Electricity Costs

[purplelily]

Hi,
I'm about to move into a small 1-bedroom flat, which has electric heating only (storage heaters). I'll just be using the usual things - fridge, TV, PC, washing machine, etc. - and was wondering whether anyone could give me an estimate of how much I might be likely to pay? I'll be with Scottish Hydro Electric, if that helps!
Thanks in advance,
PL

[gingejbee]

Sorry I can't help with actual costs, but don't forget that although your summer quarter may seem reasonable, your winter quarter could be several times as big - depending on how warm you like it in the cold weather. Depending on your finances, it may be sensible to pay by direct debit to even out costs throughout the year. I'll guess at £70 for the summer quarter, but am ready to be corrected!

[lucca]

You can get little gadgets that you plug in and they tell you the cost of what you're using (not entirely accurate though) - some energy companies give you them so it's worth asking. Storage heaters might not give you enough warmth so you might need a top-up for cold evenings (I'd suggest investing in an oil-filled radiator - very effective). I think £70 for a summer quarter's-worth of power would be cheap: fuel costs stinky lots of money. If you sign up for direct debit, the company will will calculate an expected cost, so that should help you to budget.

[purplelily]

Thank you both - I appreciate your time.
Lucca - I'm taking one of those little radiators down there this weekend - it's been FREEZING every time I've been there; it hasn't been worthwhile turning the heating on so far, as I'm only dropping bits and pieces off there at the moment - no time for the heaters to warm up! :D
Thanks again,
PL

[bushbaby_de]

We've got a one bed flat with storage heaters like yours (and plug in heaters to top them up because they're a bit rubbish!). We pay a fixed amount each month by direct debit and at the end of the year it gets recalculated if we've over or under paid. Off the top of my head we pay about £50 a month.

[Whoever]

Can't give you an idea of costs but do suggest you think very carefully about how to use the storage heaters in the most effective and economical way as I imagine you are probably on some kind of Economy 7 tarriff which gives you cheap overnight heating. If this is the case, get yourself a timer for your washing machine and programme it so that it switches on and operates during the cheap tariff hours (normally from midnight to about 7.30 am during winter)

Also, check the weather forecast every night and adjust your heaters accordingly, i.e. if a mild winter day is forecast, you won't need to have your heaters taking input at the full rate and you can turn them down to a lower setting for 24 hours. If you can get into the habit of doing this on a daily basis, you could keep your electricity bills to a minimum. Also, try to boil your breakfast kettles, use your toaster, etc. before the cheap rate tariff switches itself off every morning. It normally ends an hour earlier in winter months than it does during the summer, so you might have to get up a bit earlier to take advantage of the cheaper electricity rates!.

[bushbaby_de]

Yes Whoever is correct... once the clocks go back Economy7 is from 11.30pm to 6.30am, the rest of the year its 12.30am to 7.30am

[purplelily]

Wow, thanks for the extra info, bushbaby_de and Whoever! I'll bear all this in mind when I move :D
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