My electric bill is overcharged

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Suomi123
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 5:59 pm

My electric bill is overcharged

Post by Suomi123 » Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:54 pm

Hi guys! I moved to Finland on November and bought a detached house in the countryside. I have just received my electric bill from 1/11-12/12/2019 (43 days) and it is 1520 Kwh. I think it is too much... I lived in Ireland in 2-bedroom flat before, and it's only 250-300kWh for 2 months and everything was run by electric (heating,cooking, shower...). (I don't know if it's right to compare 2 different countries, it's just what I think)

The ONLY heating system I use is underfloor heating for 4m2 with very low temperature. I do NOT have any other type of electric heating.
I use wood to warm the house, for sauna and for cooking. I don't use electric to cook.
I have hot water in the bathroom which uses electric. I have a fridge-freezer, 1 TV, 1 computer, 1 6-kg washing machine and lights.

Is it really possible that it is 1520 Kwh for 43 days?.....

Thank you



My electric bill is overcharged

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FinlandGirl
Posts: 1330
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:43 am

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by FinlandGirl » Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:00 pm

Suomi123 wrote:
Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:54 pm
I moved to Finland on November and bought a detached house in the countryside. I have just received my electric bill from 1/11-12/12/2019 (43 days) and it is 1520 Kwh. I think it is too much... I lived in Ireland in 2-bedroom flat before, and it's only 250-300kWh for 2 months and everything was run by electric (heating,cooking, shower...). (I don't know if it's right to compare 2 different countries, it's just what I think)

The ONLY heating system I use is underfloor heating for 4m2 with very low temperature. I do NOT have any other type of electric heating.
I use wood to warm the house, for sauna and for cooking. I don't use electric to cook.
I have hot water in the bathroom which uses electric. I have a fridge-freezer, 1 TV, 1 computer, 1 6-kg washing machine and lights.

Is it really possible that it is 1520 Kwh for 43 days?.....
Could be an error in the bill, or some hidden electricity consumption.

That's 1500 watt on average.
Which is a lot.
Or 2 high-end gaming PCs.
Or 15 old lightbulbs.
Or the sum of 30 small consumers (idle computer, underfloor heating, lightbulb,...) each using 50 watt on average.

Are electricity bills from the previous owners available?

Suomi123
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by Suomi123 » Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:23 pm

Yeah. I have thought the same... But when I contacted the company, they weren't helpful at all...

I also thought that I should have left many many many many many bulbs on for 24 hours to reach that amount of electric... LOL

The previous owner said he paid only 1000e/year for electric, which made me feel so surprised now looking at the bill :'(

I'm really afraid of the next bill... I still can't figure out what's going on with my electric consumption...

FinlandGirl
Posts: 1330
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:43 am

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by FinlandGirl » Thu Jan 09, 2020 10:23 pm

Suomi123 wrote:
Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:23 pm
I also thought that I should have left many many many many many bulbs on for 24 hours to reach that amount of electric... LOL
With the old 100 watt bulbs it was quite easy to reach thousand watts just by keeping light on in a few rooms.
Or with some nice looking outdoor lighting.
Suomi123 wrote:
Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:23 pm
The previous owner said he paid only 1000e/year for electric
If this is true a mistake in the bill is more likely.

betelgeuse
Posts: 4353
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:24 am

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by betelgeuse » Thu Jan 09, 2020 11:39 pm

Suomi123 wrote:
Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:54 pm
Is it really possible that it is 1520 Kwh for 43 days?.....
Check the hourly consumption numbers in your provider’s online portal to see what added info they provide.

Upphew
Posts: 10748
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:55 pm
Location: Lappeenranta

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by Upphew » Fri Jan 10, 2020 9:19 am

Suomi123 wrote:
Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:54 pm
Hi guys! I moved to Finland on November and bought a detached house in the countryside. I have just received my electric bill from 1/11-12/12/2019 (43 days) and it is 1520 Kwh. I think it is too much... I lived in Ireland in 2-bedroom flat before, and it's only 250-300kWh for 2 months and everything was run by electric (heating,cooking, shower...). (I don't know if it's right to compare 2 different countries, it's just what I think)

The ONLY heating system I use is underfloor heating for 4m2 with very low temperature. I do NOT have any other type of electric heating.
I use wood to warm the house, for sauna and for cooking. I don't use electric to cook.
I have hot water in the bathroom which uses electric. I have a fridge-freezer, 1 TV, 1 computer, 1 6-kg washing machine and lights.

Is it really possible that it is 1520 Kwh for 43 days?.....

Thank you
How the water is heated? 1520 sounds a lot. Garage or other buildings?
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Suomi123
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by Suomi123 » Sat Jan 11, 2020 11:43 am

I have hot water all the time to use. I suspect that the hot water machine runs all the time. I want to try to turn it off but then I can't do the dishes with cold water. Last night it costed 11 kWh (from evening to morning while we were sleeping). I don't use anything in the garage. I may have to get an electrician to come and check.... :(

Suomi123
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by Suomi123 » Sat Jan 11, 2020 11:46 am

All the bulbs are LED so I think it's not the problem ..

Suomi123
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by Suomi123 » Sat Jan 11, 2020 11:49 am

I currently don't have a Finnish bank account to register online with them. But I check my electric meter everyday. I found that it costs 10kwh while we are sleeping.. It's a big question for me now..

betelgeuse
Posts: 4353
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:24 am

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by betelgeuse » Sat Jan 11, 2020 2:17 pm

Suomi123 wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 11:49 am
I currently don't have a Finnish bank account to register online with them. But I check my electric meter everyday. I found that it costs 10kwh while we are sleeping.. It's a big question for me now..
You can also activate online authentication to a Finnish SIM card.

DMC
Posts: 1314
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:17 am

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by DMC » Sat Jan 11, 2020 5:23 pm

You seem to be concentrating on the hot water system so let's start there. Does the hot water system include a hot water tank (most likely) or does it heat the water on demand?
If it heats on demand it should not use power overnight because there would be no demand, hence no heating. So if you have a heat-on-demand system you need to get it checked.

If you have a hot water tank you could check 3 things.
First, is the tank adequately insulated? If not, the heater will run a lot to keep the tank up to temperature. You should insulate the tank to reduce that. Also if the tank were adequately insulated and large enough you would not run out of hot water if the heater were turned off for a while, so no problems doing the dishes. My water heater only runs overnight; we have enough hot water to last the day and it stays hot enough.
Second, do you have a leak in the hot water system? If you can turn off the hot water immediately after the water tank, do so overnight and see if this changes the consumption. If you had a leak in the hot water system somewhere there would be a constant flow of incoming cold water being heated to replace what leaks, and this would increase your electricity usage.
Third, do you have hot water constantly circulating around the house so that hot water is instantly available at all taps? Probably not, but if you do, turn off the pump for that feature. It is amazing how quickly that can extract heat from the system causing the heater to run longer.

More generally, if you turn off all electrical items in the house, does the meter still register usage? If so, you need to find out what is using the power as yu have a load which you are not aware of.

Oho
Posts: 335
Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2010 3:48 pm

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by Oho » Sun Jan 19, 2020 3:24 pm

Suomi123 wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 11:43 am
I have hot water all the time to use. I suspect that the hot water machine runs all the time. I want to try to turn it off but then I can't do the dishes with cold water. Last night it costed 11 kWh (from evening to morning while we were sleeping). I don't use anything in the garage. I may have to get an electrician to come and check.... :(
Not really or maybe. In some cases water heaters, well at least was the case in my house, only run during night when electricity is cheaper. I got a scare one time when I ran out of hot water and hours wait did nothing. I called utility service, they told me it's probably timed to operate night time only and indeed next morning I had hot water again.

Anyway 1530 KWh sounds a the high side if your primary source of heat is not electricity. If I correctly recall my annual consumption for a electrically heated silnge family house (160 m^2) with fire place, which I used actively, in Espoo was in the ball park of 18000 KWh annually.

Suomi123
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by Suomi123 » Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:01 pm

Thank you all of you guys!!!!! Thanks for helping me!!!! The problem is the hot water as you guessed. I have fixed it and now it's ok. Thank you so much!!

DMC
Posts: 1314
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:17 am

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by DMC » Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:40 pm

Suomi123 wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:01 pm
I have fixed it and now it's ok.
That is good to hear. What was the problem with the hot water?

Suomi123
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 5:59 pm

Re: My electric bill is overcharged

Post by Suomi123 » Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:53 am

DMC wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:40 pm
Suomi123 wrote:
Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:01 pm
I have fixed it and now it's ok.
That is good to hear. What was the problem with the hot water?
We think that it's too old so it uses lots of electric. The same as floor heating. :D


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