Electricity , being ripped!

Dogoid · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:30

been suspicious about how much i am being charged for a while and last week was the last straw as 1 week seemed to eat up 15 quids worth of juice.

with only the pc on today and nothing else running besides 1 room light, i seem to have used up 13p in the last hour from 1.15 to 2.15pm.

that's a lot isn't it? or is it? it works out £3.12 per day , yeah that is a lot.

what you reckon?

bledd · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:31

fridge, freezer, etc

Burnsy2023 · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:33

That is a lot, even with the fridge/freezer etc. Are you using electric heater or something?

Dogoid · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:35

even so, still high is it not? at this rate my bill is £1291 per year

Dogoid · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:35

Burnsy2023 said:
That is a lot, even with the fridge/freezer etc. Are you using electric heater or something?

nothing like that, just pc fridge freezer and a room light

arknor · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:38

you might want to check if one of your lightbulbs is leaking

Burnsy2023 · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:39

Turn all of the above off (unplug) and see if you are still consuming electricity at the meter.

MiNxYyY · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:40

Just because your not using it,does'nt mean its not on.

Energize · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:41

Are you on p&g?

Moley · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:42

If I were you I would check to see what type of meter you have installed. If its a digital one and your bill shows a unit conversion from imperial to metric you are being stuffed - as digital meters are all metric already. This is what has caused a lot of problems with billing over the past couple of years.

I would also go around the house turning off all lights, appliances and heating until you see the meter stop moving. Then turn things back on one at a time until you find which one is using the most - at least then you'll know.

If you have everything turned off and still appear to be using electricity I would worry - and make sure that your supply hasn't been hijacked by some unscrupulous neighbour.

Dogoid · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:44

going to see what the usage is from 2.15 to 3.15 next. then i will turn the pc off and see what the following hour is like.

cant turn the freezer off food will thaw. i suspect the pc is doing all the drinking here.

it does have a 2900xt in it lol

even still , 13 p an hour , thats ridiculous.

ill test another pc i have for 1 hour on its own also .

Substance · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:46

If it is one of those meters that you have to top up before it will let you use anything then you will probably be paying a lot more than you would be on a quaterly bill

yermum · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:47

You think you're being ripped off. My (elderly) parents were sent quite a threatening letter some months ago warning them that as prices were very likely to rise dramatically, they should fix the prices that they pay for gas and electricity. Very soon after this, prices went down so now they are paying way over the norm for these services. To get out of the contract, they have been told that they will have to pay £70 for the gas and a further £35 for the electricity.

nIckEl101 · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:52

i had this last week pay in 60 quid a month for a 2 bed terrace house. and i was still owing more!!

after some investigation I was on Economy 7, basically the way this works is it a cheaper rate at night for the electric storage heater, but during the day it's actually a more expensive tarrif than standard.

Economy 7

Day time tarrif 13.8p per kwh
Night tarriff 5.9 p per kwn (my night time usage was tiny - fridge/freezer etc)

Standard

First 440 kwh 11.8p
Any after that 9.2p

Do you have electric storage heaters, if not it's worth checking your meter if its an economy 7 and get it changed!

It's these things that the power companies don't ever tell you and really irks me.

Wicksta · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:53

Dogoid said:
cant turn the freezer off food will thaw. i suspect the pc is doing all the drinking here.

The freezer will be fine for hours as long as you don't open it.

Dogoid · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:55

here is the meter

CliffyBiro · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:56

Our bill has jumped 100 quid this month.

Have no idea why.

Dogoid · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:57

nIckEl101 said:
i had this last week pay in 60 quid a month for a 2 bed terrace house. and i was still owing more!!

after some investigation I was on Economy 7, basically the way this works is it a cheaper rate at night for the electric storage heater, but during the day it's actually a more expensive tarrif than standard.

Economy 7

Day time tarrif 13.8p per kwh
Night tarriff 5.9 p per kwn (my night time usage was tiny - fridge/freezer etc)

Standard

First 440 kwh 11.8p
Any after that 9.2p

Do you have electric storage heaters, if not it's worth checking your meter if its an economy 7 and get it changed!

It's these things that the power companies don't ever tell you and really irks me.

it does say that its 12p per kwh on the lcd

Moley · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:57

Ah, pre-paid meter. Higher bills for you matey.

Dogoid · 27 Jan 2009 at 14:58

Moley said:
Ah, pre-paid meter. Higher bills for you matey.

why is that?