Worried about tariff

[MarshmallowMan]

Hi folks,

 

This more of a pre-emptive query really, but something I'm quite worried about. My friend visited over Christmas and when he saw that we had storage heaters he told us that in his last house he and his girlfriend had received a bill for over £1000 for only a few months and it had turned out that they had been on some kind of tariff that assumes you use most of your electricity at night.

 

We've never used our storage heaters since we moved in last August coz I don't really know how they work and ours look like they've seen better days. Instead we heat the house with a gas-fired heater that is installed in the living room. We're renting and have never been on a two-tier electricity plan before and I'm now very worried that we ARE on one. I read our meter last night - that's what got me worried, there are two readings for electricity and I've only ever had one in other houses or flats - and gave this reading to nPower via their online meter read service. My fiance phoned up in August when we moved in and set up a monthly DD for both gas and electricty of £15 each. I know this is quite low but that's what the person from nPower recommended based on our bills at our previous address. I didn't realise we were paying so little each month until I asked the other day. Anyway, I'm quite happy to pay whatever we owe for standard electricity (I'm sure there'll be an o/s balance of around £300) but I'm wondering where I stand if they send us a bill for a massive amount based on some tariff that we had no idea we were on. I've checked through all our documents that we received - one document says we are on MIDE T1P electricity tariff but I cannot find out what exactly this means on the npower website. I phoned nPower last night but gave up after 37 minutes on hold (who says 0845 isn't a money spinner?) so I thought I'd ask people on here if they had any advice. If we are on some night-time tariff, surely they have to tell us this when we sign up so we can tailor our usage to limit costs, I dread to think what our bill is going to be if that is the case....

 

Any advice greatly received, we just got engaged and are trying to save as much money as possible (which isn't much, trust me) for hopefully a house and eventually a wedding too so could do without the added stress of fighting this one.

 

Thanks very much all, sorry for the extended essay. :confused:

[Chromatix]

The "costs less at night" tariff is usually called Economy 7. It's normally used in areas where the local Grid is heavily overworked during business hours, but there is surplus energy being produced in the evenings. Nuclear and coal plants are quite difficult to change the output of quickly, which is why the latter situation exists.

 

The tariff charges more than normal during the day to encourage economising, but then charges less during the night so that people can charge up storage-heaters cheaply using the surplus. This is, in fact, why storage heaters exist at all.

 

However, the heaters must be properly set up to make best use of the situation. They usually have their own clocks, which must be set to the correct time, and the triggers set in line with the tariff thresholds. If you or your friend need advice on how to set them up, or are concerned that they are in poor condition, I do advise finding an experienced fitter. I haven't used one myself, so I can't help directly!

 

Both electricity and gas tend to be charged per kWh these days, which makes it easy to compare the cost of doing your heating either way. You might find that Economy 7's night tariff is so cheap that electricity is the right way to do most of your heating. You might also find that gas is cheaper during the day, if your storage heaters aren't completely up to the job. Heating is the one application where electricity is just as efficient as gas, so you can compare kWh for kWh quite effectively.

[MarshmallowMan]

Hi Chromatix,

 

Mnay thanks for the advice and explanation. I've done a bit of reading on the internet about Economy 7 now and I understand the principle. I'm just worried that we've been living in our house for 5 months now without having been sent a bill and blissfully unaware that we were supposed to be using electricity at night. I fear a massive bill coming through the door now - I'm going to write to nPower today to ask them to explain our tariff and to ask them for an up to date bill. We don't want to use storage heaters as we are in a different times of the day and it would be a waste heating the house for times we are not there. Hopefully nPower will not have put us on the 'Economy 7' tariff and our bill will be for normal 'same rate' electricity. If we are on Economy 7 I'm going to get it switched immediately and see how much they're going to charge us and go from there.

 

Thanks all the same for the advice,

 

Happy New Year.

[Chromatix]

Storage heaters are supposed to retain heat throughout the day and release it gradually. They contain a big pile of oil which has a high heat capacity, and I think they have shutters in them so they don't let the heat out when you don't want them to. So do learn how to use them, they could still save you money even if you're in at irregular hours.

 

The best way to get an updated bill is to submit a fresh meter reading. That way you know the bill will be accurate. I believe utilities *must* send you an up-to-date bill if you send them a reading, unless they very recently sent you an estimated bill that was substantially accurate.

 

But the bill might not be a paper one, if you have an "online only" account. You should check that, and make sure you know how to log into the account if so. If it is not an online-only account, you should definitely be receiving regular paper bills.

[Surfer01]

I estimate that your bill with economy 7 in place would for a 2 bedroom place be in the vicinity of about £45 per month. Even if you do not use a single unit on the one meter, you will still be bill a standing charge which may be in the vicinity fo about £0.10p a day. This is a rough guess but I would contact Npower with both readings as soon as possible and ask for an updated bill. These companies love underestimating because when you want to change suppliers they whack you ith a large bill forcing you to stay with them in order to pay off the debt. I must admit £15 per month is an unrealistic figure and should be about £40 for electric and £20 for gas.

[madasamuppet]

Hi, don't know if relevant but when I was with BG for electric (via aprepayment meter) I was on a two rate system. Was charged a higher rate for the first ***** kwh of electric used and once reached this level was then charged at the cheaper rate. So in effect the more you used the more cost effective it became, although dearer to start with. They did the same with gas. Have now changed to ebico.

Maybe this is the reason for the two rates on your meter. Phone them up and ask if this is the case.

[MarshmallowMan]

Cheers,

 

I gave them a meter reading the other night but haven't heard anythign yet. I agree that £15 a month for each is a bit ridiculous, my fiance set it up with them and I was surprised it was set so low and that they suggested the amount. I see your point about why its in their interest to have us massively in debt to them so we can't switch. I've just posted nPower a letter today asking for an updated bill and clarification of what kind of tariff we are on. Being honest, direct debit payments may make it easier to budget for bills etc but you're just left without a bloody clue as to what you're being charged, whether your under/over etc. At least with tri-monthly billing, you'll only ever get screwed for a maximum of three motnhs before you'll be able to notic an error or problem - I can see this costing us a fortune. Anyway, thanks both of you for advice and help, I'll wait to see what nPower come back with and go from there at this stage. I was thinking for us - 2 people in a small two bedroom house it should be about £60/65 a month max which means we should be facing an underpayment of around £200 for the 5 months. I'll let you know what transpires anyway.

[MarshmallowMan]

Madasamuppet,

 

Thanks for this, that gives me hope that maybe we're not on Economy 7 - the two-rate meter might just be based around a plan similar to that one you had. Aaaagh I can't believe i'm getting stressed and I haven't had the bill yet - I just have a feeling this is going to be a pain in the arse. Thanks anyway, I should find out one wat or the other in the next few days.

 

Cheers,