£1500 for three months electricity?

birduk

Hi all, I hope you can help as to what avenues I need to go down to work out what is going on in my flat. There are three of us that live there and all are out during the day. We have electric wall heaters (on timers for about three hours per day x three heaters), electric oven, dishwasher, washing machine, fridge, freezer etc (all energy efficient). We are all quite concious of saving electricity in our house. I should say that it is part of a new build of flats and ours is slightly seperate.

When I read our meter last night, it seemed we had used 10500 kwh of electricity since 21st December. Our estimated bill is a tenth of that (Npower). I can't quite believe that is right. Is there any way that our meter can be wrong? That's about £400 of electricity per month!

The only thing I can think of that might cause it to be that high is the boiler we have (everything is rented in our flat). Landlord told us how to switch it on, and that it would be fine on all the time. There are three switches associated with it. I am planning on switching them off, one by one and assessing the electricity used on a daily basis.

However, if I discover this makes little difference is there anything I can do? Is it possible that a new meter can be reading wrong? I know that I have read it right as it is digital.....

I know that our telephone was hooked up as our flat was previously used as the site office. I am wondering if this might be an influence. Any ideas?

Thank you in advance!

mute_posting

That is very high!

What sort of supply are you (E7, E10 etc)?

re water, I would imagine that the bottom element should be left on as that is will be the off-peak supply that heats the WHOLE tank (heat rises) The upper element is a peak-boost that will only heat the top 1/2 or1/3.

Is the development still being constructed?

Are you sure you're reading your own meter? I'm just wondering if there is a meter for the development and then sub-meters for each property?

HTH

MP

birduk

I think we are being conned on whatever supply we are on. I know that the estimated bill says 14p (or thereabouts for the first hundred or so) and 13p thereafter. My first thought is that we can get that cheaper.

There are lots of meters in the block and ours is labelled up with our number (as are the others). I have checked that the meter number is that which is on the bill. There are only three/four of us in the block that are occupied (the others aren't selling and we are rented). You can see those meters flashing red lights as the electricity is being used.

I switched off the top one last night (that explanation makes sense though thank you). So will see tomorrow if that made a difference. Either way I can't see it making that much difference? I will also switch off the whole boiler for a day! No showers in my house! It might be worth my while reading everyones meter for a couple of days then? See the comparison? They are all in the same place.

mute_posting

I take it you don't have gas (by your OP)

but from your last reply you don't mention a cheap rate tarrif which surprises me given you have electric heating and rely on electric for water?

if you are split rate, can you confirm day / night units - it may help to see what is happening.

MP

birduk

No gas at all (which I hate) and we do rely on electricity for everything, so we were expecting the bill to be higher than normal.

No split rate either, which is why I think I need to get on a cheaper tariff, rather urgently! So unfortunately I have no idea what the split is.

Thanks for your help!

mute_posting

I'm shocked that the developer has specified a standard tarrif for an all electric property to be honest, so not only do you need to look for the best tarrif, you "probably" also need to switch to a split rate tarrif such as E7 or E10.

Of course you are going to pay more for an all electric house than one that can use (cheaper) gas but I woiuld reckon on this being perhaps 20% more not 200% more.

MP

UtilityMan_3

Do you have a fuseboard inside your flat? You should do, so I will take it as a yes!

Turn off all p.c.'s etc and then trip the main fuse.

Then go and look at "your" meter wait five minutes and see if it registers any usage.

If there is usage it is obviously not your meter. If that is the case, it might be an idea to find the one not moving (must be yours unless there are empty flats!).

New builds often have plot numbers. The final flat number may be something totally different.

jennifernil

Your unit price is very high, we pay about 7.5p per KWH (unit)

birduk

Hello all,

Thank you for your replies. Our usage yesterday (after switching off that extra switch on the boiler) was 29kwH (which I still think is high). Today, I have switched the whole system off, to see if that makes a big difference.

Now, obviously the charges Npower are going to make to us (up until this point and assuming it is our meter) are going to be astronomical. Can I be rather sneaky and erm... misread our meter this time until we are moved to a cheaper rate? Or can I switch suppliers after using my own meter reading.

Looks like each of us in the flat will have to come up with £500 (not easy when you are meant to be saving!). But at least it is not all my own bill.

I shall try that tomorrow night with tripping the fuse. Thank you, good suggestion!

birduk

Sorry, forgot to say, apparently the average is about 100 kWh per day!

jmcdyre

Your average is 100 kwh per day, or the average UK wide is 100 kwh per day? On our rate that is around £14 a day. Our usage is less than 10 kwh per day (although we have gsa central heating), usually around the 6kwh mark...

Are you reading the meter correctly, sorry but had to ask...What was your opening reading?