£400 quarterly electricity bill for 1 bedroom flat

NathanWeston wrote: »

Me and my partner moved in to our 1 bedroom flat on the 24th September this year to find a letter saying Eon was our electricity provider. Seeing as neither of us had payed seperate bills before (it had always been included in rent in previous flats) we simply made an online an account and assumed all would be fine. Today, after 10 weeks in the flat, we get a bill saying we've used nearly 2000kwh and our quarterly bill is £408.

Some facts:

- We have a programmable boiler which is set to 3 hours of heating and 2 hours of hot water a day
- I was unemployed up until last week and was running my computer for around 10 hours a day
- My partner is a student so is home a little less than me using her laptop


This is crazy right?

NathanWeston wrote: »

We personally didnt give the readings but the reading on the bill is accurate so they must have come and checked it. The readings have an A after them.


And this is just electricity. There is no gas in the building.

NathanWeston wrote: »

I checked the meter myself an hour ago and it corresponds almostly perfectly to the bill.


There is no heating thermostat, but the radiators are on high when they come on for those 3 hours a day.


The tarriff is economy 7 eon energy.plan

Hello NathanWeston and welcome to the Forums.

Already some excellent advice on here - thanks all. Do you know if you've a smart meter? As we've billed up to accurate readings (A), I suspect these could've been taken remotely directly from the meter. Alternatively, if the meter's outside or in a communal area, one of our meter readers could've sent the readings. Are the start readings also accurate? If they are, the bill will reflect the amount of energy used.

Totally appreciate the shock of receiving an unexpectedly high bill and we'll be happy to talk to you about a payment plan to help spread the amount over a more manageable period. If you go for a Monthly Direct Debit, there are lower daily standing charges for paying this way.

Also, as others have said, you're on our standard tariff - Energy Plan. There are cheaper products both with us and with the other suppliers. I'd have a look at the independent Price Comparison sites for a fuller picture of what's available. Energy Plan has no exit fees or tie-ins leaving you free to change supplier at any time without penalty.

Two-rate Economy 7 meters are often found at all electric properties with storage heaters. As JB says, try taking advantage of the cheaper off-peak prices during the 7 night hours. I know these aren't particularly sociable hours and timers might help when using high load appliances like washing machines, tumble dryers, dish washers etc.

If it turns out you're not using enough electricity at night to benefit from Economy 7 prices, it's easy to switch to a single rate. No need to change the meter. We just add the day and night usage together and charge it all at the one rate. As you've registered with our website, you can do this yourself online.

There's more information about how to save money by saving energy on our website too. If you do have a smart meter, there'll also be an In-Home Display showing information about how much electricity you're using. This will help highlight your usage pattern so you can see if there are any areas where savings could potentially be made.

Sorry to ramble on NathanWeston and I understand much of this won't help with the bill you've received although it should help keep costs down in the future.

Hope you and your partner have settled in to your new home.

Malc