No idea...

cam101

My partner and I have lived together in a 2 bed terrace since September. We are out at work 8-5 Monday to Friday.

We pay £28 per month for electricity, and £28 per month for gas. This is with npower, which we inherited from the previous owners. I don't really understand the bills, and plan to ring them tomorrow.

I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if this sounds like a reasonable amount to pay? I honestly have no idea.

Thanks, Cam

whatatwit

A reasonable amount will vary from house to house....depending upon what appliances you use.
Your bill should show a start read and a close read.
These may be actual or estimated or one of each.
If you post the details as shown on your bill, we should be able to explain how the bill is calculated.

It would also be an idea to take a reading from each meter now and then do this every week, to keep a check on your usage.

Hope this helps.

Lavendyr

My OH and I are also with npower. We are out from 8am-6.30pm Mon-Fri and also live in a 1980s 2 bed terrace with gas central heating. Our DDs are £25 per month on electricity, £29 per month on gas, so your figures don't sound that different from ours to me.

Ken68

Your suppliers, Cam, have less to go on than yourselves.
They don't know your pattern of living only usage via the meter readings based on the previous occupants.
Don't accept any
more estimated bills. Ring in the actual readings. Keep a weekly note of your usage, same time every week. Keep an eye out for high users like tumble driers, immersion heaters, electric fires. Ovens are heavy wasters of heat compared to microwaves and slow cookers/3 tier steamers.
Edit...name a few things you don't understand about your bill. We're here to help in detail.

cam101

Ken68 wrote: »

Your suppliers, Cam, have less to go on than yourselves.
They don't know your pattern of living only usage via the meter readings based on the previous occupants.
Don't accept any
more estimated bills. Ring in the actual readings. Keep a weekly note of your usage, same time every week. Keep an eye out for high users like tumble driers, immersion heaters, electric fires. Ovens are heavy wasters of heat compared to microwaves and slow cookers/3 tier steamers.
Edit...name a few things you don't understand about your bill. We're here to help in detail.

Well I feel based on what I have heard that we may be overpaying a bit- we don't have a tumble drier, immersion heater or electric fire. We have a little microwave/oven combi that we often use instead of the main oven too. But that's just a feeling really, i'm not basing it on much.

I phoned today, and asked if we could start phoning in meter readings. The lady said our next bill is due 8th Feb, so we should ring in a reading at the end of January so they can do an accurate bill. Is this the right thing to do?

Things I don't understand include our electricity tariff (EELC D1), as well as all the charges per kWh etc that appear on the bill. Saying that, do I need to worry about these bits? Also, we don't actually appear to have a gas tariff, is this standard?

Also, when I go onto USwitch to see if we could get it cheaper elsewhere, it asks me loads of questions that i don't know the answer to. For example, "do you have economy 7?" -what is this? I guess it is electricity related.

Sorry to ask so many things, it's just that i'm trying to Spring clean our finances and hate the thought of overpaying!!

Cardew

If you have gas you very probably don't have an Economy 7 electricity tariff as that is used primarily for houses without gas who use electrical heating.

You can check that on your electricity bill - you should only have 2 prices for a kWh on your bill.

You will pay a higher price(called tier 1) for the first units(kWhs) for gas and electricity each quarter and then all the rest of the units at a lower price(called tier 2). With NPower the tier1 allocation varies each quarter - higher in winter.

As suggested ring in your meter readings at the end of January and check when you get the bill they have used those readings!!!

Your gas bill will be much higher than average as it covers the coldest quarter, so you won't get a good indication of your annual spend.

Just carry on paying your current DD and at the end of the year(possibly sooner) they will adjust your DD to the correct level. If you have overpaid you will get it credited.

Bear in mind that the average household spends approx £1,000 a year on gas and electricty so as you are paying £672 you won't be overpaying by much I suspect.

Ken68

Don't know of a tariff called ELEC D1 or EELC D1, usually called standard or E7 or Prepay or 'fixed until' or a green tariff.

Lavendyr

I would guess (though only a guess!) that it's a deemed contract, as that is what we have automatically moved onto with NPower.

Also remember that after 12 months direct debit with NPower duel fuel you will get £80 back.

Lavendyr

cam101 wrote: »

Well I feel based on what I have heard that we may be overpaying a bit- we don't have a tumble drier, immersion heater or electric fire. We have a little microwave/oven combi that we often use instead of the main oven too. But that's just a feeling really, i'm not basing it on much.

We don't have any of those things either, we are very economical with our energy, and our bills are very similar to yours, as described above.