Jesus my electric bill!

Gary,
A couple of thoughts - firstly it might be a good idea to get your meter checked if you think your electricity consumption is higher than it should be. Also, is it possible that an error was made in the final reading for the last owners, which means you're paying for their error?

I just don't know at this stage, still got the sick shock feeling of an unexpected bill.

We got a bill with projected meter readings when I phoned up it turned out they were bang on. According to the bill it for the period of the date we moved in until the 14th.

We purchased a new fridge/freezer/washing machine. The fridg and freezer are both band A for economy.

We do have economy 7, but we did at the last place. the main bulk of the bill is for day time electric, and all things considered the only thing I can think of is the immersion is knackered, buy it looks like new and is only on one hour a day.

Basically I am livid. I have phoned a couple of electric companies but its much of a muchness, it might be cheaper day time but evening is more etc etc.

Gary,

thats well over the odds. Get them to check the bill. Did you get the meter checked before you moved in?

Regards

Nigel

Is it possible that it was high because of the cold weather ?

Another Nigel

It's yer trackin mate !

Makin plans for Nigels ?

Visit this site: uSwitch.com. Go immediately. Tell no one.

Regards
Steve M

This post will self destruct in 30 minutes.

Check your economy 7 tariff. It varies from area to area. For instance here in the north west I am on it and pay more for daytime units than normasl tariff, but save between 10 pm and 8 am.
Bob

Gary,
Here's a reference to a web-site which gives details of how to measure your instantaneous electricity consumption, based on the rotational time of the meter. If you do a baseload reading with everything turned off, you can then see how much more power you're using as you add more appliances. From that you can calculate the cost using the tariff on your bill. It might be a bit time consuming but could help in getting to the bottom of the problem.
http://www.cycom.co.uk/howto/electricity_consumption_measurement.html

Steve, its that kind of website I mentioned earlier.

They don't tell you anything, you can put any figure in as your monthly cost and all that happens is the results show a saving of 100 quid. I need a website which will tell me specifically what a unit of electric costs in the day and in the evening. Do not be sucked in by comparison site they are usually bullshit.

Bob we pay 2.7p per unit of economy 7

David thanks for the link, I will check it out

Gary,

It would help if you stated how much electricity you used in your old place (for the £45 bill) and how much you have used in the new palace (for the £95 bill).

Then also tell us how much each unit of electricity cost in the old place and how much each unit costs in the new palace

And finally, how much the fixed costs are for having the privalage of being hooked up in both places.

Then we'll be able to help figure out whether you are using more electricity or simply paying more for each bit, or some sort of combination and hence whether something looks wrong somewhere

Cheers

Don

When I last checked out some of the utility price comparator sites about 18 months ago, I found they often gave inconsistent and misleading results. I can't explain this, because presumably they all have to conform to some kind of standard. However using my own known consumption as a benchmark, I found a variance of up to £142 in the estimated costs for certain suppliers. Quite clearly this is nonsense, but with that sort of spread, how do you reliably know what you're going to pay.
Hopefully they've sorted out some of the inconsistencies between then and now, but frankly I wouldn't put much trust in them.

Why not try selling your old newspapers to get some extra cash..?

Or try selling anything

It's true there's always someone out ther who'll buy something...

Guess which particular word led me to the above link? If (s)he'd spelled Paula Rego correctly I might never have discovered the opportunity to buy a bit of one of last November's Independents for fifteen quid.

If only I had a better record player...

quote:

If only I had a better record player...

Keep wishing Rod, you just never know!

Heh heh, I hate utility bills.

Our electricity bills aren't too bad (having gas central heating) but the gas bills can be nasty: £60/month upwards. Of course, less in the summer, but it always seems excessive to me.

Partly due of course to the fact that our ancient boiler (aka Lucifer) is somewhat evil and inefficient. Partly due to the fact that it's Victorian and perhaps not the best insulated. £60/month and we're still cold!

Gotta get a new boiler...

John

My gas CH went into failure mode last November (predictably just as the weather got cold!). I suspected the boiler, as it was very noisy. However 2days and £500 later, it turned out to be a £5 non-return valve that had seized up. By that time though, I had a new controller and 3-way valve as they were faulty too. Then I fitted a digital programmable room-stat which is far better than the old bi-metal jobbie!

In Janury, the pump failed, so now the whole system barring the boiler, pipes and radiators is brand new. Must say though it's working far better and more efficiently than before its refit. I'm now waiting to see what it does to the bills

Very topical post gary, powergen are trying to shaft me to the tune of £398 for the last quarter and before anyone asks i dont live in a palace with wall to wall supercaps! i live in a small 3 bed house with GCH and my normal bill is about £180. The reason is that they have estimated the bill... call me old fashioned but if my average bill is £180 thats is a mighty crap estimate!

Now i need to work out how to get the right reading from my electricity meter... Sounds easy but its a digital one and i have to chose the right three numbers from 4 or 5 different ones... I have a feeling that it will be even more expensive if i stuff it up!!

Not wall-to-wall supercaps but a suspiciously tall rack....

We have gas central heating/water heating, but our cooker and everything else (obviously) is electric.

A 3 storey house, with 3 permanently powered up seperates rigs, 2 PCs and a LOT of lights (AND on a budget key meter - don't ask - previous tenants from 10 years ago!!!), and we get through a pound a day. £95 all in for your electric including heating and immersion sounds a BIT high, but not THAT bad.

In 2000, when I finally moved out of my old studio flat (also rented), I was being forced to use a £1 coin meter. It was so blinking expensive I was paying a quid a day with just one hifi and no washing machine or heating. I dread to think what the poor sod who's renting it now pays...

Gary,

You seem to be comparing your previous to current abode. Are they really similar?

An older house could have very bad insulation compared to the flat (I believe) you were in before. When I moved into my current house it had no loft insulation at all and some dodgy old windows. Worth checking these sort of things especially with electric heating.

reductionist.

Yes it would appear we are similar. I had a call from the electric people today asking if I wanted to activate my direct debit. I said that I had set that up when ordering. They said the phone guy hadn't enabled it as such I was being charged per month.

The long and short is by DD the price per unit is 1.5p cheaper and there is 17 quid discount per quarter, and because they average out your yearly likly bill it went from £95 quid down to £42.

Unbelievable. And more so for the poor bastards that can't pay by DD because they are getting shafted, and whats the betting those that can't pay by DD can't afford 95 quid a month?

Do you have a situation in the UK where extras are added to your bill? Here in QLD an ambulance levy is tacked on, the state government tried getting local councils to add it to rate bills but they refused.
Anyone with extra premises and therefore extra power accounts has the levy tacked on again and again and again.