I saved £400 on my energy bill after turning off one appliance when I realised I’d made a VERY costly mistake
- One new renter describes learning that she was making a very costly mistake
- Her energy bills were £240 a month – more than the average for family of four
- She has saved £372 since October by turning off ‘inefficient’ immersion heater
One new renter saved £400 after realising that she was making a very costly mistake – and paying more than a family of four.
Harriet Morphy-Morris and her partner had tried several energy hacks to save money on their bills, including turning off standby appliances and using their washing machine at off-peak hours.
But their energy bill continued to go despite their efforts and caused the couple a ‘fair amount of stress’.
It was only when Ms Morphy-Morris realised that her immersion heater had been left on that the mystery was solved.
Harriet Morphy-Morris and her partner had tried several energy hacks to save money on their bills, which were higher than for a family of four
She has saved £372 since October after she turned off the property’s immersion heater. immersion heaters can be silently running up massive bills as they are expensive to run
She has now saved £372 by turning the electricity-guzzling appliance off.
‘We are on a standard variable tariff with EDF and pay via direct debit, so we expected fluctuating prices given the circumstances, but up until recently our monthly bill for two people exceeded the average amount for a family of four, and we couldn’t understand why,’ she explained.
‘It was only when we had to get a small leak repaired we realised we had left our immersion heater on and consequently racked up a hefty bill.
The mistake was pointed out by the plumber they had hired to fix the leak.
‘We had been throwing money away by using our immersion every day.’
An immersion heater heats water using electricity, even if you have gas central heating.
It costs around 63p to run one for an hour at current electricity prices.
Over a year it could cost around £1,380 to heat enough water for a 2-3 bedroom house with a shower or bath.
An immersion heater should act as a back-up to a boiler in properties with both.
But the appliances have been branded ‘inefficient’ by experts at Which because using electricity to heat water is more expensive than gas.
‘We moved into our first house but in early summer last year our bill went up from £125 per month to £240, even though we knew a rise in price was coming given the price cap at the time, this was a lot more than expected.
Immersion heaters have been branded ‘inefficient’ by experts at Which because using electricity to heat water is more expensive than gas
‘When the October 2022 price cap came, at the same time as our EDF direct debit review (in this period customers are made aware of any credit on their account), we were defeated at the minimal credit amount on our account, less than £100, and continual £240 bill,’ Ms Morphy-Morris said.
‘By turning it off in October we have now accumulated £372 in bill credit – which is not surprising now that we understand how immersion heaters work and how much they cost to run.’
A spokesperson for EDF explained what customers should do if they want a credit refund.
They said: ‘Anything over £150 at the end of their Direct Debit cycle is refunded back to the customer. If a customer wants a refund and has been billed up to date, they are welcome to request one.
‘Direct Debit monthly payments will be recalculated following this as the credit would usually be used to offset seasonal spikes. EDF was one of 4 suppliers to be assessed by Ofgem as having “no significant issues” with the way it manages its customers’ Direct Debit calculations earlier this year.
‘This means our customers can be reassured that our Direct Debit process is robust. We’ll continue to work closely with Ofgem to make sure we’re following industry best practice for our customers.’
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