Am I using to much Elec or am I paying too much

[Nosha123]

Dear all...

I would greatly appreciate your input and advice. Since this darn credit crunch I have been trying hard to reduce our bills and costs etc.
We are with EDF and although we are building a new house (so using power tools, cement mixers etc - though mainly weekends now!) we are just the two of us living in a new built (insulated) timber cabin at the end of the garden. No gas to the property so currently we are Electric hot water and heating (radiators). I have a tumble drier that I use just once or twice a week. A Dyson washing machine, dishwasher, electric oven, 2 TV's, DVD player, SKY receiver, shower (not electric!)... not more than the normal home I suppose!

We have a tariff called 'Warmwise' which I understand is not widely available (Economy 10??).

Our bills are what I consider to be VERY expensive - though without a comparison I guess it is hard to know.

Last bill shows usage as:
This Quarter: average daily use 47 units
Tariff Charges: Warmwise
2nd Feb to 27 April
Day rate (old price before EDF cut their costs): 864 units @ 14.780p
Day rate (new lower price) 409 units @ 14.110p
Eve/Weekend rate (old price before EDF cut their costs): 1038 units @ 11.440p
Eve/Weekend rate (new lower price) 492 units @ 10.920p
Night rate (old price before EDF cut their costs): 775 units @ 5.530p
Night rate (new lower price) 367 units @ 5.280p

Our total bill exc vat was �431.79



The new house will be super insulated, double glazed and will have a Ground Source Heat Pump with underfloor heating throughout- so even though the house will be much much bigger than where we are living now - I am hoping it wont be anywhere near as expensive to heat.

Do my bills sound high to you?
Does our usage for 2 adults sound high? (we do use the shower twice a day - Husband is a builder so

[redman41]

I'm with Scottish Power and their current rates are:-
Day Rate=11.585
Economy 7 Night Rate=4.597
The High Bills you are now experiencing are due to the use of Power Tools for your Housebuild along with your Domestic Appliances. Cement Mixers, Power Drills etc will gobble up Electricity so whilst the Building work is going on you will receive higher Bills unfortunately

[Disco Fever]

Well power tools do use a lot of power but because it's a building site then all the tools will be 110 volt which means even when the power tools are not being used the 240/110 volt transformer will still be taking power and it does seem a little high, make sure you use the biggest electric takers, in other words heaters and the immersion during off peak periods and this will hopefully reduce your bills....