How the fuck am I meant to afford this? Electric bill this month

[LadyFlumpalot]

My electric bill is £643 this month. SIX HUNDRED FUCKING QUID.

It's correct, I've checked and double checked. It was £400 last month. In the summer it was approx £180 a month.

I'm in a three story attached town house thing, fully electric. Two adults, two children. One fish tank. Usual tumble dryer, appliances etc.

I've got a balance built up of £450 so with my usual monthly payment I will just about break even this month. Next month will be a challenge though 🥶

And it's only going to get worse.

Not really looking for advise - just sympathy and solidarity. We are about to go full fucking Victorian. There will be no tumble dryer, no dishwasher, no charging appliances at home during the day.

Why would my bills be 6k per year?

You shouldn't be paying 44.9p, the govt price cap is 34p and all suppliers should be using that. Unless you are on an economy 7/10 with a cheaper night rate, in which case they work out a theoretic average

You shouldn't be paying 44.9p, the govt price cap is 34p and all suppliers should be using that

🤣🤣🤣

I wish.

The government price cap only relates to people on a certain plan. It doesn’t apply to everyone.

Who doesn't the energy price guarantee apply to? It even applies to those on green energy plans (who were exempt from the old cap). Those on economy 7 should be on that plan as they have storage heaters run on cheap nighttime rates.

It is supposed to apply to everyone. What supplier and plan are you on which is excluded?

Only those on Standard variable tariffs

No that's not right. It applies to those on fixes and green energy tariffs too. There is a limit to how much it brings down the rates, but the discount has recently increased so those on green energy tariffs should be paying the 34p (or close to it) now.

No, not only standard variables. It applies to fixes above the cap too. For eco 7 type tariffs it's done as a weighed average.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support/energy-bills-support-factsheet-8-september-2022#energy-price-guarantee-rates-in-great-britain
Scroll down for how it works if you are not on the SV tariff.

@Kennykenkencat What tariff are you on? Is it a fix? Economy 7?

The Simpler Tariff apparently this month

They have changed the lay out of the bill and I think my A level maths skills will be challenged .

It makes it twice as hard to understand when they make glaring errors on the bills.

I am sure it changes as I was on something else last month

Maybe they fixed their tariff on 44p? Otherwise it doesn't make any sense.

If you fixed above the price guarantee then you get up to 31.8p off electric which in almost all cases would bring it down to the same as everyone else.

Do you have different day and night rates? If not, is there a deduction shown on your bill?

My bills break down my charges as being above what I'm actually paying, with credit added to meet the price guarantee - is anything similar coming up on your statements?

I'm sure these companies just pick a figure out of the air, and say that will do.

It won’t get cheaper over winter because of dark nights which means lights are on. That’s in addition to extra heating costs.

Well I posted this at the end of January so...

If you change to a smart meter
You can view your daily, weekly, yearly usage

Your bill should show your daily standing charge

Your bill should show how much you pay per KW & if you use a comparison site, you could switch to a cheaper deal.

Some companies offer certain times when electric is cheaper

Example
Scottish Power
Winter months only Oct to End March
Weekends only
11am to 4pm half price electric
The money saved is taken off your bill automatically
Other companies do similar deals

You really do need a smart meter, it really concentrates your mind by showing when you are using loads. Also make sure nothing is left on stand by at night and resist using the tumble dryer.

Im in a 3 storey semi, all electric and my bill for November is going to be around £185. I dont use my dishwasher and dont have a tumble dryer and I use the washing machine 4 times a week with 3 little ones but I do have 2 de-humidifiers running all day. they make the house feel so much warmer and also help with drying the washing.

Hi everyone, I posted this thread nearly three years ago. Have gotten a smart meter since, and as it turns out there was an issue with our boiler (it was running all the time but something had tripped out so it wasn’t heating properly).

Thank you for all the advice, both genuine and sarcastic. No need to post anymore!

I wonder if you live in the same village as me? Not gas here either! We had to get a smart meter last year as we still had the old system, it worked for month, I’ve phoned Scottish power but so unhelpful, at least if smart meter worked I’d have a rough idea what we were using. Last bill was £280 and that was only having heating and hot water on for 1 hour a day , didn’t use tumble drier at all and we were all sitting in oadies to keep warm.
its beyond a joke

The heating pump has been constantly on?? That’s why it’s so much then.

Can you have a calor gas tank fitted?

This thread is over 3 years old and the OP has sorted why the bill was so high.