gas and elecy bill doubles

my mother is on stay warm, its gas and electric combined for the elderly, the bill was fixed at £80 a month last year, but her new bill has gone up to £177 a month (3 bed terraced house)

the usage is

gas 30294 kw hours (normal)

electric 7648.28 kw hours (this is twice what she should be using, acording to e.on)

i cant understand where she is using the electic.


but the only way to lower it is to come off stay warm, and go on a normal type bill.

looks like i might have to change suplier

hovis i know its probably unlikely but may be worth looking into

something on the last watchdog and the one before (working so cant go get the link, be on iplayer tho) said about the meters being either read wrongly...or by charging in one measure of electric when it should be charging on a different measure of electric.....i wasnt really paying much attention as it didnt affect me but it had happened to a lot of people almost doubling their bill.......and as your mums usuage of electric is double.....maybe its this...

Ive heard a few people complain about stay warm.. Its cheaper for a year or so then jumps up to a ridiculous figure. Think its a bit of a con

[Luckypants]

I immediately thought of same prog as DappaD! Go to the Watchdog website, they have a fact sheet on this.

Also make sure they are reading the meter, not sending out estimates. My estimates are always too low, leading to a build up on the bill, which they get back by upping direct debit for next 12 months.

Another thing to check, there were 3 price rises in past 12 months, so prices are now 70% higher than before. Did these price rises take effect on your mum's tariff, but the DD not increased to take account, leading to arrears on the bill which they are now clawing back?

[the_lone_wolf]

YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU'VE




GOTTA SWITCH!!!!

[embee]

Those usages seem very high.

Look at it this way, 30,000kWh of gas is in the ball park of 100kWh per day, that's 4kW permanently on, which I'd say is excessive unless she's growing "stuff".
Is it a really old boiler? (water heating, not your mum).

Similarly 7600kWh elect is 20kWh per day so 2kW permanently on.

Look round to see what is running. Low energy lights? Electric fires, cooker, how often is the washing machine used?

Has she got a really bad fridge/freezer? I tried to work out what used the elect in my house and the old fridge and freezer made up quite a bit, near 1kWh per day each. New band A ones have halved that (they needed replacing anyway).

Look at the loft insulation if there's a problem heating the place. A lot of places have cheap offers on loft insulation now, Wickes do BOGOF etc. I put in a load more last year and it's been really noticeable how much less heating is required this winter. Current Building Regs show recommended loft insul is in the region of 270mm min. thickness.

On-line comparison sites are useful for checking, things like uswitch or energyhelpline. Be a little careful about doing changes on those sort of sites, should be OK but as usual take care. Note BritGas have announced price reductions, others have yet to follow so wait a week or 2 before making decisions.

the heating, fire and cooker are all gas,

i just bought here a new washing machine, A rated,which is used 5-6 times a week....... the frezzer is quite old, but theres nothing i can pin point out of the ordenrey..... she has a tumble dryer, but only uses it say once in 2-3 months,

i think because on stay warm they say you pay a fixed rate and use as much as you need.......... she has been using over £100 worth a month, but paying the fixed fee of £80, so they have increased it.



EDIT.............. British Gas WebSaver 1 Dual Fuel seems to be comming up at the best price

[punyXpress]

Leccy:
Turn everything off you can find & then have a look at the meter.
How fast is the wheel spinning round? Any movement indicates something is still switched on & probably has been all the time!

we have gas fired heating and water.On closer inspection I found a switch in the airing cuboard for the electric emersion heater that was happly wizzing away.
Good job I found it within 2 days

Originally Posted by punyXpress

Leccy:
Turn everything off you can find & then have a look at the meter.
How fast is the wheel spinning round? Any movement indicates something is still switched on & probably has been all the time!

i will try that tomorrow..... too dark now.

but these are the main things.........


1 fridge

1 tall frezzer

the TVs VCR doooovd are on stand by (when not in use)

2 digital alarm clocks

the pc is on from 9am-11pm, even when not in use (stand by kicks in after 10mins of not being used)

all enery saving light bulbs