Fridge freezer costing £20 per day to run?

[Buttonsluna]

Hi there ,

We have just realised our standard size Liebherr fridge freezer is costing us over £7,000 a year to run . Obviously we’ve unplugged it and bought a new one (arriving today), but do you think I can get compensation from the company?

It took us a whole quarterly bill period to realise it‘s been using over 100 KWH per 24 hours. Our bills went up dramatically before that, but we put it down to both WFH.

Basically we now owe thousands of pounds we can’t afford (I feel sick and I’m having panic attack about how we’re going to pay).

As soon as we realised there was a problem when submitting our meter read, we bought a plug to check how much electricity each appliance is using. We were shocked that our Liebherr FF cost £23.50 over a 24 hour period!!!

We purchased it from John Lewis 10 years ago. Is there any recourse for compensation or do we have to suck it up? Is this just what happens when FF break down- is it normal? It seemed to be functioning ok, everything cold/ frozen and no frost or anything.

If you have any ideas please help. We acted as soon as we realised there is a problem so please don’t tell me I’m stupid for not noticing, I am busy working mum and struggle as it is to keep up with all life admin. Obviously I’m checking meter constantly now.

It seems like it was not the fridge freezer this time
but we have twice had high electricity bills due to the fact that the fridge freezer compressor was defective and then started overheating, which warmed up the fridge freezer which created a vicious circle as it then called for more cooling.
The fridge freezer did not feel warm but it had a fishy smell of burning plastic and it was obviously overheating when we pulled it out.

@dementedpixie

How long have you been with Eon? What company were you with before? Sounds like you were underpaying before. Did the debt go with you to Eon and that's why your monthly payment amount is higher?

i was just going to ask if eon is recovering debt from your old supplier. When i moved into my flat there was a debt being recovered for the old tenants that took months to get them to stop taking. i ended up having to go to the ombudsman who sorted it out eventually

No they don't, because the thermostat turns them off once the cylinder reaches target temperature.
You’re assuming the cylinder/tank has a thermostat!
Mine didn’t until a few weeks ago.

@SunShinesBrightly

No they don't, because the thermostat turns them off once the cylinder reaches target temperature. You’re assuming the cylinder/tank has a thermostat! Mine didn’t until a few weeks ago.

if you mean your electric immersion heater didn't have a thermostat, I have never known that, and I have seen some over 50 years old.

I know, can’t believe it either but there are other posts on mumsnet saying the same thing for immersion fitted more recently.

I know you’ve resolved that the immersion heater isn’t a problem, but, to confirm it is generally better to keep the immersion on all the time rather than on or off.

I get that it is counter intuitive, but the reason is, when it is on all the time, the water is kept constantly at a certain temperature, so the heater will still click on and off and only draw power once in a while to top up the heat. If you put it on once or twice a day, the tank will have cooled down which means the heater will be on for longer to reheat it.

Think of it like a kettle. If you want to keep it hot enough to make tea, you would only have to switch it on every once in while to take it back to the boil and it would only take a few seconds, but it takes 4 or 5 minutes to take it from cold to boiling.

PigletJohn
It was a copper water tank with a flat lid (similar to a massive saucepan lid) we used to take the lid off and put our finger in the water to see how hot it was.
It definitely didn’t have a thermostat.
We had a back boiler too.
Sad to see it go 🤣

if you mean your electric immersion heater didn't have a thermostat, I have never known that, and I have seen some over 50 years old.

Very unusual (and quite dangerous) for a tank not to have a thermostat. The water in it would physically boil constantly and risks the tank exploding.

[quote PigletJohn]@Tzimi "it only heats the water you need,"

Actually, every time your turn a tap on, it heats itself, its flue, its heat exchanger, and the water that stays inside after you have turned the tap off, as well as the hot water you actually use. All that heat then drains away from the uninsulated boiler, and next time you turn a tap on, it does all that again.

A modern hot cylinder stays hot enough for a bath for some days, if you don't use it, so it is not being constantly kept warm.

I'm surprised to hear you don't wash your hands from time to time, for example before handling food and after using the lavatory, or even rinse the teapot and swab down the kitchen worktop.[/quote]
Oh ffs, of course I wash my hands, and use some hot water for other things. But the majority of the on-demand hot water gets used for showers, is the point I'm making. My new boiler works well for me, and in fact most people I know have gone over to this type of boiler. Obviously, according to you, everyone who has a combi boiler has made the wrong choice. If you don't like it, you're welcome to stick to your gravity-fed hot water cylinder with low pressure hot water.

An immersion heater without a thermostat (or, more likely, a faulty one) is so dangerous that it needs emergency action.

Warning: Triggering. Report of fatal accident

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-506604/Water-tank-fault-scalded-baby-girl-death-known-unreliable.html

PigletJohn
Did you see my post above? 🤣

@dementedpixie

You arent supposed to keep an immersion heater on all the time. Have you tried having it on a timer instead?

Yes, you are. It's so much more efficient than re-heating.

PigletJohn
Just seen the article. Yes, I agree. Very dangerous. It was like a massive saucepan pan of hot water. I don’t know how long it had been in the house. Assuming as long as the bathroom/ back boiler. Old Victorian terrace.

Are cylinders supposed to result in low water pressure? Ours was so high it burst our expansion tanks 😬 all sorted now, but I do miss being able to wash my shampoo out in 1.5 seconds...

Electrical engineer here - There is no way your fridge freezer is using 100kwh per day, that is nonsense. You need to get a check meter fitted as yours is obviously not working. There is no fault which can cause your fridge freezer to use that much electricity. A commercial walkin freezer the size of your house wouldn't use that much electricity !

,

@ PigletJohn it did me? I was informed it would be cheaper to leave it on than turning it on and off, but then my family like bathes everyday.

[quote PigletJohn]An immersion heater without a thermostat (or, more likely, a faulty one) is so dangerous that it needs emergency action.

Warning: Triggering. Report of fatal accident

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-506604/Water-tank-fault-scalded-baby-girl-death-known-unreliable.html[/quote]
I remember reading this after it had happened. Just unbearably awful. I was always worried about ours from then on. I know they're usually fine but I'm glad to be rid of it now.

@SpamIAm

Are cylinders supposed to result in low water pressure? Ours was so high it burst our expansion tanks 😬 all sorted now, but I do miss being able to wash my shampoo out in 1.5 seconds...

old ones used to be low pressure, modern ones are often high pressure.

The modern ones are equipped with pressure release valves so shouldn't burst anything, unless they have been incorrectly installed or maintained by an unqualified person who has done something very wrong.

I often ask what colour a cylinder is, which gives clues.

@Bebethany

@ PigletJohn it did me? I was informed it would be cheaper to leave it on than turning it on and off, but then my family like bathes everyday.

An immersion heater warms water at a rate of about 1 litre per minute (less in winter) so a bath would take about an hour and a half. Once the cylinder is up to temp the thermostat turns it off. If your cylinder is properly insulated I don't believe there would be a perceptible difference in 24 hour or timed running. Unless you have cheap electricity at certain times, by Economy 7 or Solar, in which case use a timer to use as much cheap electricity as you can.

@ PigletJohn both of them in their 20’s now and moving into a shared house with another set of twins 🙄 I plant to have the bath taken out and replace with a walk in shower. But thanks for the advice, I doubt my bills will be £600 a quarter for much longer!

I know this isn’t the point, but i thought this post really highlighted how differently people see their relative wealth.

The OP rushed to buy a Bosch ff to replace the liebherr (which in itself costs an absolute fortune), even though there is no money.

Where do you get 300 from if you don’t have the money?

Reading this thread really made my heart rate go up, the sheer panic, and alarm, particularly when it wasn’t actually required, must be bad for her.

If you have a weirdly ridiculous bill, surely you -

1 - check the numbers to see if they’re actual or estimate
2 - check them against the numbers on the meter
3 - call the electricity company and give them the actual numbers?

Buying a special meter with no instructions, shoving some numbers in (when you know you’re not good with numbers) and then assuming that your fridge is using the the electricity of a small business…

I don’t know what I’m trying to say except that next time maybe make a cup of tea, and take a deep breath. And maybe spend the money on a professional rather than a new appliance. Mentioned not being able to afford professional advice a couple of times, but actually, professional advice is much cheaper in the long run (usually).

Hope she and the baby can rest now, and get some shut-eye.

The other cause could be an electrical leak in broken wiring. We only had 60% of house rewired, so this will need checking with the theoretical money I’ve saved today

Okay I am calling wind up now.

Getting confused with numbers is common, but nobody is dumb enough to think electricity can leak out of broken cables.

It's a terrible thing to have happened but dont panic. Get everything checked, the freezer the socket the meter, complain to fridge manufacturers. You can pay monthly if you can't afford the bill but be careful as the company will try to take the whole amount from your bank. Inform the bank about what is happening and cancel your direct debit payment plan. Call provider and tell them you've cancelled and will need to set up a new one with the extra you owe added in instalments. Explain what happened. Good luck

@Buttonsluna.

We have an immersion heater but system boiler rather than combi and the immersion is used as back up the boiler controls the cylinder

To have the immersion heater on permanently is not efficient and is costly it is like your constantly boiling a kettle.

Really would recommend getting BG engineer out to explain the system and how to use. You may have a wait due to the time of year and workload demand but the way your using really doesn't sound correct. I used to work for BG and my DH is a technical engineer would struggle to give any more advice as he isn't in front of it

Friend had a faulty meter it racked up a fortune. She changed companies as their attitude was shit. New company changed meter as it was faulty after all but she didn't get him to sign a letter saying it was faulty or keep the broken one, so she had to pay. No proof, I was furious because she asked me what to do and I told her but she decided not to be cautious and trust them. Company agreed to spread payment but then tried to take the lot out of her bank, I told her they would. Told her to get meter checked she decided not to, told her to get proof it was broke, decided not to. WTF