Electric bill?

[kev25v6]

Not exactly about electrics but about the electric bill.

Im with EDF for gas and electric and my electric bill has two rates on it based on how many units i use. The first 200@ say 10p then the rest @ say 4p. Does this mean that i wont get cheaper electric during the night time as it used to be cheaper to do the washer etc through the middle of the night? If i use 200 units in the first week then is the rest of the quarter at the second rate whether its day or night?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

electric bill.

Is he going out with kerosene Genny?

 

[flameport]

You have this basically correct. Most companies now charge a different rate for the first X units, probably to make comparing suppliers more confusing and difficult.
Another way of looking at this is that the old 'standing charge' is now divided up over the first X units.

Cheapr electricity at night would either be Economy 7 or Economy 10 tarrifs. However unless you have electric heating, these tarrifs are useless. The penalty for cheaper units overnight is that the units used during the day are more expensive than on a single rate tarrif.
The small saving from running a washing machine and a few other appliances overnight will not be anywhere near enough to offset the significant increase in cost during the daytime.

 

[rebuke]

The two rates you describe are standard, first x units will be at one rate, remainder at another.

The rates that are based on time are generally on a tarif called economy 7 or economy 10 - basically if you have this tarif, your meter will have two readouts (if eco7 then one will be a 'day' rate, one a 'night' rate, for eco10 it's a bit more complicated, but this is quite rare). You mention that it 'used to be cheaper' at night, which implies at one stage you were on eco7, did you ever deliberately switch off it, as if not and your supplier just switched you without asking, then they shouldn't have done that, and you should contact them - they should be able to calculate back your usage from your readings, and work out how much they owe you back (assuming it does work out cheaper etc)...

 

[kev25v6]

Used to be-- meaning at our old house. This meter has just one line to read.According to the bill we average 16 units a day. Family of three, washer on every other day, dishwasher each day, fridge and fridge freezer, tv and lights (now got energy saving bulbs everywhere) All appliances are aaa rated too. Working out by my brothers charges with npower his gas bill would have been 100 quid more expensive for the same gas used, his electric bill was 3 quid more expensive.

 

[rebuke]

You can probably go on to economy7 - if you ring your supplier and ask them (I'd suggest finding out what the different rates are, and using that together with an estimated usage to work out whether it will save you money or not first). Some suppliers might charge I guess for fitting a new meter, but not sure - I've never gone through that process myself...

 

[Steve]

You can probably go on to economy7

Why do you say this? If he doesn't have electric heating, it will be more expensive for him, and the supplier may not allow it. Of course, he could do his washing at eco7 hours, but he aint gonna wait till midnight to fire up his plasma screen.

Many people are confused by their bill having two rates, and think its a dual-rate tarrif. It isn't. As someone said earlier, its simply a way to make it harder to compare suppliers.

 

[sm1thson]

Ive not checked my bills for a while , but them prices appear at first glance to be good so you would want to look carefully before changing anything.

 

[electronicsuk]

Ive not checked my bills for a while , but them prices appear at first glance to be good so you would want to look carefully before changing anything.

Methinks the OP has made a mistake - the prices he has quoted are for gas. If you are getting electricity for 10p/kWh at peak rate and 4p night rate, I'd love to know who your supplier is.

As an aside, if you're paying that much for gas then it isn't cheap, I pay around 3.8p/kWh of gas regardless of how much I use, with no standing charge.

 

[JohnD]

this winter, I was charged 3.310p per kWh for gas, plus 13.36p per day standing charge (got my gas bill today)

all ex VAT

however I also get a cash rebate of (about) one month's average usage costs, for each complete 12-month period I stay with this supplier. I suppose this is like an 8% discount off the price shown.

 

[kev25v6]

The prices are just random amounts just to find out out how the rates are worked out. Prices from EDF seem to have been quite good over the past few years and they only use english call centers which makes it a lot easier when trying to give a proper reading over the phone.