Storage Heaters

Swipe

Those unit rates are daylight robbery. I thought pre-payment was meant to be cheaper than credit meters these days?

Scot_39

1)

You need to urgently  test if that nsh is being charged on your meter now or inclusive in the council heating charge they are taking as advised by electrician ?

Rather than not using it and charged for your plug ins instead.

And so a test would be to switch it on - and hw / bathroom heater off just in case and keeping other use like plug ins and even cooker etc in your control off  - and check what happens to your consumption - used units in kWh - if can see it - or simply in terms of meter credit remaining.

Depending on how tge council supply if it does feed it (it could be time restricted - so may only heatvat night or not given your commentbaboutvswitching it off 1 hrvafter electrician switched it on) it may or may not start heating immediately - it will probably be 30 min before case warm - not that low ambient metal surface cold feeling - to touch let alone hot.

If meter in flat - you might also see the imp light flash rate - a little red led on the front of many meters - change dramatically - to go high frequency if not quite solid if however  being charged when you switch it on.  Have a look before and after.

If its the largest xln model it will consume over 3kWh - meter units - per hour when on and heating up - so after an hour or so- with little else in use - should be very obvious if being charged.

My unidare semimanual 25+ yr old equivalent is 3.5kWh in living room per hour in meter units.  The smaller ones in halls 1.7kWh metr units each per hour.

And although I never run mine at max - and for the one room - in milder winter days like now (I have all 3 my nsh off right now - 4 weeks ago all 3 were on and set high for me - so used 150kWh that week, then 120kWh and then 70kWh) - so shouldn't need max.
Itb may not have been sized that brilliantly - and if inclusive id keep it on higher side and let heat circulate via open doors to minimise plug in or bathroom radiator heating in other rooms like bedroom / bathroom - at least part of the day.

I use my 2 hall nsh charged at off peak to heat the kitchen and the 2 beds/ bathroom off hallways all winter.  Never use the bedroom panels or kitchen fan heaters.  When really cold the bathroom fan for 5-10min when drying after shower.


2) 
Your on Utilitas zero SC tariff - hence the 1st 2kWh at higher rate per day to cover it.  That may not be the best choice for a typical user, but others have seen it cheaper than others SC + flat rate when crunched numbers.  And prepay is now tge cheapest of 3 caps if were to leave utilita.
But tariff variation vs other flat rate prepay with standing charges - likely small - and tge least ov your current cost problems.

At least your not as others have been in past when come here for advice paying say an e7 premium peak rate when turning away from nsh and hw immersion tanks..

3)
Your £60 in week asuming all that credit being used - around 220kWh at those rates - or  30kWh per day. 

(You have swapped to your own contract and not paying residual debt - less likely with smart prepay I guess - but an issue for older prepay  ?)

That's several hours plug in heater  - a couple of hot meals (2-3kWh) fridge (1kWh)  and a washing load (1-1.5kWh) - and say 3 hrs (9kWh assuming single element)  for hw tank heater to cover shower and shallow bath for child, plus general use from a modern well insulated tank.

Does the bathroom heater have a thermostat adjustment - dont put it too low - you dont want mould - try to keep above 14C if can afford it that is - and minimise use if nsh is inclusive fixed price by open doors passive air circulation.

(There is no mention of an electric shower on the CU - so am assuming thats tank fed if have one.)

4)
And although most get hung up with space heating costs when thinking about best tariffs - hot water is non trivial too for those with (by choice or especially with conventional electric financial necessity) low space heating demand.  As a low heat user - my hw tank 2-3kWh per day - and cold fed shower - another 1.5 - 2 kWh - 4-5 kWh per day - would use over a third my annual consumption if showered every day at home.  For 1 + child it could be even higher.

Does your hot water tank have any timer modules on heater element / elements ?
Does it have 1 or 2 heating elements - based on 16A mcb in cu would guess only one if 3kW ?

If has timers or two elements you might be able to set back and only boost heating  duration only on higher use days to cut costs.

EssexHebridean

Swipe said:

Those unit rates are daylight robbery. I thought pre-payment was meant to be cheaper than credit meters these days?

Remember that the OP's tariff incorporates the Standing Charge into the unit rates though, so I think what we're seeing is the first two units taking care of what the rest of us would see as SC, and then the remaining use being billed at the standard cap variable rate for pre-pay. 

QrizB

Swipe said:

Those unit rates are daylight robbery. I thought pre-payment was meant to be cheaper than credit meters these days?

They're not "daylight robbery" and they are slightly cheaper than credit meter rates.

OP is in Southern region, the same as me.

Flexible Octopus, on a credit meter, is charging 43.66p/day and 26.48p/kWh.

OP's rate with Utilita is 47.97p/kWh for the first two kWh of the day then 25.66p/kWh after that.

Utilita is cheaper than Flexible Octopus for any amount of electricity used.

Sorry for the bold but this thread seems to be attracting wrong info from usually-sensible forumites!

Swipe

QrizB said:

Swipe said:

Those unit rates are daylight robbery. I thought pre-payment was meant to be cheaper than credit meters these days?

They're not "daylight robbery" and they are slightly cheaper than credit meter rates.

OP is in Southern region, the same as me.

Flexible Octopus, on a credit meter, is charging 43.66p/day and 26.48p/kWh.

OP's rate with Utilita is 47.97p/kWh for the first two kWh of the day then 25.66p/kWh after that.

Utilita is cheaper than Flexible Octopus for any amount of electricity used.

Sorry for the bold but this thread seems to be attracting wrong info from usually-sensible forumites!

Apologies. I didn't read the grey text below and assumed it as the normal E7 rate 1 and rate2

Philis89

So there is no underfloor heating. The engineer showed me in the fuse box where it was ripped out. 
I spoke with the neighbour above me. He has underfloor heating which he pays through the service charge but the storage heater, he pays for. 
I then spoke to the neighbour beside me. She also has no underfloor heating and one storage heater like me and she doesn't use it as it costs her. 
I believe that I pay for the storage heater which is why I'm not switching it on. I was told when signing the tenancy that I was paying the storage charge for underfloor heating. But speaking with the engineer, he said the storage heater is instead of. 
Engineers are coming out on Thursday to put in a bigger heater, so I will have to speak with them. 

wrf12345

Originally, you must have had an underfloor heating connection (assuming it was electric and not piped in water for the whole block) in a fuse box that bypassed the meter, the question is if the storage heater has been connected in the same way or is connected to the meter - if the latter you should point out that the twenty quid charge no longer applies. Not sure if you can have a fuse box with two separate inputs for supply, one connected to the grid and one connected to the meter (would be an open invitation for fraud)... 

QrizB

wrf12345 said:

 Not sure if you can have a fuse box with two separate inputs for supply,

You can definitely have this. It's how E7 is sometimes wired.

wrf12345 said:

..., one connected to the grid and one connected to the meter

Both halves are connected to meters, but to different meters.

Scot_39

Philis89 said:

So there is no underfloor heating. The engineer showed me in the fuse box where it was ripped out. 
I spoke with the neighbour above me. He has underfloor heating which he pays through the service charge but the storage heater, he pays for. 
I then spoke to the neighbour beside me. She also has no underfloor heating and one storage heater like me and she doesn't use it as it costs her. 
I believe that I pay for the storage heater which is why I'm not switching it on. I was told when signing the tenancy that I was paying the storage charge for underfloor heating. But speaking with the engineer, he said the storage heater is instead of. 
Engineers are coming out on Thursday to put in a bigger heater, so I will have to speak with them. 

Seems the system is in a bit of a mess.

You as above either pay the £20 and get heating if thats what its for - or dont pay the charge.  The council or landlord cannot have it both ways.

Does your neighbour on your floor still pay ?

The imp light test could be very quick by the way if can get load low enough before and then switch on a moderate load - it will change visibly instantly at minimal cost. 

But let us know how you get on come Thursday - hopefully it will also be a modern programmable - time and/or room air temperature - heater.

Keep_pedalling

wrf12345 said:

Originally, you must have had an underfloor heating connection (assuming it was electric and not piped in water for the whole block) in a fuse box that bypassed the meter, the question is if the storage heater has been connected in the same way or is connected to the meter - if the latter you should point out that the twenty quid charge no longer applies. Not sure if you can have a fuse box with two separate inputs for supply, one connected to the grid and one connected to the meter (would be an open invitation for fraud)... 

You are paying for it whether you use it or not through the monthly fixed charge from your landlord so you need to turn it back on and cut down on your other heating that you are paying separately for. This is how it should be working anyway.

Can you post images of the meters please?