Electric only £400+ monthly bills

Helpmemybillsaresohigh

Hi all,

I'm in need of some help, I live in a 2 bedroom property with my partner and child, both have Raynaud's disease. We are unfortunately in an electric only bungalow with no access to gas and finding the money to switch to oil hard to save for, mainly because of the ongoing electricity bill.
We discovered an issue with our old E7 meter, faulty timer, failed creep test, electromagnetic wheel moving inconsistently, our supplier tested and found the same and have since changed our meter and agreed to look back and compare our new usage to work out if we have overpaid for the last 8 years.

We have loft insulation (eco3) but the new eco4 grants don't suit our needs or property, we were told not to fill our cavities and that a heat pump wouldn't meet our needs. We however have a south facing roof top perfect for solar panels, but so far have had no look finding a grant to help reduce our outgoings.

We are living heavily in fuel poverty and because of recent injury and illnesses are in receipt of UC and currently spending over 30% of that on our electricity bill. 

We are using over 50 kwh a day, this is crazy, we have 4 electric radiators set around 20° an immersion heater set just above 50° and an electric shower. We are finding it impossible to reduce this consumption. 

Does anyone have any advice or guidance?

In desperate times here and this can't continue much longer.

born_again

You mention E7, are you still on that tariff?
Who is your supplier, as many have schemes to help people in this situation.

 4 electric radiators, are these storage heaters, or just plain electric radiators. Which are around the most expensive means of heating a home. Especially if you are still on E7 so paying a higher daily rate.

You could try heated throws to keep warm, cheaper to run.

happyretiree

Try contacting the CAB - they can point you in the right direction. 

Reed_Richards

If you are on an Economy 7 tariff (or similar), you have storage heaters, and your storage heaters are timed so that they charge up during the cheap night rate, then switching to oil (or a heat pump) is unlikely to save you a lot of money.  But if you are heating your property with electricity charged at the day rate then your bills will be much higher than they could be.   

RelievedSheff

What unit rates are you paying for your electric?

EssexHebridean

Make and model of those "electric radiators" please - that's the surest way of being able to confirm what they are, and then fid out if they are being used to best effect.

Also as already asked - who is your supplier and what is the exact name of your tariff?

Scot_39

Heating bungalows can sadly be expensive - they essentially have potentially higher losses in general - more ceiling and lossy ground floor area - often more wall area as many are semi- or fully detached - wheras similar 2 level homes have lower areas for total floor space - many terraced etc.

You might find it possible to back off 20 - even 1 degree can save a little on bills - with care (throws, thermals etc).

But it's not worth risking medical complications to do so.  

I now use thermals to cope with 16C in living room - 14 elsewhere - a decade ago I'd probably have coped but my income was higher and I wasn't at home as much.

But without the thermals - or when tried lowering LR temp further with them - I ran into circulation issues (discoloration and pains) - and in my personal experience I'd also say every 1C matters for health / comfort. 

As above - help can be available at suppliers - and dont forget councils (the govt extended the temporary household support fund after cutting WFP) - especially for those on benefits - have you tried those if struggling.   

Also pop into CA and see if they might have a list of local charities that help locally / nationally.

Even if cannot get help or safely cut use for health reasons - you mention e7 - but then radiators - but not storage radiators.

You might be able to find a better tariff - to cut your costs for your 50kWh per day (not a lot / excessive IMO for a winters day for 3 in a bungalow - but a lot if thats your yearly average)

With storage heating it is fairly easy to win on e7 - with normal peak rate radiators - not so clear cut.

But a HW immersion tank that feeds shower often enough - as a non trivial year round use - but I note you also have an electric shower.  And possibly if the child is young that means baths not showers.

Every home and family need is a complex balance.

So can you check your recent electricity statements and see if they have an annual estimated day and night usage split (on EOn's monthly statements for me its in the tariff tables on page 2)

And post the numbers or the ratio - around 35-40% off peak as a share of total use - is typically around break even vs single rate tariffs.

E7 suppliers can tilt the balance between day and night rates - Ofgem only regulates the total cost of the mix - not the rate balance - and the aggressive titled balances - often come with a much cheaper than single rate off peak / night rate - but a higher peak day rate - so you need to have high night rate use for it to pay off.

And even if on e7 - as above not all e7 rates are the same - this time last year a poster found about 5p difference in night rate (c11-16p) - with a corresponding c4p in day rate ( so one maybe 11 vs 33, one maybe 16 vs 29) in his one region. And if your a really high off peak user that balance matters - as can lower the average cost per unit a lot too.  (I use 75080% annually - off peak - heat from storage heaters - hw immersion tank - but lose as frequently "have to" shower at peak rate)

Here are links to 2 of the big suppliers - who publish their e7 rates for all regions openly

https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default/files/2024-11/DM1903-Standard-Variable-Deemed-Welcome-Credit-Smart-PAYG-Jan25.pdf

https://octopus.energy/blog/energy-price-cap-jan-2025/

Compare those to your current deal - and also note the importance of payment method on £s cost - currently prepay then DD then standard credit most expensive.

EssexHebridean

With Reynauds in the picture we probably need to focus on making more of the OP's energy use at their current temperatures as even a single degree can make an enormous difference, and additional layers only go so far, sadly. 

ET22

Which energy provider are you with? Contact them and explain your situation, that you are on benefits , you have to have the heating on high to keep the home warm and they may give you a standing charge holiday and send you some food vouchers because they know all of your money is going on heating. If you are with octopus they are really helpful x 

Spoonie_Turtle

The most pressing problem is whether you're still on Economy 7 using plug-in heaters.  If so you're spending way more on heating than necessary, and you need to get into a single rate tariff ASAP.

Longer term, I'm concerned about the advice you were given not to fill cavities or have a heat pump. 

If you're using direct electric heating now - instant radiators - then even a very inefficient heat pump would at least halve your usage, but should reduce it to around a third if installed well.  It'd definitely save you money on your hot water too.

And filling the cavities … I'm no expert and in fact we were a house that experienced significantly exacerbated damp problems after ours were filled in the 1990s, but surely CWI has improved since then?

Plus solar in the summer to reduce summer usage costs would at least free up some money for winter bills, and more so if there's excess to export.

FreeBear

Spoonie_Turtle said: And filling the cavities … I'm no expert and in fact we were a house that experienced significantly exacerbated damp problems after ours were filled in the 1990s, but surely CWI has improved since then?

Having had cavity wall insulation done here some 25 years ago, it made sod all difference. Have since added internal wall insulation in some rooms. Jury is still out on whether it is saving energy, however, it has reduced condensation & mould forming on the walls.