£360 a month on electricity?

[Sintalese]

Have had one big big bill. My dh, teenage daughter and I have recently moved. It’s a twenty year old 3 bed flat. Both dh and I work from home and so have computers running constantly.

Our heating is underfloor electric but we honestly don’t use it much as it’s slow and the flat is warm.

Then how the hell do we spend £12 a day on electricity? We are on the cheapest rate available. We have a dishwasher and dry the vast majority of our washing rather than tumble dry.

Are you getting billed for other flats in the block, in error?

Dear me op I thought mine was bad. I’m on a pre-payment “smart” meter (hmm) and our electric top ups last month cost £260. We live in a 30 year old 3 bed semi, 3 adults and an 11 year old.

I do use my washing machine and dryer a lot though but the prices are just shocking.

Have you contacted your supplier for an explanation?

I live alone in a two bed flat. January I paid £165. I was so shocked that I switched off the heating the day that bill arrived and I have not put it back on. It's freezing but I can't afford it. I work wrapped up in a blanket and I only heat up enough water for a 5 minute shower. It's sad

I forgot to say I have a smart meter so I can see via the app what I'm spending every hour of the day. The culprit was the heating, hot water and oven. I don't use the oven anymore either

This is what it looks like

Electric heating is more expensive than gas for a start. My two year old new build is 100% electric and it costs more to heat it than my draughty 100 year old terrace ever did. Because my old house was gas and gas is typically cheaper.

Energy prices are also going through the roof now. So your flat would probably have only cost about £175 to heat six months ago.

Turn everything off and see whether your meter is still showing electricity consumption. Do you have anyone living above you? I have heard stories about upstairs occupants tapping into downstairs flat electricity supply. They lift floorboards up and tap into your lighting circuit....

Are you absolutely certain that your cheap rate moved with you? There have been issues with peoples fixed rates ending when they’ve moved although the company assured them this wouldn’t happen.

Dishwashers are really quite expensive to run. Have a look at your meter before and after, I think you’ll be quite shocked.

There’s lots you can do to get that bill down. I’ve managed to reduce my daily electricity from £3.90 to 1.90. I’ve also managed to get my central heating costs down to 27p an hour instead of 70p.

The biggest electric guzzlers in my house are the kettle, showers, the oven, and surprisingly the tv.

My dishwasher cost 17p to run. I only switch it on every 2 days. I don't use the TV and switch the computer off as soon as I finish work. You have to be extremely frugal but it can be done and a smart metre is helping me check what appliances were expensive. I don't iron any more either and I don't use the hairdryer

Dishwashers don't have to be expensive to run if you use the eco programme.

They also use far less water than hand washing, so it might cost more to heat the greater amount of water.

OP is the flat all electric? Is there an immersion heater for the hot water? Have a look at efficient use of that, insulation, timers and matching the use of water to when it is heated.

Someone the other day said they watched someone's smart meter go up £2-3 while they filled a bath, so definitely look at hot water use.

It won't be the computers unless they are gaming type with big fans. Laptops don't cost much to run.

Electric underfloor heating is extortionate

We had it fitted and now never turn it on as it is so expensive

Do you have an immersion heater? Sometimes people have them set to be on all the time and that costs a fortune. If it's not that then it's the underfloor heating.

If I convert this into my currency, this is the amount I pay per month, we have also had ridiculous increases.

No one here ever installs underfloor heating. And those who do have it, just don't use it. It is just way too expensive to run.

We aren't even in winter but I don't use electricity to heat the house (except for electric blanket).

I know this is really random but many people here have (don't laugh at the name) a Wonder Box or Wonder Bag for cooking soups and stews, curries etc. You start the meal off on the heat and put it into the bag (I have the box one) and leave it. It retains the heat so just simmers away all day without costing you a penny.

I have not seen them mentioned at all here as yet, just a heads up as they really are great.

here

I found a link for a UK site, but these are really expensive. They are cheap as chips here, and they also get given away for free to low income households. But I see there are patterns to make them yourself if you are nifty with sewing.

I hope this is helpful to some. My best curries have been made in my box .

It will be the under floor electric heating, switch it off and you will notice the difference.

Have you got a smart meter or submitted readings?

Actually I have just re-read the link I posted, and I didn't read that page thoroughly (i was just looking to show an example of the bag).

It is actually the foundations page and the bags are made here, so the shipping etc. has to be taken into consideration. And this foundation has been around a long time and does support many families.

I am not affiliated in any way btw.

Just needed to put that disclaimer in.

I know you say you don't use the underfloor hearing much but it can be extortionate. About 20 years ago my aunt had it installed and received a bill in the thousands after just 3 months. She never put it on again. Do you have a smart meter you can use to test usage with and without the heating?

isthismylifenow, those wonderbags look interesting. I remember cooking in a hay box when I was in the guides many moons ago. I also use a slow cooker a lot and we've just invested in an airfryer so we don't have to turn the oven on so much.

Trying to get into the habit of switching stuff off when it's not in use, instead of leaving pc and tv on.

OP, what happens in your house at 6am? There seems to be a big energy spike then.

That does seem high, I didn't know it was so much for electric! Our last bill was £140 and we are on a green energy variable rate exempt from the cap. Just started the switch to a standard variable because of how high it was getting. We are in a 2/3 bed semi and there are two of us.

@Crowdfundingforcake

isthismylifenow, those wonderbags look interesting. I remember cooking in a hay box when I was in the guides many moons ago. I also use a slow cooker a lot and we've just invested in an airfryer so we don't have to turn the oven on so much.

Trying to get into the habit of switching stuff off when it's not in use, instead of leaving pc and tv on.

OP, what happens in your house at 6am? There seems to be a big energy spike then.

I am doing the same, I am really trying not to use my oven so I am using the airfyer more now, but mine is quite small so I can't really do a whole meal in it.

We had our electricity tariff spike last year, so we are unfortunately a little bit ahead in this now.

What I have started doing:

Run my pool filter for half the time (unfortunately that has to run every day but half the running time seems to be working out ok)

If I boil the kettle I only put in enough water for one cup. Or two if making for two etc. I found the kettle uses a hectic amount of power. In the winter when we drink more hot drinks, I boil in the morning, then put the boiled water into a flask, and use that during the day. Now I'm not a tea snob so some people might not be ok with that, but it stays decently hot enough to not have to repeatedly boil the kettle.

Reduced the temp of the water in the geyzer. Went down 5 degrees which does make a difference to the bill, and not really that much to the water temp.

Some people turn their geyzer off in the morning, then again on again later in the day, but I don't as it wears the element. There is a big debate on here as to whether that is a money saver or not. I.e. if it stays on it just keeps the water at a set temp. If it is turned off, it has to use more power to reheat the whole 150l tank again. I know your hot water systems work a little different there, so this may not apply to you.

At the moment I have the luxury of cooking outdoors a bit more (being in summer) I have a gas bbq which I do use more now. I could light a fire but that is a bit time consuming unless its a weekend.

Try to keep your freezer fuller. Even if it is with bags of ice. The less in there, the harder the motor is working to keep those few things frozen.

And then of course the bag. I use it more in winter though.

I add on more tip when I think of them.

I try and keep my gas and electric under £5 a day. I bought a heated throw which costs nothing to run. My son has medical problems and is mostly sat down all day. Normally on his computer. The washing machine goes once a day and the dishwasher once a day.

I live on a fairly compact four bed bungalow. We are currently paying £150 but ours is fixed. I don’t have the heating on unless I freezing.

I’m dreading when our fixed rate finishes next year. Goodness knows what our bill will be then

It’s quite easy to make your own wonder bag. I’ve fashioned one with a wool blanket and several towels. It will keep food really hot for around 2 hours.

If I boil the kettle I only put in enough water for one cup. Or two if making for two etc. I found the kettle uses a hectic amount of power. In the winter when we drink more hot drinks, I boil in the morning, then put the boiled water into a flask, and use that during the day. Now I'm not a tea snob so some people might not be ok with that, but it stays decently hot enough to not have to repeatedly boil the kettle

Compared to items like electric showers, kettles don't use much energy over a day.

An electric shower could be 9000 watts - so a 10 minute shower is 1.5 KWH . That's about 42p a shower.

A kettle is about 2000 watts of power - so if it takes 2 minutes to boil a small amount of water (about 0.5 L) that's about 0.1 KWH which is about 3p.

Altering things like shower use can make a big difference.

As can knowing what high power devices are used for a relatively long time, and lower power devices that run for a much longer time.

1 KWH is 1 unit - 28p under the new tariff

That's the equivalent of a 100 W device being used for 10 hours.
Or a 3000 W device being used for 20 minutes.

Knowing this will help people see where the electricity goes. A Smart meter won't got red when lower power devices are being used, but they make a difference over a month and a year.

Have had one big big bill. My dh, teenage daughter and I have recently moved. It’s a twenty year old 3 bed flat. Both dh and I work from home and so have computers running constantly

You can get a device that plugs into plug sockets so you can monitor the energy use of devices such as PCs

A Smart Meter will also help see what's going on.

Showers are a biggy. A long shower with a few people can easily add up.

You really need a list of electrical devices in your home - and their approximate wattage. That can give you an indication of what devices are either power hungry or just eat a bit of power but are 'constantly eating'

The 'average' UK home uses 2900 KWH per year of electricity.

What does your provider estimate your use is.