Help! Need advice on energy prices and usage urgently

[Graphista]

Recently moved

Took a meter reading 3 APRIL managed to take another electric one today but from doing the maths (and my maths IS shit tbh) it APPEARS I'm around £150 a month for electric alone and it's just me here! Surely that cannot be right? I haven't even been home loads I've not been cooking I turn lights etc off when not in use Wtf!

I'm hoping I've just messed the maths up!

Or messed a meter reading up or something!

approx 590 KWH used in 36 days

Panicking!

That sounds way too high. With 3 teens I an currently using about 250 kWh a month.

Have you got an immersion heater? Tumble dryer?

What were the readings in April and today?

*2 teens, typo...

Well, I’m staying at a friend’s house while she’s away. According to her smart meter I’ve used £22 of electricity in 2 days. I haven’t cooked anything, I haven’t used the washing machine, there isn’t a tumble drier or a dishwasher.

I’ve had 3 showers and I’ve watched tv for about 40 minutes…🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

I average 7 units a day, so yours seems high.

We average 550kwh a month and we are high usage with 3 teens, loads of tech and DH WFH with 3 monitors.

I'd definitely check your airing cupboard if you have one and make sure nothing has been accidentally flicked on.

What were the 2 readings you're using?
What is the price per kwh?

So 16.3 kWh/ day. That's pretty high for someone living alone. Do you have any electric heating/ immersion heater/ spend a lot of time in an electric shower?

Do you have gas hot water or stovetop or all electric? We've averaged 17-18kwh electricity a week recently for two of us, so it would be about 100kwh in 36 days.

Sounds very high. Have you included the last number on the meter, which may be red, meaning that it's after a decimal point?

If so, that would make it 59 units in 36 days, which is low but, you've not been cooking and if you haven't been showering or heating with electric, it could be right.

59 x 25 p ish per unit = £15 plus the daily standing charge which could be around 50 p a day, making the bill about £40 or so, which is on the low side, but if you've been away a lot and not used sources of heat, could be correct.

Just me

No immersion
No dryer
Can't think of ANYTHING that would cause such high usage - only possibility is I THOUGHT I'd be cheaper using a fan heater rather than having the central heating on when I first moved in and it was quite chilly still - are they expensive to run?!

I thought that would be cheaper!

It's this one

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9200399?clickSR=slp:term:fan%20heater:5:234:1

I thought I was only having it on maybe an hour or so a day but I may have massively underestimated that and obviously it's not on at all when I'm not home or asleep!

Other than that just the normal usage everyone has with lights, tech, Wi-Fi, haven't figured out new cooker yet so been mostly having micro meals IF. I have something hot at all!

I shower every other day longer showers than most as I have ocd so about 15/20 mins but not every day

Washer run maybe every 3rd day on an economy cycle

I'm stumped!

No airing cupboard

What were the 2 readings you're using?

End feb 25753
April 3rd 25951
Today 26543

Number after decimal not included

What is the price per kwh?

27.84pence

Standing charge 49.65 pence daily

Is switching working again yet? I needed to ask about this anyway

It's a 2kw fan so every hour is 2kwh or about 56p/hour at the current standard rates. How long have you had it on?

It could be more or less than an hour's worth of central heating, depending on the size of your home and the efficiency of your boiler.

Weather warmer now anyway. Think I'll try without the fan heater and see how that works out next time I can check meter is in about 2 weeks

This is really worrying me!

Your 2kwh heater would cost 2x 27.84p per hour so 55.68p per hour.

Electricity is more expensive than gas so might be better using the central heating than a fan heater

Again, showers use a lot of electricity so if for e.g. you have a 9kw shower then 20 minutes would be 3x 27.84 = 83.52p each shower

This might be helpful www.confused.com/gas-electricity/guides/appliances-how-much-do-yours-cost-to-run

Even if I were using the fan heater 4/5 hours a day that doesn't explain the high usage I don't think - I don't think I do use it that much!

I use - daily/all the time

Normal lights
Wi-Fi router
Tablet
Smart phone
Alexa x 2 (although only one at a time as in different rooms
Radio
Fridge freezer
Heater as discussed

Non daily -

Shower 3 x week but yea 15/20 mins I cannot shorten this unfortunately

Washer x 2 a week

Hoover once a week (rechargeable type)

Microwave maybe 3/4 times a week for a ready meal or baked potato so less than 5 mins each time

Very rarely use toaster/kettle

Somethings not right

By my maths over £130 usage alone per 30 days not inc standing charge

1 bed flat

So 5 hours would mean your daily usage was 6kwh and that would be fairly typical usage for a single person's usage, I think. Is this similar to what you were using before the fan heater?

So 5 hours would mean your daily usage was 6kwh excluding the fan

6kwh x 30 = 180 KWH

Yet apparently it's closer to 16kwh per day by my maths

Nearly 600 KWH in 36 days - how?!

How many hours of fan heater use for 10kwh per day?

I'm so confused!

5 hours to use 10kwh.

The fan heater you linked to above was 2 kW, so 5 hours per day would be 10 kWh.

Could you be in the shower longer than you think and/or it's higher power than you're counting? Also you say 'every other day' so that averages out at 3.5 times a week.

Is it the same fridge freezer as you've always had? Is it new and efficient with a good seal or is it old/inefficient/poorly sealed?

What sort of flat is it? If it's converted house, is there any way that you could be paying for a neighbour's electricity, either due to a poor conversion or because they've tapped the meter?

@BarbaraofSeville

Not been checking how long I've been using fan heater - not bloody using it now unless I'm frozen!

Shower part of the ocd is I time it so no longer than 20 mins I would know if it were.

Fridge freezer came with flat seems pretty new and so should be efficient

It's a tenement flat in glasgow (old Victorian buildings high ceilings etc) no idea if there could be a neighbour issue won't rule it out but I think it's unlikely. Quiet well behaved neighbours so far.

take reading, turn everything off, leave for hour. take another reading.

Then slowly room by room turn everything back on (use rooms as you would do normally) with hour window in between each turn on and take a reading each hour.

You can then see what room causes the biggest drain

Plus if you think someone is tapping into your electric you'll soon tell