£1,000 electric bill :(

AtreuS · 2 Sep 2010 at 12:59

AdladUK said:
Yeah the water is heated by a boiler which is on 24/7

erm... how exactly is it on 24/7?

It should only heat up water when you run the tap, if its on all the time keeping a tank of red hot water just in case you need it then i think you have found the problem.

We had similar happen last winter, a gas back boiler ( very old ) was faulty unknown to us... and was using gas ALL the time 24/7 for 3 months. The bill came to about £800!

We payed it off over the last year as it was our faulty equipment that did it. We now have a brand new gas heating system and the bills are so low its amazing, This winter will be the big test however.

oweneades · 2 Sep 2010 at 12:59

AdladUK said:
Yeah the water is heated by a boiler which is on 24/7

Very unlikely that it would be on 24/7. If it is change it asap. We have our boiler setup to heat the water twice a day (and on demand).

On the electricity front, your usage (based on the readings) seems far too high. My bill is around £35 a month for a 3 bed with 3 computers, TV consoles etc.

Vonhelmet · 2 Sep 2010 at 13:22

AdladUK said:
Yeah the water is heated by a boiler which is on 24/7

Huh? Are you sure?

Vonhelmet · 2 Sep 2010 at 13:24

oweneades said:
On the electricity front, your usage (based on the readings) seems far too high. My bill is around £35 a month for a 3 bed with 3 computers, TV consoles etc.

Aye, it's definitely too high. Our combined direct debit for gas and electric for a 3 bed semi with a fair bit of electrical gear is only £73.50 a month and we're always in credit. We reclaimed £200 from them last year, so you're looking at more like £57 a month.

Something is definitely wrong with the OP's situation...

VeNT · 2 Sep 2010 at 13:41

Jono said:
A gas boiler? Or do you mean sort of like an immersion heater?

this
if it's a electric immersion heater and you've it on 24/7 then yeah, that will do it (especially if it's heating your house)

Scougar · 2 Sep 2010 at 13:41

I estimated £40 for electricity and £40 for gas (heating and cooking) for us.

Do you use a tumble dryer every day or something or have one of those kettles that keep the water on boil?

Street · 2 Sep 2010 at 13:56

That does seem insanely high! I live on my own in a 3 bedroom semi and generally have a server, up to 2 PCs, amp, TV, monitor, decks etc on most evenings and my bills are only around £60 a month for electric.. For my gas on the other hand which runs my combi boiler and hob, I used £2.98 worth last month!

I get emails from British Gas at the end of every month reminding me to take a meter reading within 5 days so I don't get an estimate bill.. Might be worth looking into something like that so you remember to take them every month!

AdladUK · 2 Sep 2010 at 13:56

Okay new plan!

I'm gonna take the reading at 9PM tonight, then 9PM tomorrow, then I'm gonna switch off my water heater thingy and take the reading again on Sunday at 9PM. Hopefully then we shall see if that's the problem.

And if not I'll keep continuing to switch things off until I'm completely in the dark

Cosimo · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:02

AdladUK said:
And if not I'll keep continuing to switch things off until I'm completely in the dark

That will certainly keep your next bill down, you hope.

muon · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:02

No wonder they underestimated. You have potentially a really high level of use.

You should ask them to amortise the payments though. I'm sure they'd do it to keep you as a customer.

Vonhelmet · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:13

AdladUK said:
Okay new plan!

I'm gonna take the reading at 9PM tonight, then 9PM tomorrow, then I'm gonna switch off my water heater thingy and take the reading again on Sunday at 9PM. Hopefully then we shall see if that's the problem.

And if not I'll keep continuing to switch things off until I'm completely in the dark

FFS just turn it off now! It sounds like that's definitely the root of the problem!

AdladUK · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:18

vonhelmet said:
FFS just turn it off now! It sounds like that's definitely the root of the problem!

Not necessarily. I just spoke with the landlord and she said it's one of those fancy new boilers that's very well insulated and keeps water warm for days. Added to that I rarely hear the thing heating up, for example just now I checked it and it's dead silent.

So an extra day or so of usage isn't going to make much difference now. I'd rather be certain this is the root cause of the high usage

Kotu · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:19

I had a similar thing happen a couple of years or so ago, new fusebox was fitted when moving house, after a couple of months the electric usage was really high like yours, but it went even higher the month after. The power eventually went out with a burning smell and it turned out the fusebox was a cheapo one from china and had been left with some shortcircuit going which had eventually burnt out one of the thick copper cables inside (black and crispy!).

Annoying thing was the person who had fitted it had "moved on" and I was still left paying monthly bills with an average based off some stupidly high number which had come from an accident

Ive got one of those owl wireless meters attached to the power cables now and can see the exact usage at any given time. Quite scarey seeing it jump when the kettle is on

PiKe · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:22

AdladUK said:
Okay new plan!

I'm gonna take the reading at 9PM tonight, then 9PM tomorrow, then I'm gonna switch off my water heater thingy and take the reading again on Sunday at 9PM. Hopefully then we shall see if that's the problem.

And if not I'll keep continuing to switch things off until I'm completely in the dark

What wrong with the plan of switching off the main breaker in the flat and seeing if the meter stops? Takes seconds...

Will tell you if anyone has tapped your supply or if you have an earth leak.

AdladUK · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:24

PiKe said:
What wrong with the plan of switching off the main breaker in the flat and seeing if the meter stops? Takes seconds...

Will tell you if anyone has tapped your supply or if you have an earth leak.

But... But... That would mean switching of my computer! NEVER!!!

I will actually try that tonight as well, thanks

Bes · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:24

AdladUK said:
Yeah the water is heated by a boiler which is on 24/7

There you go, If this is an electric immersion heater, you are basically keeping a huge cylinder of water hot 24/7/365.

PiKe · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:25

Bes said:
There you go, If this is an electric immersion heater, you are basically keeping a huge cylinder of water hot 24/7/365.

Don't immersion heaters work on off-peak electricity? So it would come on with a timer...

Vonhelmet · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:25

AdladUK said:
Not necessarily. I just spoke with the landlord and she said it's one of those fancy new boilers that's very well insulated and keeps water warm for days. Added to that I rarely hear the thing heating up, for example just now I checked it and it's dead silent.

So an extra day or so of usage isn't going to make much difference now. I'd rather be certain this is the root cause of the high usage

Well, from what you've described it sounds like an immersion heater, which will chew through electric.

Do you have a gas boiler? What kind of boiler? Or an immersion heater? Or what?

AdladUK · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:26

Bes said:
There you go, If this is an electric immersion heater, you are basically keeping a huge cylinder of water hot 24/7/365.

Yeah I figured the same, but then I touch it and the thing is midly warm (not hot) plus it's making no sound to indicate it's constantly heating

Vonhelmet · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:26

PiKe said:
Don't immersion heaters work on off-peak electricity? So it would come on with a timer...

No, you can have an immersion heater in the hot water tank that can be switched on and off at will when you suddenly need hot water.

If you left it on all the time though...