Direct debit going up to £600pm?

[nogella]

It's just me, DS and DD.

I don't even own a telly. They just get broken. Lights rarely on. I mostly just use the microwave for food, and oven a max of 15 mins a time. During the day none of that is in use really

What on earth am I spending £600 a month on exactly?! Charging phones and the shower?

I don't know what to do. What will I do! I don't really use my energy anyway. So I can't cut back either and I can't afford £600 a month. I don't have that. It doesn't exist even if I stopped eating

no but thanks for remembering me

oh bloody hell - you were pulled apart on that thread!!

How big is your home? I’m in a 1940s 3 bed end of terrace, the loft is fully insulated but there’s no cavity in the walls so no insulation in the walls. Gas radiator central heating. August bill gas and electricity £105.

You need to work out what you and using that is costing so much. Generally appliances that heat or cool are the biggest users of energy - fridge, freezer, washing machine, tumble drier, dishwasher, boiler, showers, baths etc.

How much are you using these appliances?

Are they old ones (will use much more power) or relatively new and should have much better energy performance?

Is your tumble drier a heat pump one (these use the least amount of energy)?

What heating do you have at home - is it air flow? If so, make sure you are using it properly as someone I know how moved into a new build didn't understand how to use it and had a massive electricity bill after the first month.

its different on a boat they use an inverter so if the engine isn’t running and/or the leisure batteries are low on charge then yes…the microwave will make it all cut out.

You must be on a very low tariff as our electricity standing charge and usage was 1.50 approx a day while we were away on holiday and that is 46.50 a month.

@BMW6

Mine was £80 for August. We’re on the standard variable tariff with Bulb in a 5 bed detached house, 3 of us, and we’ve been home all day during the summer. Dreading the winter bills though when it harder to get washing dried.

@nogella

That doesn't seem right. You can buy a special plug that you plug your gadgets into to measure what they are actually using. Check your fridge freezer too - they can become very power hungry if broken. For comparison we are predicted £187 for 4 adult in a 4 bed townhouse

That’s a BIG bill OP. We are a four bedroom 1930s house with three adults, one working from home with THREE monitors, one currently permanently on computer at home with two monitors. Our dual fuel DD went to to £150 pm in March and our smart meter says we used £120 of gas & electric last month (and we had an additional adult for two weeks). We do have a TV but don’t have a tumble dryer. I also do a lot of baking during the school holidays and my oven is electric…..

@nogella my bill for 2 of us in a 3 bed detached house is approx 85 Pounds a month over summer and 18 for gas. We have 2 fridge freezers, 1 chest freezer and a wine chiller running. You are using a lot it seems?

The things that cost money are heating, showers and tumble dryers. Not fridges TVs and microwaves.

How many hours a day do you have central heating on in winter? At what temp? Turn it down to 4 hours a day at 18c. Off the rest of the time. Cut showers to 5 mins every 3 days. No more tumble drying! They can use £1 per day!

Two of us and bill was £15 gas, £40 electric last month, similar every month from May. We are on a fixed rate a bit higher than the current standard variable, so will be a 'low fix' in October but isn't now.

If OP is paying by billl rather than DD then £360 will most likely be for a quarter.

OP you don't have enough information to assess whether a fix is appropriate, whether that figure is accurate or whether your usage is normal. You need to do some digging.

Firstly log on to your providers customer account and check whether your account is in credit.

Look at the bill and check what period it covers and whether it is based on actual or estimated readings.

If the bill uses estimated readings provide actual readings and ask for a new bill.

If you don't have a smart meter take monthly readings to avoid issues.

If you are on quarterly billing then a monthly direct debit may suit you better and save some money but check here before you agree to change tariff.

When you know better where you stand come back with details of your tariff and unit rates and we can help you further.

My post was for @nogella but I am interested to see your figures. What is your daily standing charge for electricity and cost per kw?

This is mine : Electricity

Next Flex
29.48 p/kWh 41.66 p/day
(All rates inc. VAT)

British gas have just told us that our gas and electric is increasing to £16,500 per annum ! WTF ? ! Thats an increase of over £1000 per month !!!!!!!!!

Crikey that's massively high, is that a month or quarter?

@BakersYeast 36.21 p/kWh 25.08 p/day
So standing charge lower, unit rates higher, worked out 15% higher overall when I put my usage is when deciding to fix. We use 1100kwh a year, but only have one fridge/freezer.

You need to know exactly what your usage is in KWH and what devices you have and the power they use.

Once you know that, you can take control.

Electric shower?

They can be high energy users. High power and on for a relatively long time every day.

My mum's energy provider kept estimating her usage at £149 per month after she died, and the house was empty. They took 3 months to accept that their estimate was wrong and agreed to reduce the dd, but the standing charge alone still took the bill to over £30 a month.

OP <gently) please can you do a couple of things now?
1 — find out what your meter readings are today, right now.
2 - compare them to what their estimate is
3 - check back to your first meter reading and see what your consumption is - in kwh rather than £ (this gives a better comparison for hard numbers, even if it is a bit complicated-sounding)

This would tell you/us what the actual usage is. I suspect you have been massively overcharged in the 6 months you have been living there (or have a marijuana farm in the loft).

Have a look for those figures op and report back x

My current DD is £190 and my account is in credit - OVO are increasing it to £550. They have consistently set the DD much too high and I've got refunds from them

I do not understand why so many people do direct debit, yes it averages out summer and winter but causes all these other issues and confusion.

Pay as use via quartely bill and you know what you are using, do regular readings and in the current climate definately do not go on a high fixed rate.

You need to be sending in monthly readings if you don’t have a direct debit. At the moment the companies seem to be trying to get everyone to have big credits ready for the winter. We are a family of 5 (2 pre teens and a teenager who are clueless about turning anything off) in an older property and spent £77 this month on gas and electric to does go very high in the winter.