How is my electric bill £150, is this normal?!

[wtfffffff]

Posting for traffic.

I previously lived in a one bedroom, one bathroom flat. I had a communal water tank and never had to pay the gas & electric bill as this was included in the rent (Landlord payed for my usage through his service charge). Admittedly, I’m quite out of touch of how much energy bills cost.

I recently moved into a two bedroom, two bathroom and it just so happens, I’ve moved into a property that doesn’t have a boiler yet again. I have a water tank which supplies the hot water but the heating is electric and supplied through these very old school wall panel heaters. I had a thought that my bills would be expensive if all heating comes through the electric but bloody hell.

OVO Energy estimated my bills to be £70 a month. I thought this was probably wrong so increased my Direct Debit to £90. Just got my bill for this month and it’s £150?! Last month it was £125. Is this just life then? Do I just accept that the prices of things have sky rocketed and my usage means expensive bills? Am I out of touch and is that not really an expensive bill for a 2 bedroom property?

I also submit monthly meter readings so it’s definitely accurate. I guess I can’t complain seeing as I went two years with only paying £50 or so towards the energy bills… sigh

I live in a 2 bed flat with a similar water tank and electric heating. The building is quite modern so well insulated and I rarely need to put the heating on (it's 19 degrees inside with no heating). I do have an electric throw which I use when working from home and when it's cold. I probably use the storage heaters 15-20 nights a year on economy 7.

My annual electricity projection for the year is under £800. My direct debit is £70 a month.

Turn the water heating on only when you need it and check the meters every day to see if that reduces the daily cost. Then have a day of no heating and then a day of heating to see how much that costs. You may also have old inefficient appliances and the bulbs may not be energy efficient.

I wouldn't go with Agile, or not at this time of year. I was on it as I have solar and a battery and it's great in the summer but if you are all electric the spikes in pricing are difficult to avoid. You also have to be on a smart meter.

@wtfffffff did you establish if you are on a flat rate or dual rate?

That looks a very big tank. It will be pretty pricey to heat. Do you have a lot of baths?

I appreciate you are renting so can't change it but I got rid of ours for a small under sink option after the plumber I was going to get to replace it pointed out that I had a shower that heated the water, no bath, was asking him to plumb a dishwasher and my washing machine was cold feed. He asked exactly how long I was planning to wash my hands for 🤣

If you have a bath every day fair enough but you might want to consider how much you heat it if not.

I agree with the electric throw suggestions. That would help you keep cosy at lower cost.

Electricity is expensive but do is gas and heating oil. We WFH a lot and my DH is a complete baby when it comes to cold. He has unearthed (whispers) the electric heater. I'm going to cut the plug off...

Thank you for the comments guys, some really great suggestions which I need to get on board with. I’m currently sitting in my house in just a T shirt and shorts with the heating on of course I have a thick dressing gown and slippers so I should really throw that on!!

I never have baths, just daily showers which last less than 10 minutes each day. So it’s best to keep this immersion heater switched off and when I need the hot water, I switch it back on and click the boost button? I’m gonna need to do some research on this as it seems like a great solution to keep the cost down

The immersion is like a kettle basically, it heats the water up then stores it in a tank
Eventually the tank water goes cold but you'll work out how long it stays warm for
If it's on all the time it's like constantly boiling a kettle so, expensive!

Ignore the stuff about it heating overnight as it doesn’t sound like you’ve got Economy 7. It sounds like it’s just on all the time and will be drawing more power when the water gets below a certain temperature.

if you want a shower first thing in the morning I don’t know how convenient switching it on and off will be. Could you persuade your landlord to fit a timer?

You're wandering round in shorts and t shirt, heating on full blast, keeping your enormous water tank constantly full of hot water and wondering why you've got expensive energy bills!!! Priority 1..... get your warm PJs and dressing gown on and turn your heating down. Priority 2...... turn your immersion switch off and just use it for 20 mins before a shower. Priority 3.... buy a heated throw.

It could be worth asking your landlord about this because private rented tenants can be eligible for these free boiler upgrades and if you qualify it could save you money and increase the value of your landlords property. You would need their permission to get it done of course, but I wouldn't rule it out without asking.

This. Is there a timer switch so you can set it so the water is hot ready for your shower each morning then it will refill with cold and you can decide if you need to boost it for washing up later or set a regular time to reheat. If there is no timer and it is a regular socket, can you buy a time switch to plug in.

Your shower doesn't necessarily run on the immersion.

It might but it could equally draw on the cold water supply and heat on demand. I've never had one that runs on the immersion. Google the model if you can see it written in it.

You might need a bit of trial and error.

Write down your meter reading at a set time each day and see how many units you've used (assuming it's not a smart meter).

Water, heat and shower are your big things. Stuff like putting the telly on standby is a drop in the ocean in comparison.

That is true , many electric showers don't run off the hot water tank. Also is your washing machine linked to hot and cold inlets or just cold?

Get some lagging around that hot water tank OP. You will be wasting loads of electricity and heat loss.
You can buy cheap lagging jackets (like plastic covered duvets) that keep the warmth in the tank and will save you loads.

https://www.diy.com/departments/mangers-4-piece-cylinder-water-tank-jacket-h-1067mm-w-450mm-t-80mm/26876_BQ.prd?srsltid=AfmBOoroUUef6VluMKW-ksgvLwXYhD56E8o5oFxw31bfrjlJvJrxgolyKfA

Rare to get hot and cold now. I'd bet it's cold only unless very old.

I live in a studio in an all electric flat with a water heater and one storage heater and pay a DD of £88 a month. My last bill I didn’t go over, but I do go over a bit once I start using heating as well.

My immersion heater has 2 switches, which the Landord talked me through. One stays on all the time, it controls the heater which is on a timer, so only heats at a set time during the night when rates are lower.

The other switch can be turned on if you need more hot water, it takes about 40 mins to reheat, then you switch it back off. I live alone so very rarely need to switch it on for extra. The hot water also lasts a long time, it heats in the early hours of the morning and I usually shower late at night, around 9/10pm and still get hot water

Seems quite low to me.

Fully electric here too. Over the last 30 days our two bed property has cost us £146.89 in the last 30 days according to my smart meter and I haven’t turned on any storage heaters yet. Absolutely dreading it to be honest so yours sounds good if you’ve had heating on as well.

This happened to me and it was the immersion heater. Speak to the landlord? Electric is more expensive to heat water and radiators but you aren’t paying gas too, so you can try work out what’s on a timer and get it set up to be more cost effective

mine heated up on a timer then I had a boost button

I don't think £150 per month is extortionate. It's the price of a cup of coffee in a cafe. ( I don't do that often but would much prefer to have a comfy home)

I would heat the flat every day then turn the temperature right down if you’re moving around and use an electric blanket when you’re sitting around. It hasn’t been really cold yet so it could become more expensive in deep winter - you’ll find it much cheaper from April / May to September.

I live in a 2 bedroom flat, all electric. I pay a fixed direct debit of £113 per month. In summer my bills are around £70, in the dead of winter they're a lot higher - January I can easily use £200+ of electric. I'd say £150 for this time of year is normal to be honest. Electric heating is pricey.

If you have an electric shower, switch it off!

Just make sure to run the water through occasionally

F

Having your immersion heater on permanently is like having a kettle constantly boiling just incase you want a brew when you get up in the morning. Switching that off will save you bucketloads.