If this is correct, how can a family afford to pay then?

[InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest]

This is my latest electricity bill. I live alone, in a big (five-bed) house. I am very careful with electricity and gas usage because that's how I was brought up. I don't leave lights on when I leave a room, I use the washing machine every other day and same with the tumble dryer. I use a hair dryer/styling tools once every couple of weeks. Heating is gas and so is cooking. I have checked the meter and it seems to be working just fine. Does this bill seem correct to you? If so, do you mind sharing how much you use/pay and how many people you live with? AIBU in saying that this is not normal for a person living alone? Thank you.

Oh well, it will all come out in the wash, Lois. I submit meter readings (usually late), and I did notice that I will be re-assessed in a couple of months. I'm not bothered about what I pay at the moment but if it goes down, I won't complain :-). I'm not using the washing machine because....well, for reasons. That's probably why my electricity bill is so low. My kitchen needs doing up and as soon as that happens, the washer will be on again.

@InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest

My electrician agrees usage is too high. He's coming next week to have a look.

To those who are telling me to suck up and pay - I don't mind paying. I never said I do. I'm just asking whether my usage is too high for what I'm using. By the same token, no, I won't downsize either.

Your electrician is not allowed to touch the meter. It is illegal for him to do so and would be considered tampering. You have to query it with your energy supplier if you suspect the meter is faulty. He may say your appliances are very old and energy inefficient, but you could look that up on Google. I would put the electrical money to buying energy efficient appliances

@InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest

My electrician agrees usage is too high. He's coming next week to have a look.

To those who are telling me to suck up and pay - I don't mind paying. I never said I do. I'm just asking whether my usage is too high for what I'm using. By the same token, no, I won't downsize either.

Have you gone round the property to look at all the electrical appliances you have on and made sure things like immersion heaters, underfloor heating etc are off.

I think that is huge useage.
5 of us live in a big 5 bed, not well insulated house use half of that.

I am now the electric fanatic and have got our useage to less than 400units per 30 days in winter.

Before I became the electric police, at our most profligate, we still only used a max of 700 units per month which is considerably less than you.

I think you need to lay off the tumble drying.

@fartypantsmummy

Thanks for replies - I really appreciate it. Will have a look on Amazon for a dehumidifier. x

I have this one and it's fantastic www.devola.co.uk/products/devola-20l-compressor-dehumidifier-with-hepa-filter-dv20l

No underfloor heating, no. I have checked all appliances and whatever should be off is off. However my electrician will check each one of them to ensure they are not drawing too much power when on (of course he won't tamper with the meter).

Wouldn't the fuses go if anything is using vastly more power than designed for?

Washing machine and tumble dryer every other day??!! 😮 do you change your clothes 4 times per day or something?!

Wash machine & dryer every other day? Surely twice a week max for one person. Could you get a lodger to help with bills as well??

Jesus wept, she's already said several times over that she can afford it and doesn't need any financial help 🙈

@Imabouttoexplode

Jesus wept, she's already said several times over that she can afford it and doesn't need any financial help 🙈

I think it's the title, 'how can a family afford to pay' that may be causing confusion. Suggests that it may be a struggle but worse for a family. In reality, a family without disabilities or other factors causing the unusually high usage would be looking to cut back if they couldn't afford it.

Shell Energy have just emailed us to say that our new capped tariff is likely to cost us an extra £890/year (which is on top of the extra £600 were were expecting to pay when Pure Planet failed).

Shell Energy

they only made £12 billion profit last year, they need to obviously up their profits & whereas France has capped the utilities rise at a much much lower rate - the uk government is on the side of the operate business, again leaving the riff riff to lump it in the cold

Shell Energy

they only made £12 billion profit last year,

Shell may well have made £12 billion profit last year but Shell Energy probably made a loss.

Would you be happier if Shell Energy was still called 'First Utility' and were about to go into liquidation while Shell still made their £12 billion profit?

Exploring and extracting oil and gas all over the world is doing rather better than the 'distribution to UK consumers' business is at the moment.

@Imabouttoexplode

Jesus wept, she's already said several times over that she can afford it and doesn't need any financial help 🙈

:-D

InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest

hope you get to the bottom of why your usage is higher than you think it should be

Sounds very high usage. 2 people in my tiny bungalow, lots of tech and a small fishtank running but Ive noticed my usage has dropped since I swapped using the oven for my Ninja Foodie and started to turn everything thing off overnight including the fishtank.
The Last 36 days use averaged out at 7.5 kwhs a day for electricity down from 10 on the previous bill.

It will be the tumble dryer! I have one but only really for emergencies as they really rack up the bill and by emergencies i mean when the kids are sick and need fresh things fast - there's only so many changes of bed sheets before you run out! and the odd time ive completely forgotten to hang out the uniforms and realised Monday morn they are still wet in the machine! I did use it more during winter but it's just too expensive now.

Try home schooling several kids on live lessons all day plus then needing to heat the house during the day when i wouldnt normally - my bill for just me and kids has gone through the roof. I now have to flippin ration the usage (dishwasher only run when full, no lights left one, only 1 charge per game console a day, laundry every other day and the tv is only on for 1 hr) and we still have to make cuts!
and i still wont be able to afford the price rise coming.

I actually think this is a bigger crisis than the massive interest rates in the 90's ...at least people with savings benefitted.... there are no winners here

So there’s a number of things that can use electricity and gas more than you think

Is your house well insulated? Are your windows energy efficient? Lots of warmth escapes that way too. Do you use insulated curtain? Do you keep doors/windows open? Are you getting the entire house?

How long are your showers?

Are your appliances energy efficient?

Are you keeping electrical appliances on standby?

By the way, I agree about towels. I have very good quality towels but air drying them is not at all the same as towels fresh from the dryer. I do air dry loads of my things, most everything actually, but not towels.

@PainterMummy

So there’s a number of things that can use electricity and gas more than you think

Is your house well insulated? Are your windows energy efficient? Lots of warmth escapes that way too. Do you use insulated curtain? Do you keep doors/windows open? Are you getting the entire house?

How long are your showers?

Are your appliances energy efficient?

Are you keeping electrical appliances on standby?

By the way, I agree about towels. I have very good quality towels but air drying them is not at all the same as towels fresh from the dryer. I do air dry loads of my things, most everything actually, but not towels.

My issue is electricity, not gas. Most of our appliances are Bosch so fairly good in terms of energy efficiency. BUT: they are not brand new so that may be an issue I seem to now understand.

As for towels - yes. Mine are very good quality but air drying and tumble drying for a little while afterwards just doesn't do it for me... And I change them twice a week, including shower mats. I like a clean home and clean clothing and stuff :-)

I wash every other day but it's to keep on top of my uniform for work! Sometimes it can't be helped.

@JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon

Yes electric heating is really expensive to run and people forget how hard this it going to hit all electric homes who are already living in cold houses due to the cost of heating.

Are you struggling to switch because of a time of use tariff or legacy meter? Do you have two MPANs? If so it can be a nightmare.

If so I recommend calling the legacy provider for your area, and asking for their complex metering team. They might be able to switch you onto an E10 or E7 smart meter. We did this with EON and it has saved some money as now we can use our off peak rate for all appliances rather than just the heating.

I would also recommend getting to grips with how storage heaters work and how to use them efficiently.

I have no idea what smart metre I have or don’t have.

I can’t even set up a direct debit with Ovo they usually send me on a wild goose chase trying to track down exactly what the amount is I should pay,

I wish we had never swapped from payg but had found somewhere else to top up our card and it was only 1p per kw more
We only got through £200 per month. Now we seems to have a cheaper tariff but a bill that is £100 more

OP it sounds as if you would rather pay a bit more to have clean fluffy towels; you can afford it.

Do you have any drier balls? They look like this (no idea where i bought mine)

www.lakeland.co.uk/23672/2-Dryerballs-Tumble-Dryer-Balls?src=gfeed&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmeKQBhDvARIsAHJ7mF6dWkuGChi5cLLeA7sdYH-c9pFhySc0vbcJeF2z7KMtIR6rlSVINZsaAlbTEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

They can make a but of a racket, but they make things beautifully soft (allegedly the drying takes less time but i've never though to time it).

We pay £93 per month for gas and electricity and are usually in credit. Three of us, three bedroom terraced property.