My garage is billed separate to my house is there anything I can do?

sonypc100

Hi all

My house was built in the 1700 and what is now my garage was once the stable block which is detached from the house but still in very close vicinity. 

The electric bill for my house reads like this (example)


1 London Road 
London
NW1 1AA

My garage which is opposite my house but not attached to my house gets it’s own electric bill and it reads like this 

1 London Road (Garage)
London
NW1 1AA


So it’s the same address but the garage bill has the word (garage) in brackets on it. 

Logistically I do not think it will ever be possible to supply my garage feed from my house, so the garage will always have its own feed and currently has its own MPAN etc. 

Would there be anyway to try remove the second account and standing charge and merge the 2? My garage is just a normal domestic garage with a fridge/freezer and light bulb etc and now that the standing charge is really high it’s costing a lot for sparse usage. 

Thanks 

Netexporter

Can you put solar panels on the garage. The SEGs would probably at least pay the ongoing daily charge. Alternatively, solar panels with a hybrid inverter could take the garage off-grid, so you could have the supply disconnected.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

how far apart?

Scot_39

AFAIK - if it has it's own metered supply / MPAN - it's very unlikely you will escape the SC.  But you could ask.

Common Supply Costs

Have you looked at costs - that's assuming you got freeholders permission - to dig trenches across driveway etc to truly common the supply (not sure you'd be allowed anything else - my ex-boss had to dig a trench 2 years ago to his annex c 30m - across just his own garden - done at the same time as went 3 phase and ASHP in both - so a trivial part of his total spend).  

But at £200+ per year SC - that might not be as unviable as you might think - 10 years would give you £2000+ to spend at current rates in some regions.

But pretty soon - once the EV charging starts (you did talk of getting an EV iirc in an earlier post) - the SC is likely to be covered by the savings on a decent EV tariff on that supply versus public charging - within just say 2-3 kWh.  Barely enough to cover 10miles in most EVs iirc

Combined current limits

A standard single phase supplied property in UK will generally support wall chargers upto to 7.4 kW max for a standard EV socket - needing a 32A feed. Add say a 9.5kW electric shower (43A) and 10kW - so say 5kW max input (22A) ASHP on top of that could push many a single phase supply to it's limit.

As these typically range in the 60A to 100A range in UK these days (apparently historically some went as low as 25A) - so you might want to check out that garage feed carefully anyway - before charger installation (as some homes only have only been able to get lower 3.6kW EV chargers (16A) fitted.

Home Penalty on EV tariff if Common

And with the supply separate - you can have the home tariff selected - without the cost penalty it might face with some - if supply were to be common on a good deal for your EV (think E7 day rates vs E7 / EV night rate see saw balance) - encountering with many - a corresponding peak hour penalty rate versus normal day time rate.

For instance octopus intelligent go charges a very low 7.5p nightly cf many - but also a 29.78p day in my region - but that day rate is now 3.02p/kWh more than the equivalent 26.76p SR - you may not use 17-18 kWh plus needed to balance SC - but you might easily use half that during the peak rate period.

For c54p ave a day you get the flexibility to optimise both supply deals according to usage - so it's probably not as bad an idea as you might think - although I agree the SC is annoying.

I had 2 MPANs and 2 SC for a long time on my old RTS metering for an all electric home (although think one might have gone to zero p charge for the last year or so - before it was forcibly upgraded to E10) - so know the pain - before the recent near doubling in SC's. 

But I couldnt get the low HW and heat rate without it - and as with anything - it's better to think of the big picture - the total price - for in your case current usage - and near future plans - across your total bill exposure.

ArbitraryRandom

Standing charge isn't based on the number of accounts - it's based on the number of supplies.

That's why some people with complex heating arrangements have two electricity meters in the same house and have to pay two lots of standing charge.  

If you can't have the garage fed from the home supply then I can't see how you would avoid paying the standing charge... only thought would be if the usage is minimal switching that account to a 0 standing charge tariff (where the unit rates are higher, but you'd save overall). 

sonypc100

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

how far apart?

From the corner of my house say 30m

sonypc100

Scot_39 said:

AFAIK - if it has it's own metered supply / MPAN - it's very unlikely you will escape the SC.  But you could ask.

Common Supply Costs

Have you looked at costs - that's assuming you got freeholders permission - to dig trenches across driveway etc to truly common the supply (not sure you'd be allowed anything else - my ex-boss had to dig a trench 2 years ago to his annex c 30m - across just his own garden - done at the same time as went 3 phase and ASHP in both - so a trivial part of his total spend).  

But at £200+ per year SC - that might not be as unviable as you might think - 10 years would give you £2000+ to spend at current rates in some regions.

But pretty soon - once the EV charging starts (you did talk of getting an EV iirc in an earlier post) - the SC is likely to be covered by the savings on a decent EV tariff on that supply versus public charging - within just say 2-3 kWh.  Barely enough to cover 10miles in most EVs iirc

Combined current limits

A standard single phase supplied property in UK will generally support wall chargers upto to 7.4 kW max for a standard EV socket - needing a 32A feed. Add say a 9.5kW electric shower (43A) and 10kW - so say 5kW max input (22A) ASHP on top of that could push many a single phase supply to it's limit.

As these typically range in the 60A to 100A range in UK these days (apparently historically some went as low as 25A) - so you might want to check out that garage feed carefully anyway - before charger installation (as some homes only have only been able to get lower 3.6kW EV chargers (16A) fitted.

Home Penalty on EV tariff if Common

And with the supply separate - you can have the home tariff selected - without the cost penalty it might face with some - if supply were to be common on a good deal for your EV (think E7 day rates vs E7 / EV night rate see saw balance) - encountering with many - a corresponding peak hour penalty rate versus normal day time rate.

For instance octopus intelligent go charges a very low 7.5p nightly cf many - but also a 29.78p day in my region - but that day rate is now 3.02p/kWh more than the equivalent 26.76p SR - you may not use 17-18 kWh plus needed to balance SC - but you might easily use half that during the peak rate period.

For c54p ave a day you get the flexibility to optimise both supply deals according to usage - so it's probably not as bad an idea as you might think - although I agree the SC is annoying.

I had 2 MPANs and 2 SC for a long time on my old RTS metering for an all electric home (although think one might have gone to zero p charge for the last year or so - before it was forcibly upgraded to E10) - so know the pain - before the recent near doubling in SC's. 

But I couldnt get the low HW and heat rate without it - and as with anything - it's better to think of the big picture - the total price - for in your case current usage - and near future plans - across your total bill exposure.

Thanks - food for thought.  

It’s not even a case of digging channels it’s much more complex, it’s just not going to happen. 

I’ll do as you say and at least ask the question

yes there is an ev involved but at the moment I am charging less at home and more on the road as work away a lot. 

Currently my household supplier isn’t octopus, while the garage is, I think as a first step I will change my household supply to octopus as well then at least when I call them can see both bills on their system, it’s unlikely to help but might just make things clearer for them I guess. 

sonypc100

ArbitraryRandom said:

Standing charge isn't based on the number of accounts - it's based on the number of supplies.

That's why some people with complex heating arrangements have two electricity meters in the same house and have to pay two lots of standing charge.  

If you can't have the garage fed from the home supply then I can't see how you would avoid paying the standing charge... only thought would be if the usage is minimal switching that account to a 0 standing charge tariff (where the unit rates are higher, but you'd save overall). 

Thanks, never knew that! I guess if people have 2 in the same dwelling then in this instance there is very little chance of me succeeding 

ArbitraryRandom

I believe E.ON, Ebico and Utilita are the three companies who offer 0 standing charge tariffs - so you might want to contact them to ask about switching and if it would save you money. 

It would be important to ONLY switch the garage meter, as the higher unit rate would mean you wouldn't want to switch your home meter. 

Scot_39

Even the current ff and lighting likely to use say near or more if old large unit - 1kWh per day.

So utilita for instance would be recovering 1/2 the SC - and leave OP without options e.g. of a good EV tariff.