Energy bills

I have found some Economy 7 contracts around 20p day units and 15p night units compared with 16p all day price from my best price so far.
So you do pay dearly for day units.

I’m not sure than any company is offering “economy 7” these days, I’m getting quotes to renew now and most offer a “night” rate but it’s only a few pence lower than full rate and that only for 4 hours.

Storage heaters are better than they used to be but heat in the evenings is asking a lot when they stop heating at 5am.

You are right of course M0nica - I was still thinking of the actual heat output though.

I think really this post is becoming circular in that now people are talking about economy7 and storage heaters again.

The OP says she's changed her tariff so I think that's about it to be honest.
I think you and I agree M0nica that it's largely the temperature that the OP's mother likes (and the length of time the heating is on) that's the issue here. At least the OP can see where the big bills come from now.

hamster58.

Rather looking at the monthly direct debit amount, have you looked at the monthly/quarterly bills to see how many kw/hrs of electricity are actually being used, and how this differs throughout the year?

You would expect to see that your mum is using far, far less electricity in the summer months, when those electric radiators should rarely be on.
If that's not the case, there is something strange going on that needs looking into.

In fact, if you want to confirm that the radiators are the problem, might it be possible for you to take actual meter readings both morning and evening on a day when the radiators are in use, then do the same the next day (perhaps taking her out for the whole day so she needn't be too cold?) so you can get a rough idea of how much they use each day?

I realise that this might not be practical unless you live close to your mum, and would also have been most 'telling' if done in the cold winter months when the radiators are using most energy, but even done now, it might shed more light on the problem.

It doesn't matter. The prices given are for the output of the standard appliance you buy in the shops. This differs from appliance to appliance.

If someone has a fan heater, it is likely to be a 2kw output, if its an oil-filled radiator, 1.5 kw and so on.

It is giving the cost of running the standard appliance you will buy in Currys (for exampe) so that you can balance the appliance you choose against the cost of running it.

Electric heaters are very expensive to run. Storage heaters used correctly work very well, but the input has to be on maximum and then control the output, modern storage heaters are very good. Many people do not put enough heat in to last all day and then feel that they are not good enough but used correctly they are more than enough. Might be worth looking into, also having economy 7 so that most of the input is in the cheaper time. It makes a big difference.

I had a halogen heater 2 years ago and it was not my idea of cosy. Too directional and too bright..
It is fine in a church as it’s fast.

The advantage of a halogen heater is that it heats the object the “rays” fall on not the air in between. They are used a lot in churches that are only occupied for a few hours a week, years ago we had one in the bathroom before central heating.

So if you sit in front of a modern halogen heater it will keep you warm but won’t heat the room.

If they are different kW they will surely give out different amounts of heat M0nica?
I realise they operate differently...

According to the Centre for Sustainable Energy, a 2kW convector or fan heater will cost 28 pence per hour to run; a typical 1.5kW oil-filled radiator will set you back 21 pence per hour; while a 1.2kW halogen heater costs around 17 pence per hour.
www.telegraph.co.uk/recommended/home/best-electric-heater-portable-use-around-house/

Convector heater s are not so costly and they give instant heat,might be a better option and they are not expensive to buy.

I’m just renewing our electricity, paying 14p now, new quotes up to 21p, but I have one at around 16p, even that is a big increase.

Until 31 March 2021 it was under £2400 a year, but I was on a three year fixed tariff that came to an end.

I was with Npower but they handed over to eon next last year, but eon next said they would honour the existing contract and did so.

So then the new charges were up by about 40%, which was horrific, but I suppose that I had benefited from no price rise for three years and quite possibly the underlying rates had gone up year by year.

Electricity is, I have found out, much more expensive than gas, but I have the benefit of not having gas with its problems.

I keep the heater in the hall at 22 degrees C, but the sensor is underneath it, and as hot air rises the thermometer on the upstairs landing is usually at around 24.

So it is expensive but to me it is important to keep warm. I look at it as choice - the supermarket keeps offering me bottles of wine for 'only' so much as they put it, but I do not drink alcohol or smoke but I do like the house to be nice and warm. So the cost of a bottle of 'only' price wine a day is not spent so I think of it as applying that saving to keeping warm.

Well that is how I justify the cost of the electricity, though I realise that I am probably deluding myself.

holy cow ,thats high .i take it she is on economy 7 .? that will cut the price of electricity .and she does get the warmer home discount? i would talk to the electric company she has . if not go to another company . i have octopus .which is renewable energy and very decently priced .

Ah, the original message did not get posted.

ALANaV wrote> I have to stand on a stool to photo the readings ....there are about 5 of them ...day use, night use, date, time, a series of 8's and a series of 0;s and one other with a reading which I have no idea what it is for .....................this is out of hand and needs to be addressed by someone like WATCHDOG on TV......grr

That was meant as a preview but it got posted.

My meter has a blue button upper left and I use a length of wooden dowel to press it. No standing on a stool or anything else except for my two feet on the floor!

Anyway, you only need the one reading, or two if you have economy seven.

As it happens, an economy seven meter also has the total of day and night readings too, but if it is one hundred thousand it does not show the first digit.

I usually do not need to press the blue button as I note the night reading just before it goes to day rate and then note the day value later.

I send the readings in by email. They used to check every year or so, but not since the pandemic started. I always send the correct reading and my electricity bills are huge, as in almost £300 a month on average, but I do like to keep warm.

My readings are accurate. The bother has been because sometimes meter readers get the day and night readings muddled and one man managed to record the day reading and the total.

The problem is that if they send an estimate they let you correct it promptly, but if their meter reader has made the reading, even if it is wrong, they are very reluctant to do anything about it and if they do do something it usually takes "10 working days" so I have found it best to let the wrong direct debit go and get a lower bill next time rather than risk being listed as defaulting on a direct debit with a credit reference agency.

All this in days gone by "70 is recognised" and nowadays "21 is recognised" that some tradespeople go on about is just not for me. It is fine if one is in an office moving around actively getting work done, but I have for many years, even when much younger, found that I needed it warmer by a few degrees if sat watching television or something like that.

Many Citizens Advice Bureaus can give advice on getting the best value for energy use. Currently they are not doing face to face meetings but can advise over the phone. CAB.org.uk to find out your nearest branch and contact details.
I would say that the electric heaters that are the problem. You don't say what kind they are, but there are ceramic heaters available that are cheap to run along with convector heaters. Might also be an idea to check that the windows, door etc have been draughtproofed. Even double glazing can be a problem if it has been in place for a number of years - the seals can fail and reduce them to the same standard as single glazed without you realising!
LED lighting is really cheap to run, fluorescent is no longer the best. You can buy strips of LED lights that can be fixed to cupboards etc and plugged in. I think that the lighting is a lot brighter and works so much better than fluorescent .

Night storage heaters are designed to extract energy from midnight to 7am, when electricity is cheaper. If your Mum has turned them off and is using all her electricity from 7am to midnight (ie. daytime) then she will be charged at a higher rate. Although she has two electric heaters on a set thermostat (clicking on and off and the temperature rises and falls) this will be making her bills expensive. As other people have said, maybe check her insulation too depending on which floor she lives on. Hope this helps x

Oh my lord, I thought it was bad being that with 9 of us in a 5 bed house that eats electric, but to hear your mum pays that for just her each month - if I didn't have a dodgy heart before, I certainly do now!!!
I'd definitely get that checked out, maybe the wires are crossed and she's paying her streets bill's, too!!
I know electric radiators can be expensive to run, have you considered oil radiators for her? They might be cheaper.
My mum used to boil her kettle in the morning then make her first cuppa and put the rest in a flask or 2, so she didn't have to reboil all the time!
Your mum doesn't use a washing machine or dryer at home (I'm assuming you dry and iron her clothes, too) so even with today's prices I'd say that's way too high!!
I'm currently in a 2 bed house, end of terrace, radiators in every room, lights on downstairs a lot as I suffer with SAD & our lounge is shaded, we have tv running a lot with pc & phones charging. More so when the family are here (anywhere between us 2 + upto 4 - 9 people) washing machine, no dryer, water on a lot, my daughter and children come for baths/showers as their water heater is useless, and we still only go thru about £40 per month. Possibly upto £60 in a really cold month. We're on a meter, too. Gas on meter, too, about £20 per month. I'd have a fit at your mums bill's!!!
You can buy a Smart Meter that plugs in and tells you what is using the electric, I think my daughter paid around £99 for hers - I could be wrong - but it goes onto the bills so you're not forking out a lot in one go, I'd see about getting one, if I was you!!
I'd buy a body warmer, too. Lol

Some of them seem to charge what they like. Ive recently moved to a small bungalow and pay more for energy here than I did for a five bedroomed house that I moved from. I would say steer clear of OVO, they charged me £1,400 for 7 months. Ive now changed to another supplier.

Sorry Hamster58 just read your second post and seen that you’ve already checked the Economy 7 question.

In my last house, gas centrally heated, and gas hob everything else was electric I thought my bills were high. On checking my bill I noticed that I was on Economy 7 tariff but had no storage heaters. I rang my utility provider and they changed my meter and put me on the lowest tariff. Just doing that saved nearly £50 a month.
Does your mum still use the storage heaters in addition to her other electric heaters? If not she might still be on the Economy 7 tariff and it needs changing. Have a look at her bills and check her tariff.

Get a smart meter, but electric bills are getting expensive. My bill has gone up. Maybe you should see about her claiming pension credit or housing benfit.

Glad you’ve sorted that out! Should be a bit cheaper now. It’s a bind having just electric. Just check her water heater too. We realised it was costing £2.50-£3 a day to heat up hot water, most of which wasn’t used. So we turned it off and just boil kettles if we need hot water (although I appreciate that might not be a good solution for your mum). If we need a bath, we turn it back on and use the Boost button for a couple of hours. Works out much cheaper for us.

I think you need to consider a different type of heater
What about the little plug ins - the size of a plug?
storage heaters are really only for those on a night time tariff