Energy bills

Sounds high to me but I really think you'd need to seek advice from an independent person in that field. I pay about a third of that for a three bedroom detached house but I don't do 23 degrees and I'm on contract and direct debit which I believe all helps with the cost.

If you haven’t used the comparison sites to make sure she’s getting a good rate for the electricity she’s using, that should be your first stop.

But it sounds as though those electric radiators are the problem. If your mum insists on using this form of heating, there must surely be more energy-efficient ones on offer?

This sounds about right as electricity is extortionate. Before central heating was installed where I live my bills per quarter were rarely below £400 for storage heaters and an electric fire.
I must have complained every time the bill came through the door.

Even now for the little electricity I use I still can't fathom out why it remains at over £100, which means that it's the actual expense of the stuff and you can't do much about it no matter who you change to regarding suppliers.

I hope this cost of electricity is addressed as I understand that gas boilers are to be phased out within the next 10 years and replaced by electricity.

Check the meter readings. My late mum was in sheltered accommodation and the readings were done by the electricity company and were muddled with economy 7. I took over when they sent her a monthly bill of £300 and she had an angina attack. Her bills miraculously decreased ,can't remember exact figures ,but a fraction of her previous with a large credit.

I live in a three bedroom house with my son and his girlfriend. My energy at the moment is from peoples energy, gas and electric and it’s £101 a month, which isn’t too bad as the shower is used a lot and my son likes to bath. Also octopus energy is very good and fair.....

My mum is similar but has night storage heaters on economy 7. 2nd heater in lounge installed last year. One in hall on all the time.
Thermostat set at 21degrees on both & in hall.
2 bed flat. Cozy.
£68 per month.

I'd blame the electric radiators - as the storage heaters just won't come on above the set temperature. The other things won't add much, although a mini-cooker could be useful.

I'd certainly get the meter checked for accuracy (sometimes they're faulty) and check for any draughts too.

I expect your mother just feels chilly when her circulation slows due to inactivity, though.

My mother was always too hot or too cold - so constantly (obsessively) adjusted the thermostat for the central heating. Why not add/remove a cardigan, blanket or dressing gown instead?

When my parents moved to a bungalow, my father installed a dummy thermostat - and hid the real one. We were all sworn to secrecy!

I am with Octopus, 3 bedroom modern house and I pay £60 a month for gas and electricity. I know it is small but every bulb is a long life 10 year one.

I think you need independent assistance but I am not sure who you would approach for help.

Sounds exhorbinate to me. I am in a 2-bedroom flat, gas and leccie. Use a lot of electricity as I do love my 'gadgets'. (alexa, laptop, etc. tv in living room and both bedrooms, humax, dvd player, etc. etc. ) Gas is just used for CH and water. I do not stint on heating, etc. but pay around £55 per month for both. And, this includes the use a tumble dryer weekly - all cooking done by leccie, although have dispensed with large oven, use combi microwave for that.

I too am with Octopus a 2 bed house, I live alone all bulbs are LED I pay £57 a month. I’d also guess it’s the electric heaters putting the cost up.

I would say that it is the electric heaters which are the main cost. After a water leak in my mums house which brought ceilings down, we had decorators in during the winter who needed to use two electric heaters while they were working and in less than four weeks weeks we paid over £400 for the electricity they used! The house was empty so no other energy usage. Fortunately the insurance company refunded us the cost!

Hi again everyone. Thanks so much for the comments so far. Hetty58 that did tickle me about the dummy thermostat!! Mum is with People's energy and it was found for her by Look After My Bills but nothing much changes price wise. I do know those radiators are not helping but it was her choice and as long as she's comfy and can afford it, at almost 91 I wouldn't want to mess things up. I just want to be sure things are being logged correctly, so may ask the company if they can help in checking that.....

Oh dear hamster 58 have just noticed your Mum went to LookAfter my Bills and is signed up with Peoples Energy. At the moment I am having problems with LAMB basically they signed me up with two different providers, one being Peoples Energy and the other Utility Point, both of which have taken direct debits from my account. I am just wondering if they have not done something similar with your Mum, it may be worth enquiring of LAMB, although from my own experience it is very hard to get a response from them. I would never recommend LAMB to anyone, best sort it out yourself. I really don't know why I contacted them myself I am usually much more on the ball, senior moment!. I do feel your Mum is paying an awful lot but as previously said its probably the electric radiators.

Are the bills based on actual meter readings or estimates Hamster58 ?

I think convector heaters are 20p per hour - could you persuade your Mum to try them?

Would a heated blanket help and then maybe the ambient temperature could be lower?

travelnanTo be honest, it does not sound unreasonable. Her flat is being kept to a very high temperature, I think that 21 is meant to be the standard high for domestic premises. The previous sentence is absolutely not a criticism but a statement of the temperature domestic heating systems are designed to reach.

Because she has chosen the heating she has, it is using high price day time electricity and to reach the 23 temperature and maintain that temperature the heating is probably on and using electricity most of the time to keep the flat at that temperature, but let us say, cycling on and off as these heaters do, it is on 10 hours a day.

I have done the calculation. The radiators are probably 2 kilowatts, which means they use two kw of electricity an hour, 2 x 2kw radiators means hourly electricity consumption is 4 kilowatt, for l0 hours a day at a charge of 16.55p a kilowatt (what I currently pay on an annual contract)

gives 2kw x 2 radiators x 10 hours a day x 16.55p a kw = £6.62 a day. Over a 30 day month that is £198.60. Presumably the heating isn't on all year, but that makes the £175 monthly payment quite possible.

The other thing is : how well insulated is the flat. Are the windows double-glazed and draft proof? Are the walls insulated? either external cladding or cavity wall insulation, depending on the construction methods. If she is in a top floor flat how well insulated is the roof void?

If she is in a conversion flat in a house built 100 years ago or more, with no cavity walls, no double glazing, even if it isn't the top floor it will cost two or three times as much as it would if she lived in a retirement flat, recently built to a high thermal efficiency.

Sorry, should have been addressed to hamster58

Wow MOnica. Well done! You wouldn’t like to check mine would you?

That one was exhausting enough.

Thank you MOnica for your clear calculations. I can see why my heating costs so much now. When I sit down in the evening I have an electric blanket to keep extra warm.

If your mum has a storage heater tariff, based on most of her electricity usage being overnight for the storage heaters, her daytime cost per unit will be very high.

Check if that's what she has and if she can change to a basic tariff which charges the same at all times of day & night.

Farnorth OP said quite specifically that her mother did not like storage rads and she had chosen to replace them with electric radiators.

Having reread OP's post. I realise that I queried what type of flat she had, when OP stated that it was a purpose built block, but how well insulated it is will depend on its age and whether any insulation has been retrofitted. Also how much outside wall does the flat has and which way it faces. A flat with 2 outside walls facing north and east will be a lot colder and more expensive to heat than a flat with one outside wall facing south.