Scottish Power bill high (not first post about this)

Scot_39

dekaspace1 said:

It looks like the unit rate is the same but I can't be sure I can just see the 30p per unit part.

Whilst somemodrn ihds will display both day and night - mines only dispkays current rates and total use.
I have to go to outside meter to get both day and night registers - so use a spreadsheet to calculate back from total day use and cost and the rates /SC..

Check your bill it should quote rates in both the tariff table and on usage sections.

Xxx kWh x xxp/kWh  = £yy.zz  etc  (often rates here are ex 5% vat then vat added to total of day / night )

dekaspace1

Hi, well it's vert confusing I do have a larger older tv but that may on on 1 or 2 days per week, and I only use gas for HW for washing dishes, as I live upstairs I get heating from below me so even with my own heating off it's 20 or 21 on average.

Electric shower but it's meant to be an eco one but no way to change it to low/high

I am in Scotland, can get previous reads, before the smart meter was installed was £75 I think per month and that made me £70-£100 on average in credit each bill one was even £160 in credit so usage has spiked since meter was installed but I'd say I use less overall apart from a week when I left pc on overnight for a few nights (and off all day) doing some work.

Cooking wise used the pressure cooker once this week and mini oven twice for 15 minutes each rest is microwave food, so no large cooking.

dunstonh

I think one of the problems we have here is that we only have readings from July.    i.e. the warm period with bright mornings and evenings.    We don't know what the 6 months of heavier use is going to be like,

I am in Scotland, can get previous reads, before the smart meter was installed was £75 I think per month and that made me £70-£100 on average in credit each bill one was even £160 in credit so usage has spiked since meter was installed but I'd say I use less overall apart from a week when I left pc on overnight for a few nights (and off all day) doing some work.

@dekaspace could you post readings from bills from before the new meter was installed.   Ideally covering a full year, but at a minimum, say December through to May.    Suppliers usually allow you to download past bills from their website if you haven't kept them.

you also need to stop talking £££.   We don't know whether you were paying the right amount for your annualised use before or currently.   We don't know if you were working on actual reads or estimates or you had arrears that were being paid off.   We don't know how much Summer credit you had built up or whether it was enough.

It is kWh that is important.  i.e. the unit count.    Once that is understood, things tend to fall into place as to whether it is high, low, average and whether you are suitable for Economy 7 or not.

Robin9

@dekaspace It would also help if you could post a copy of your  bill -  just the page with the meter readings. Make sure you blank out your name and address and account number.

On this page there will be a couple  of lines of meter readings and charges. Even more lines  when there has been a change in tariff or meter in the period

There will be a line with the day (and a second with the night) readings with one being the opening reading and the second with the closing reading. Against both there will be a letter A (Actual), C (customer read), E (Estimated), S (Smart )  or perhaps our read/your read.

Then there will be details of the charges in p/kWh  and a cost (which will exclude VAT)


We're getting there

EssexHebridean

I think from what the OP is saying that they are correct in saying that the use seems higher than they might expect for their use - the question in my mind is whether something else is still using energy that they aren't seeing. while - yes - 3000kWh p/a isn't "high" usage for some households, it sounds like it is high for someone in the OP's situation. 

OP - do you still have an immersion heater in the property? or is your boiler one which simply heats the water on demand and sends it straight down the pipes?

Are there still any of the old electric heaters in the property? 

Electric showers are often responsible for high use - but you already seem to be relatively aware of that and your estimate of the 50/60p cost per shower is probably not far off. 

You definitely need to establish on what basis you are being billed - although it wouldn't make a difference to the high USE, still being on E7 now would definitely be accounting for higher costs. 

mac.d

I agree with EssexHebridean that the usage seems a little high for this individual user, but really needs more details and some bills/actual meter readings for the past year. 

If the tariff unit rates have increased since you paid £75 a month it's hard to know if there's any spike in usage just because your monthly payment is a bit higher. So details needed, not just £ amounts which are not that helpful when trying to identify if your usage has increased or not.

Qyburn

dekaspace1 said:

I am in Scotland, can get previous reads, before the smart meter was installed was £75 I think per month 

How many kWh, and were they based on estimated or actual meter readings?

dekaspace1

I will get a copy of readings later as working right now., I know a few last year were estimated then I gave correct readings, the estimates they had then weren't far off what I used.

The only higher usage for certain this year was about week where I had pc on overnight doing video work so it may of been on for 10 hours which can mount up but 8p a hour maybe for say 9/10 hours for a week as a one off, and I went away a few times.

I use LED bulbs in my home except the kitchen which is a long tube, not sure what that is and admit I sometimes forget to turn it off when I leave, also forgot a few times and left bathroom light on all night but thats a large led.

I also have a sleep apnea machine but that uses a laptop power supply so id say no more than 100w.

I know the tarrif changed, it was that beat cancer 2024 one until around end of May I think.

EssexHebridean

If the kitchen tube is an old style fluorescent one then that might be quite power hungry - but generally where you have LED bulbs they will be unlikely to be contributing much to your overall use. Just double check that all the GU10 type spotlights you have - if any - ARE the LED ones though - again, older ones of those can be 50w, so if you have a ceiling full of them that can add up! This is somewhere that your IHD can be useful as it can let you see spikes in use appearing when you turn lights on in a particular area - ours proved really handy for that when we first moved into our current home and wanted to weed out any older GU10s! 

dekaspace1

I have no GU10 bulbs, I have those modern LED bulbs that look like the old pear shaped ones and just 1 per room.

Some info from July bill (will also screenshot latest bill)

For the period: 12 April 2025 until 14 July 2025
Your tariff: Standard Online - Monthly Direct Debit
Electricity reading: 14 Jul 25 - 64176 (estimate) Control
14 Jul 25 - 91028 (estimate) Standard

Your tariff name Standard Online
Your tariff type Variable Price
How you pay Monthly Direct Debit
Early exit fee Your tariff has no exit fee.
Your tariff end date Your tariff has no end date.
Energy we estimate you've used over
the last year
13 kWh used on the Control rate
2,643 kWh used on the Standard rate
Estimated yearly costs* (rounded to the
nearest pound) £853

Exclusive Help Beat Cancer Flexi May 2025 Hm2
11 Apr 2025 Customer read: 90449
24 Apr 2025 Actual read: 90541
Electricity units used 92 = 92 kWh
Exclusive Help Beat Cancer Flexi May 2025 Hm2
24 Apr 2025 Actual read: 90541
31 May 2025 Estimated read: 90764.2
Electricity units used 223.2 = 223.2 kWh
Standard rate 315.2 kWh x 22.324p £70.37
Standing Charge 50 days x 52.960p £26.48
Exclusive Help Beat Cancer Flexi May 2025 Hm2
11 Apr 2025 Customer read: 64175
24 Apr 2025 Actual read: 64175
Electricity units used 0 = 0 kWh
Exclusive Help Beat Cancer Flexi May 2025 Hm2
24 Apr 2025 Actual read: 64175
31 May 2025 Estimated read: 64175.4
Electricity units used 0.4 = 0.40 kWh
Control rate 0.40 kWh x 22.324p £0.09
Standard Online - Monthly Direct Debit
31 May 2025 Estimated read: 90764.2
30 Jun 2025 Estimated read: 90945.9
Electricity units used 181.7 = 181.7 kWh
Standard rate 181.7 kWh x 24.594p £44.69
Standing Charge 30 days x 54.560p £16.37
Standard Online - Monthly Direct Debit
31 May 2025 Estimated read: 64175.4
30 Jun 2025 Estimated read: 64175.8
Electricity units used 0.4 = 0.40 kWh
Control rate 0.40 kWh x 22.514p £0.09
Standard Online - Monthly Direct Debit
30 Jun 2025 Estimated read: 90945.9
14 Jul 2025 Estimated read: 91028
Electricity units used 82.1 = 82.1 kWh
Standard rate 82.1 kWh x 23.365p £19.18
Standing Charge 14 days x 52.730p £7.38
Standard Online - Monthly Direct Debit
30 Jun 2025 Estimated read: 64175.8
14 Jul 2025 Estimated read: 64176
Electricity units used 0.2 = 0.20 kWh
Control rate 0.20 kWh x 21.425p