Electricity bill

[Pat76]

Hello

I have just received a bill from EDF for the house we have just bought, and I wonder if anyone can clarify it for me. The first part is the reading from when we took over from the previous owners, but there is a second section which says,  "FORFAIT ACCES ELECTRICITE PART", and asks for 20 euros. I understand the meaning except for the PART part. Is it a monthly charge, or quarterly? I gather the people we bought from must have had some sort of  reduced charge because the supply is so low it is impossible to use much electricity, although I have never heard of this before.

Anyway, any information/ clarification would be most welcome.

Thanks

Pat

[Pat76]

Hello again

According to the main menu, I have a reply to my question, but I can't access it! How do I read Cooperlola's reply?

Thanks again

Pat

[Gyn_Paul]

According to my main menu there are only your 2 postings. Possibly she posted and then deleted it.

p

[cooperlola]

Yes, she did!  Sorry about that, but I misread your question and did my usual trick of typing before engaging brain!

It is your standing charge, but I do not remember the invoice intervals now, as I pay by monthly direct debit these days so I realised I could not tell you what period it covers.[:$]

EDIT: You can change the supply rating by calling your local office, this will solve your outage problems but will, of course, up the standing charge.

[Clair]

PART = particulier    (i.e.not business)

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Clair"]PART = particulier    (i.e.not business)
[/quote]Yup, forgot that bit.  I have edited my post above. Do you know the standard period for bills, Clair?  I honestly cannot remember now.

However, o/p, the dates should be on your bill.

[Clair]

Every two months for me, but it might be different on DD...?

[cooperlola]

Yes, the direct debits are every month for ten months then 2 allowed for any catching up you have to do!

[Pat76]

I love this forum!

Thanks to everyone who replied. We are quite confused about the electricity supply, and I know I will have lots more questions. At the moment, we are told that we can only run the washing machine at 30 degrees or the power will cut out, and no other appliances can be used at the same time. It is not possible to use an electric kettle at all, the power is not sufficient, so we know we have major work to do. The electricity bill is also confusing because we have not used any electricity, we just put everything on to check it was working, then turned it off at the fuse box, so why we owe 20 euros is a mystery.

Pat

[cooperlola]

The 20 euros is just for the supply itself - exactly as you have a standing charge in the UK - regardless of whether you use any elec or not!

EDIT : As said above, you don't necessarily need to do work, to increase your supply, you just have to pay more.  The standing charge is levied according to the level you want; the previous occupants obviously used very little which is why your tarrif is so low.  Once you move in, if you're using loads more power then you will probably need to up it (and thus your forfait will increase, and additionally you will pay per unit for what you actually use.)

I'm sure that somebody else will explain it better than I can!

[Clair]

From what I remember from a previous question on the forum, I think this charge is a one-off, equivalent to a reconnection fee or a change of name for the meter.

Re the power, at the back of your bill, under the line which reads "Caractéristiques de vos tarifs" (below the amount to pay), you'll find the meter rating (3, 6, 9 kW), as well as any special deal you might have (tarif dommestique option base, or option heures creuses or option Tempo)

From your description, I would venture that you have the 3kW rating.

You can change your rating FOC once a year.

Let us know if/when you have any other questions... [:)]

[Pat76]

Hello again

Thank you Clair and Cooperlola for your replies.

We have an abonnement charge, which I think is the standing charge, the 20euros is separate. Under the Characteristiques part it says " Tarif reglemente domestique option base code 15. Do you know what code 15 means? We have searched on the EDF website with no luck. Also, it says "Puissance mise a votre disposition 9 kw, disjoncteur regle a 015A, which we gather means we have 3kw rating. Do you know what we have to do to have it increased to 18 kw? 

Once again thanks. I think I am becoming addicted to this forum...

Pat

[Clair]

I'll have a look on my bills... It says:

"tarif réglementé domestique option base, puissance 6kW, code 014"

There's no mention of puissance or disjoncteur.

It could be that the puissance (power) can be up to a max of 9kW, but you'd need someone more technical than me to explain (that should not be difficult to find!)

I don't know what the code (014 or 015) means.

With 6kW, I can run a washing machine, a hot water tank, a dishwasher,a TV, an electric kettle, microwave.... of course, not all at the same time, but I never have to watch carefully the way you describe...

[Mikew]

For us 6KW is enough for a fully equipped house without electric heating, lived in by 2 persons, providing you switch on carefully. I have a monitor box to check consumption and very rarely get near full power. I do not like the idea of giving EDF money for nothing!

[tenniswitch]

With 6kW in our old house, we can run the lave-linge, dryer, hot water tank, toaster, coffee-maker, computer, printer, scanner, etc., simultaneously.

My electrician says that 6kW will be sufficient in our new house, which also has an electric cooker, a dishwasher and a couple of electric radiators.  I suspect he doesn't quite grasp our American habits of running a lot of stuff simultaneously, but we shall see.

[Rob Roy]

We have 9 kW and I have had dishwasher, washing machine, 2 immersion heaters (200L), and electric kettle all on at the same time, as well as other minor electrical items, but can remember the winter days when we first moved in when I regularly tripped the power by turning on the kettle for a hot water bottle at the same time as trying to heat the bedroom before bedtime![:)]

[BJSLIV]

option base       Basic Single Rate Tariff (IE Not Economy Seven)

code 015          EdF Reference  Signifies the "Strength"  of the Connection ..In your case 9Kw   Code 020 at 12Kw is the  highest rate normally available for domestic use.           

"Puissance mise a votre disposition 9 kw, disjoncteur regle a 015A That's the strange bit because it should be set at 45Amps. Which does bring us back to the comment from your vendor.....

How much is the standing charge that has been levied on your latest bill. That will confirm which tariff you are on

I think it unlikely that you will need 18Kv . If you do , I assume that you would also want " Economy Seven". In which case the standing charge alone  is roughly 440 Euros per year.

http://www.edf-bleuciel.fr/141626i/accueil/j-ai-besoin-d-energies/electricite/les-tarifs-Mon-Contrat-Electricite.html

[Anton Redman]

[quote user="BJSLIV"] 

"Puissance mise a votre disposition 9 kw, disjoncteur regle a 015A That's the strange bit because it should be set at 45Amps. Which does bring us back to the comment from your vendor.....w.edf-bleuciel.fr/141626i/accueil/j-ai-besoin-d-energies/electricite/les-tarifs-Mon-Contrat-Electricite.html

[/quote]

I think that means you have 15 amps say 3.65 Kw but can have the EDF disjointer reset to 45 amps = 10.95 but probably described as 9 Kw simply by having the sealed disjointer turned up by EDF. After that you will need bigger supply cables.

[BJSLIV]

But that's the puzzle a 3KW supply should be code 013. Whereas the Code 015 they are being billed is a 9Kw supply........

[Pat76]

Hello again

Thanks for all the help and advice.

Looking at the bill, the abonnement for a month is 10,83 euros. The information about the capacity other people have and what they can run on it is most welcome. I am thinking that if we have 9kw available, we will be able to sort out the wiring without having to increase the supply.

Pat

[Benjamin]

We pay 27€66 (excluding TVA) for a two month standing charge for a 9kW supply so unless there are regional tarif variations you are not being charged for a 9kW supply.

[BJSLIV]

There are some regional variations, firstly because not everyone is supplied by EdF but also because local tax rates vary.

However in this case there is a simpler explanation.  Benjamin is paying the rate for Heures Creuses (Economy Seven) whereas the original poster is on the base tariff.

This is a good demonstration of why for occasional, largely summer  holiday use,  it is can be more economical to opt for the base tariff.

For a 9Kw supply you pay an extra  70 Euros per year for Economy Seven. That means that you need to use nearly 2000 units at the night rate before you start saving any money.

 

[Benjamin]

Thanks for pointing that out BJSLIV.

This is starting to get more difficult than working out mobile 'phone tarifs.  [:)]

[Clair]

[quote user="BJSLIV"] Benjamin is paying the rate for Heures Creuses (Economy Seven) whereas the original poster is on the base tariff.

This is a good demonstration of why for occasional, largely summer  holiday use,  it is can be more economical to opt for the base tariff.

For a 9Kw supply you pay an extra  70 Euros per year for Economy Seven. That means that you need to use nearly 2000 units at the night rate before you start saving any money.

[/quote]

I changed the gite supply from HP/HC to base tariff and calculated the saving to be around €100 over similar periods of occupation. In a property occupied on avearge 1/3 of the year, the HC tariff never made up for the higher subscription rate.

[AnOther]

All beginning to sound to me as if the OP is on 3 phase [I]

How many electric wires are there coming into your house, 3 or 4 ?