Electricity Meters

[sleaver]

I moved in to a maisonette in September and just as I was about the inform the Seeboard the meter was read by one of their people (so I know the start reading was right), then got a quartly bill and after giving the readings they wanted £150 for 3 months! Its a 2 bedroom with 2 people living in it!

Questioned it and was asked to take readings for 7 days and then phone back and do a questionaire! Phoned back and first thing I was told was that £150 is right but they made that assumption based on nothing! I then said that another property with the same set up pays £75 a quarter, but was told that things can vary so cant really use that! I said fair enough but £75 difference is alot of difference!

Anyway I did the questionaire and was told we wasn't using as much as we should be

Couple of days later I phoned back and said I wasn't happy with the findings as alot of this were assumed, like I wasn't asked how long the storage heaters were on for! Anyway I did the questionaire again but with different answers and durations and still got to the same usage as the first time

As an example they reakon our electric shower should be using 45 units a quarter, it uses 3 day so thats roughly 200 a quarter

Everyone we have spoken to has said £150 is to much, even someone who lives in a 3 bedroom house pays less! Plus the storage heaters were only on for 1/2 of that quarter!

Is there anything further I could do as I suspect the meters aren't working correctly, other than just pester them on the phone?

 

[Steve]

if you have issues with whether your meter is working correctly, YOU can measure how much electric is being used in your home. Basically, for one day, add up all of the electric used. Then multiply this by 90 days.

For example, a 60w light bulb running for 3 hours each day:

.06 x 3 x 90 = 16.2KwH - 16.2 units per quarter.

A 3Kw storage heater running for 8 hours every night:

3 x 3 x 90 = 810 units per quarter.

A 10.5Kw shower run for 10 mins each day (approx. 2 showers) (1/6 of an hour = 0.167):

10.5 x 0.167 x 90 = 157.815 units per quarter.

Then times the total value by your rate per Kw. Something like 6-8 pence for us. This gives you your approx. cost per quarter.

Also, work out the daily approx. consumption and compare it with your meter reading.

If you still have issues after this, contact them and ask them to fit a check meter.

 

[sleaver]

A 3Kw storage heater running for 8 hours every night:

3 x 3 x 90 = 810 units per quarter.

Are you sure thats right? I have 3 storage heaters, 2 x 2.55Kw and 1 1.7Kw run for 11 hours a day! I work that out to be as follows:

2.55 x 11 x 90 = 2525
2.55 x 11 x 90 = 2525
1.7 x 11 x 90 = 1683

Which gives a total of 6733 with a cost of 8.8p giving £592.50 per quarter

Or have a missed something somewhere?[/i]

 

[HDRW]

A 3Kw storage heater running for 8 hours every night:

3 x 3 x 90 = 810 units per quarter.

Are you sure thats right? I have 3 storage heaters, 2 x 2.55Kw and 1 1.7Kw run for 11 hours a day! I work that out to be as follows:

2.55 x 11 x 90 = 2525
2.55 x 11 x 90 = 2525
1.7 x 11 x 90 = 1683

Which gives a total of 6733 with a cost of 8.8p giving £592.50 per quarter

Or have a missed something somewhere?[/i]

Somehow Crafty glitched! He had 3 x 3, whereas 3kW for 8 hours is 3 x 8, of course, so:

3 x 8 x 90 = 2160 per heater per quarter.

So going on your figures, you're right, the maximum for your heaters is nearly six hundred quid a quarter! However, it's likely that the heaters are thermostatic, so when they reach their design temperature, they switch off, so they aren't actually on for the whole time (luckily!). Did anyone tell you storage heaters were cheap to run? They lied!

Now it's pretty unusual to have storage heaters that aren't on some sort of reduced tarrif (Economy 7 for example) - are you saying you have a single rate meter and pay the same all day and all night? If so that makes storage heaters a nonsense - they are designed to use "cheap" overnight electricity to charge them up, and then give off the heat when electricity is expensive. If you pay the same all the time, you would be better off with something more controllable, like oil-filled electric radiators.

I think your best bet is to read the meter yourself regularly, and see whether the number of units used matches what you're doing. For example, Crafty said that 10 minutes represented 2 showers - not when I have them, it doesn't! I have a large surface area (!) and I spend at least 20 minutes under the shower. One reason why I would never have an electric shower!

Anyway, have a look at what you're actually using, and see if that comes close to what you used in your first quarter.

Cheers,

Howard

 

[DDoyle]

Storage heaters can vary according to age and make in how efficient they are, but generally a storage heater will take about40 minutes to reach initial operating temperature, and then they usually operate for about 15 minutes every hour they are on. This will obviously depend on how cold the ambient air temperature is and the settings you have the heater set at.

11 hours sounds rather long, I think if you check the economy 7 meter you will find the property runs on E7 from midnight to 7am, although this does vary with suppliers, but I do not recall ever hearing of one set to run for 11 hours.

£150 a quarter does seem a little on the high side, I have five children, a 6 bed house and three of these have en-suite electric showers etc etc, our quarterly bill is about £140 (we have Gas central heating and the main shower is Combi-Boiler fed)

 

[Steve]

many apologies for my error!!!!

 

[baldelectrician]

??

 

[baldelectrician]

Most people do not use storage heaters efficiently- the boost / output control should be turned down to minimum before going to bed and then turned up as you require heat- say in the early evening.

Always remember to turn down input as the heater will lose a lot of heat during the day when nobody is likely to be in.

 

[Lectrician]

How many heaters are we talking?? They can cost more than you think when on! what about water?? What are you being charged - 2/3p at night??

 

[JohnD]

£50 a month, in the winter, when you have electric heating and an electric shower, is not excessive. I bet your friend who pays less in a 3-bed house has gas heating.

It'll be the heaters that cost the money.

I don't like storage heaters, like baldelectrician say, they fill up during the night even if tomorrow's going to be warm; and they give out most of their heat during the day when you're out at work (or do you have babies/old people in the flat during the day?). Builders used to fit them because they were cheaper and less trouble to fit than proper heating, and the builder doesn't care about the owner's running costs.
Just make sure they're on a cheap nighttime rate, and switch them off when the worst of the cold weather's over. Get some ordinary heaters you can use in the evening when necessary.






On the other hand, I have shares in an electricity company, so don't mind you shovelling in money at night when demand is low.

 

[sleaver]

Now it's pretty unusual to have storage heaters that aren't on some sort of reduced tarrif (Economy 7 for example) - are you saying you have a single rate meter and pay the same all day and all night? If so that makes storage heaters a nonsense - they are designed to use "cheap" overnight electricity to charge them up, and then give off the heat when electricity is expensive.

They are on a reduced tariff meter but its not an Economy 7 one! I think its actually 5.something p to run them rather than 8.8p, but that still works out quite alot!

I think they use anywhere between 30 and 50 units per day, but the average is around 45!

Were having a quote for gas central heating but think its going to be around £3000 -£4000 and we have concreat floors so would have to have surface mounted pipes!

 

[Qedelec]

You might to look at Electric Boilers for wet CH systems. Costs more to run at present but when you consider the rising price of oil and gas, and servicing of conventional boilers, these very little in it. Heatrae Sadia.

 

[plugwash]

don't we generate a large portion of our leccy in this country from natural gas?!

i'd have thought an electric boiler would be quite a lot more expensive to run especially if you aren't prepared to only use it during off peak hours.