First bill in new flat very expensive - help!

moominvalley

Hi all,

At the start of the month I moved into a new 2 bedroom flat supplied by Ovo. The flat has 3 storage heaters (though one of these doesn't work!) and 1 convection heater. Since moving into my flat I have spent two weeks away with both the input and outputs for the storage heaters turned down to the minimum. When using the flat I have only used the energy normally e.g. washing machine and tumble dryer once a week.

I submitted my meter readings a couple of days ago and my bill is almost £200, which I'm completely baffled about due to my (lack of) usage and bills in previous properties - this is almost twice as much as I paid last February in a 2 bedroom terraced house which I shared with another person (as opposed to now where I live on my own). From inspecting my bill and readings, the majority of the bill comes from the 600kWh off-peak consumption between my reading at the start of the month and the reading I took on Saturday. I'm really confused as to how I have used 600kWh between the hours of 00:30 and 07:30 (my off-peak hours according to the meter). I suspect this may be something to do with the storage heaters but I don't know for sure.

In my boiler cupboard there are two switches - one for peak and one for off-peak. I'm not sure if this is also something that may be contributing towards the bill?


Any help is much appreciated!

DullGreyGuy

How is your hot water provided?

marcia_

 Is that boiler supply plug your hot water? 

 If so it's probably been on constantly costing you a small Fortune 

PeterGr

Storage heaters are likely to be main use.  Quick calculation 300kWh/30days = 10kWh per day, over 7 hours = average of 1.4 kW.  You might find a label with the rating of your heaters, but likely to be more than this.

Normal use of your water heater would be to use off-peak every day, and boost with peak for a short period when necessary.  If thermostats are effective then they should limit consumption when there is little demand.  

If going away I'd switch off 2 or the 3 heaters, and the water heaters.

BattyJ

When I moved into my last house before it was renovated it had storage heaters and a boiler to heat the water that was just electric powered. If you have storage heaters it looks like your water is also heated electrically.

My electric bill was crazy with that set up, and that was pre the huge price increases and prices we have now. You need a timer on the electric boiler so it uses just off peak, or just turn it on as needed. 

Robin9

Follow the left hand and middle switches go to the Immersion Heater ?

The Booster switch should be OFF -  that should only be ON when you run out of hot water during the day.

If the one labelled Peak also goes to the immersion heater then I think that is wired wrong - it should be OFF during the day and only on at night.

Is the one on the right the supply to the heaters ? If so that should come on at 0030 and off at 0730. Either stay up late or get up early to check

Also turn that convection heater off 

moominvalley

Thanks all - so from my understanding the 'boiler supply' switch doesn't need to be on all the time? I'm still confused as to how this off-peak reading is so high and to what to do with the off-peak switch - for reference the off-peak consumption charge is about £150 so about 75% of my total bill. 

@DullGreyGuy @marcia_ as more recent posters have suggested the water is electrically heated

Thankfully I have only put the convection heater on once when it snowed a couple of weeks ago!

TheElectricCow

Are you able to see/show where the wires from those three switches go to?

Typically an economy 7 water heater will have two heating elements, one that’s only active on the off-peak hours and the other which can be turned on whenever needed for a boost. It’s not immediately clear what the purpose of the 3rd switch is in this situation though, unless one or more of them are controlling something other than the hot water.

Gerry1

It's not a boiler, it's a hot water tank.  It's likely to have two immersion heaters, one at the bottom and one halfway up.  Follow the wires to confirm.

The lower one should be on an E7 circuit switched by the meter.  It will heat the full tank and should be left permanently ON when you are in residence.

The upper one should be on a 24h circuit.  It should be left permanently OFF unless you run out of hot water during the day.  It can then be switched on for just an hour or two to give half a tank of very expensive hot water.

TBH it's a bit of a cheapskate installation.  The upper heater should have a timer switch that allows a boost only for an hour or two before automatically switching off.

Search for Immersion Heater Boost Timer.

QrizB

moominvalley said:

... for reference the off-peak consumption charge is about £150 so about 75% of my total bill.

If you've been charged £150 for 600kWh of off-peak electricity, that's 25p per kWh. Which seems rather high for an Economy 7 type tariff.

What is the name of your tariff? What are the rates for peak, off-peak and standing charge?

moominvalley

@TheElectricCow @Gerry1 thanks both - I'll have a look at it!

@QrizB the name of the tariff is Simpler Energy (Variable plan). In the welcome email I received the peak charge is 32.55p per kWh; off-peak 22.44p per kWh; standing charge is 64.27p a day including VAT.

In my bill however there are two off-peak consumption charges:

• 67.206kWh at 21.37p = £14.36
• 626.294kWh at 20.23p = £126.70

(Just realised this is around £140 not £150, sorry for the confusion!)