All electric-flat bills increase in winter

Jaffa_Cake_1983

Hi,

I moved into an all-electric flat in July, where I manage the bills, after living in 'bills included' tenancies for some years. It's a 2 bedroom and I share it with one other person.

I have no clue what our bills will be like this winter and I want to have some idea so I can budget.

Between mid July and today our bill was about £200, so £60-65 per month. We're on a fixed tarriff.

Does anyone else live in all-electric and can say how much they might increase by during winter? (Double or triple?)

We have a mixture of panel heaters and oil-filled radiators, and the building is poorly insulated. (It has government funding to be insulated and a groundsource heat-pump system put in next year.) We are both at home quite a lot.

Thanks in advanc!

MikeJXE

Do a daily meter read and calculate the cost inc standing charge 

Quite simple then to control the bill, either have the heating on or not 

Scot_39

Its a bit of a "how long is a piece of string ?" type question.

For instance I consider myself a low energy user - my all electric - is e10 with nsh and hw immersion - so at my supplier off peak rate a few pence more expensive than e7 - my  winter bills around 2.5-3x but that's only 1 person year round.

So your summer could be higher base with 2in any case.

But my neighbours either side use more - some by 1000s kWh annually than I do.  One over double.

It's really impossible to say by comparison.  Even in ostensibly similar properties.  Every household will heat house, cook, bathe etc differently.


Try putting your flat or some neighbouring similar flats - assuming it works for flats -  (especially if it was empty for a while) into say compare the markets energy tool - and maybe take an average of a few -  as a very rough guide.

(It actually gives annual / monthly consumption estimates - mines a little low - probably as house been empty a few weeks recently)

It seems to be pretty accurate for some who have used it, but not others.

Or alternative try asking landlord or agent for a copy of the EPC if not in rental pack - - it should have again as a rough guide - energy estimate.

 

Gerry1

Jaffa_Cake_1983 said:

We have a mixture of panel heaters and oil-filled radiators, and the building is poorly insulated.

That's very bad news.  Hardly anything could be more expensive to run.  It would normally be a red flag and a good reason to move, assuming you are still renting.

Jaffa_Cake_1983 saidI:

It has government funding to be insulated and a groundsource heat-pump system put in next year.  We are both at home quite a lot.

That could be very good or very bad news.

• If it serves only your flat and runs on your metered electricity then that's great.  You can control its hours of operation and set the temperature knowing that you'll be billed accurately and pay only for what you've used.  You won't have problems with it freezing up and wasting your money defrosting itself.

• If it's a building system serving multiple flats it could be a nightmare.  If the bills are just split equally across all the flats then everyone will just turn the wick up.  If they're heat metered it can be tricky especially, if you can't read the meter and see the bill on a timely manner.  There's also very little regulation and the Ofgem price cap doesn't apply.  VAT may be 20% instead of 5%.

• Although this is a gas system, it shows what can go wrong.

https://southwarknews.co.uk/area/peckham/peckham-residents-face-triple-gas-bills-on-estate-where-heating-often-breaks-down/

Newbie_John

£65 wasn't your actual bill, it was your direct debit which is likely to remain the same through the year.

The usage in kWh will definitely be 3x or more. What's your EPC rating? Is it middle flat or ground floor, top floor? How old is the building? How warm do you keep the flat? 16°C or 25°C? Do you have automation so if you're both away at work it doesn't heat? Or does it..

These questions can go on and on.

But for comparison in 3 bed house all electric we used 172kWh in July and 910kWh in January - so 5x more, then again December and February were quite mild so about 600kWh then (only 3.5x more).

Swipe

Storage heaters here too and I use approximately 4x more in winter, and that's only heating a single room to 18C and the rest to 13C-14C.

Scot_39

My sisters old lha flat boilers were replaced a couple of years before she moved out and the flats fitted with metered HIU. Before tge heat was rent inclusive paid to ha based on property size only. 1-3 bed mix.

The HA told neighbours who complained before  worried and many after who saw  higher bill costs they were legally obliged to fit as part of upgrade.

Other tenants were happy as low users saw lower than ave bills.

It's by no means 100% coverage, but the rules have been changed initially about a decade ago for some community heat systems and metering..

A new ghsp suppying heat  - may on face of it arguably be included if hot water likely to be the medium.  

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/heat-networks


In Scotland think it's a bit more inclusive though.

markin

You should probably be ready for it to be £150-200 DD over the next year.