Others may have better experiences than me *shrug*