Electric only £400+ monthly bills

Qyburn

Helpmemybillsaresohigh said:

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Currently paying 31.24 day and 13.5 night with a SC of 61.57 although I have been given a 6 month SC holiday.

Haven't been able to change to single rate tariff yet, details still showing up as me having an E7 meter but contacted customer support again today to update. This should save a small amount.

Single rate will save something like 20% compared to your day rate.

Scot_39

Helpmemybillsaresohigh said:

A great read, thank you.

The Temperature issue is obviously an issue with partner and child's circulation problem and often results in blue or white feet and hands. I try to get that temperature down often but they feel it very quickly.

Our council just push me back in the direction of the eco4 suppliers.

I'm currently using 17000kwh per year split 12 day and 5 night, roughly. The immersion heater only used for hand basins/sink and we all use the electric shower. We find this to be expensive, the new smart meter goes red as soon as this goes on.

Currently paying 31.24 day and 13.5 night with a SC of 61.57 although I have been given a 6 month SC holiday.

Haven't been able to change to single rate tariff yet, details still showing up as me having an E7 meter but contacted customer support again today to update. This should save a small amount.

Electric company have said if new readings are more then past readings they will compensate for previous overpayments, as yet the change is marginal.

Uses during winter previously has been 50 kwh a day and summer closer to 30, still seems so high even with all radiators etc off

E7 vs SR

17000 - split 12, 5 - gives you a total unit cost (ignoring the SC for now - which wont change significantly SR or  E7) of 12000*31.24+5000*13.5 = £4423.8

5/17 is c30%  on low side to stay on e7 - and gives you an average unit rate of c26.0p (12*31.24+5*13.5)/17) - just over a penny more than the standard single rate(SR) in my guess at your region on Octopus SVT.

Looking at the Octopus table thats nearest to their SW DD figures - so the equivalent SR - 24.85 - so on single rate = 17000*24.85 = £4224.

Only about £200 or 5% less if you do move to SR with current use.

But that move at least is zero capital outlay.

The 17000kWh is quite a high total - so insulation scheme grants could be great.

Similarly kit grants might help - so if wanted to get a benefit out of tariffs like e7

- fitting even just one NSH in the room you heat most - could drag you back into cheaper territory - but the best HHR NSH are easily over £1000 installed.

- replacing electric shower with one using hot water tank - could save maybe £300 (based on 3x10min showers at 9.5kW rated shower - 1750kWh pa) - but gettng a plumber in will cost £100s - wiping out any initial saving.

I don't think a jump of 20kWh summer to winter is excessive given a 20C target - but maybe the 30 kWh ??? an area you could look at.  (For 1 my summer use is 7-8kWh, my winter use last year as mild as low as 10kWh more at my low room temps - but even in last couple of weeks - some days its been 30-35 kWh range)

Maybe others with 3 in their household can comment on their summer vs winter usage ?

Do you have a smart meter with 1/2 hourly figures available to see what your daily use actually looks like in detail across the day ?

Reed_Richards

Helpmemybillsaresohigh said:

Reed_Richards said:

I think it is very unlikely that a heat pump would not meet your needs; perhaps another bit of misinformation you were given?  It should be very much cheaper to run than what you have at present and you might be able to get one installed under the Eco4 scheme.

It was two separate engineers who come round after the initial assessments, from different companies, both said they'd never have one in their own house, it would struggle to heat above 18°, plus they wanted to fit it right outside my autistic daughters bedroom window who has sensory issues. 

I know beggars can't be choosers but at the same time I couldn't afford to remove and replace a heat pump if it turned out to be crap, our neighbours a few house down had there's removed due to problems with it every other day, got to a point were I thought there family member was working for the company as the van was there so much.

Clearly the engineers who commented on getting a heat pump were trying to put you off for some reason.  It's not true that a heat pump would ever struggle to heat above 18 C unless your radiators were undersized.  I presume at the moment you have no radiators at all so that's just a matter of fitting right-sized radiators.  Usually there are multiple options about where that heat pump could be fitted so you really should be able to avoid disturbing your daughter in her bedroom.  And some oil boilers can be quite noisy too, should you ever get one

Now your near-neighbour who had a bad experience with a heat pump is bound to be off-putting.  I've had a heat pump for just over 3 years now.  It heats my house to 20 C, all I want, but could make my house warmer if I asked it to.  Mine went wrong once and was fixed very promptly under warranty.  My impression from posts I read from other heat pump users is that I was unlucky and heat pumps are generally more reliable than my own experience would suggest.

But if you don't want a heat pump then night storage heaters and an Economy 7 tariff have to be a much cheaper-to-run option than what you have at present.

EssexHebridean

By chance, as I was travelling in to work this morning I passed a hoarding advertising government backed ECO grants, and I happened to notice that it mentioned alongside solar and ASHPs, Storage heaters. A bit of googling suggests that this might indeed be a thing - although it would need checking extremely carefully I would suggest. I have found a link as a starting point though... https://energysavinggenie.co.uk/12-things-to-know-about-storage-heater-grants/ (Perhaps others of the regulars here might like to give their thoughts on this - if the verdict is "dodgy" I will edit my post to remove the link, so I'd suggest people don't quote it in responses!) 

born_again

Helpmemybillsaresohigh said: We find this to be expensive, the new smart meter goes red as soon as this goes on.

That is not a smart meter. That is the In Home Device.
Smart meter is where supply comes into property.

Chrysalis

Does ECO4 fully pay for pumps? or has a cap on grant?
Also ECO4 for gas central heating has a really weird requirement the property has never had gas central heating before.

Helpmemybillsaresohigh

Chrysalis said:

Does ECO4 fully pay for pumps? or has a cap on grant?
Also ECO4 for gas central heating has a really weird requirement the property has never had gas central heating before.

The property has never had central heating, for some reason our estate (30houses) were not connected to the mains gas line, I believe because they were all privately owned and only the council properties on opposite side of main road were given it. Coat to pipe mains gas to the house was quoted as £12k before any internal work 

wrf12345

ECO4 for those on welfare does cover the full cost of heat pump installation and perhaps even solar but does require a poor EPC. I think. Storage heaters, oddly as they are a terrible way to heat, can be included. There is another grant for non-gas properties as well. Failing all that air to air heat pumps may soon be included in the grant system and at least can blow out lots of warm air on demand. It does depend how much grant money is left whether you will get any so a bit of a postcode lottery and the game seems to be for installers to max out their profit so will avoid some residences that require too much work/time.

RedFraggle

Will ECO4 install storage heaters still? I thought if you had one faulty storage heater that qualified you for HHR being put in. 
Second hand storage heaters are cheap