Combined Energy Over £4500 per year

Julie18070

I had a look at the forums i have an issue with my energy bills they seem crazy high obviously the unfair daily standing charges are part of the problem. But does anyone else have an issue that their combined usage is over £4500? We are a 4 bed 5 person household 2 adults, 15 year old, 12 year old and 3 year old. We are largely out of the house in the day time. I have checked that the meter is accurate, all be it the smart meter isn't working. Since having a smart meter installed 2 years ago after pressure from my supplier the bills are crazy high. Has anyone else experienced this and is there anything I can do. 

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

It's quite possible but without far more information it's hard to tell.  What's the heating, what's the tariff and how many kWh annually do you use?  Are the readings estimated or actual?

Everyone's bills are crazy high now because of the energy crisis.

Robin9

Is this just electric or electric and gas ?

With daily (elec) standing charge under £200 its insignificant in the £4500 total.

Please look back 12 months at your bill -  what was the reading  then?  (As it was Smart there will be a letter S or Our Read against it)   What is the reading today ?  Take care and watch for the decimal point; take more care if it has a small key pad where you press 9 or 6

dunstonh

I had a look at the forums i have an issue with my energy bills they seem crazy high obviously the unfair daily standing charges are part of the problem.

Why is the standing charge unfair?      What reason do you think you should pay something different to your neighbours?

But does anyone else have an issue that their combined usage is over £4500? 

I'm about £2,700 on oil and £3,264 on electric and around £600 on wood.   But no issues here.

 I have checked that the meter is accurate, all be it the smart meter isn't working.

The smart meter would be working if it is accurate.    Are you referring to the IHD rather than the smart meter?

 Since having a smart meter installed 2 years ago after pressure from my supplier the bills are crazy high. Has anyone else experienced this and is there anything I can do. 

The key is knowledge.   Once you understand you use then it gets really easy.      You haven't given us much to go on.
Firstly, break down you use between gas/oil and electric.  Tell us the annual use in kWh (or unit counts)
Then tell us what items you have that you feel are heavy users and what they use?  (I suspect you won't know at this stage what they use - we have answers for that one)
Typical heavy users on electric are:
1) oven and hob
2) dishwasher used on high temp (not eco)
3) tumbledryer
4) electric showers (that heat the water - not those that pump it).
5) fish tanks
6) gaming PC/consoles
7) halogen spots (usually due to quantity on at the same time)

is your electric single rate or multi-rate (e.g. economy 7)?
What is your tariff costs and what region?

matelodave

As said above, you need to have some idea of what is using it - halogen lights left on, wasteful use of hot water, heating controls badly set, heaters in kids bedrooms plus washing machine, dryer, dishwasher etc. Teenagers are notorious for using energy especially girls who seem to spend hours in the bathroom using vast quantities of hot water and boys using games consoles.

You need to do an energy audit to find out what is using it, when its using it and how much its using. I'm guessing if you've got a smart meter then even if it isn't send data back to your supplier you've still got the IHD which can give you quite a bit of actual and historical data. Mine was dumb for several years but the IHD still worked OK.

you could try this site to see if your meter is actually sending data to the DCC even if your supplier isn't using it. If so an app like Bright can help you suck data from it. - https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

I trust that you are actually reading your meter at least monthly, sending the info back to your supplier and checking that your bills are accurate and based on actual readings and not random guesses.

Instead of having apoplexy at your bills, do some sleuthing, gather some records or start producing some so you can  monitor it properly you'll be able to see how to reduce it. Start by reading the meters daily for a few weeks to see what is going on - set up a spreadsheet. Make sure stuff is turned off when not in use and you should see a reduction in your daily consumption.

You are now going into the heating season, so make sure that heating controls are tweaked properly

Qyburn

Julie18070 said:

... Since having a smart meter installed 2 years ago after pressure from my supplier the bills are crazy high. 

Is it the cost thats risen, or the consumption? Its not impossible there's something up with thecmeter configuration, for example a day/night mix up if you're on Economy 7.

QrizB

Qyburn said:

Julie18070 said:

... Since having a smart meter installed 2 years ago after pressure from my supplier the bills are crazy high. 

Is it the cost thats risen, or the consumption?

Let's not forget that energy prices have doubled over the past two years. Fitting a smart meter might just be coincidence.

debitcardmayhem

What makes you think the smart meter is not working?