For those who own or rent their own yards ?

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BBH

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How big is your yard and how much electric do you pay.

I have 8 stables, a haybarn and tackroom all with florescent lights, we power batteries x 2 for electric fencing and my electric bills are huge. There is also a mobile home on site for heating, cups of tea etc.

The supply was installed a few years ago and has always seemed far too over the top but we've paid it. The electric company are no help at all and just say its up to us to prove the cost is wrong.
 
Our yard is part of a farm (but its only us there) and has four stables, tack/feedroom and hay store. We pay a monthly total which includes water and elec.

Is your yard separate?

before this we had fields behind our house which we ran elec from (via long cables) and we powered the fencing through the mains plus lights etc and i didnt notice much of an increase in our normal bills for the month.

Maybe it is wrong, has the company given you any advice how you can disprove the charges? I think there is some sort of test that can be done to see if you are 'leaking' power anywhere. The power company we were with did one at one of our old houses.
 
Thank you, yes the yard is separate and is mains connected.

I am wondering if its the florescent lights tbh. I wanted them so we could see the back of the stables in the winter rather than just dim bulbs.
 
When we were in our previous place we had 5 stables with 6 stable lights between them, 5 outside lights, same as stable lights (we replaced all the bulbs with low energy ones), large barn with 3 large fluorescents and a high powered mains energiser. I also used to regularly have a 250w bulb running 24/7 in here when I had sick hens. Our bills used to be around the £50 a quarter mark (average) but I am obsessive about energy usage (and water, we were on a meter!). Obviously winter bills are higher than summer ones. We have only just taken over our current yard but had already replaced all the bulbs in our areas with low energy and will now change the rest. I can always switch to a large bulb if needed, ie for vet and would rather have to look a bit harder when mucking out etc than pay large bills.

I should have said, I used to work from the barn when I was making poultry houses so the lights in there were on a lot each day but we didn't need tea making facilities as the yard was at home so we just used to nip over the lawn if we wanted a drink.
 
Thank you for that.

Following an actual meter reading ( which I thought too high but we paid anyway ) was paying the estimated bills of circa £149 a quarter and now following an actual reading they want £1600 :eek:

I just cannot see how we have used this much electric for essentially a small usage. We do use an oil fired radiator in the mobile but even so thats only on in the winter.

The meter is across a field and we don't have a key to read it ourselves.

I just wanted an idea of what others are paying to see if even generously ours could be correct. The other thing that worries me is that a box on their pylon 6ft from our box caught fire last year and I'm wondering if there was some sort of energy surge but the electric company just won't help identify where we are going wrong.
 
Could you get a meter put in where the electric enters the main fuse box?
You may be able to get a usage device that will tell you what appliance or area is using the electricity. It does sound expensive though, I would be pushing for them to come and investigate.
 
How long since the previous meter reading was taken? If within about 2 years then that does seem excessively high when you have been paying essentially £50 a month as well! You need to access the box and see if you are paying for someone else's electric by turning off all your power and seeing if the meter is still turning. I do not see how that can possibly be correct and the energy ombudsman may need to be your next port of call!

OH has just come in, he ran a large yard, 18 boxes, 9 outside, all with individual lights (6ft fluorescents) plus 3 outside bulbs, 9 in a barn with 4 x 8ft fluorescents and 1 x 6ft, there were tea making facilities used by the liveries. There were no energisers running but mine costs around £20 pa to run and no heaters. His bills averaged out at £25 per quarter!!!! This is only up to about 4 years ago and I know prices have risen, but not that much! You need to delve into this, good luck.
 
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Thank you very much for that. Yes the metre was read about 15 months ago. They keep saying they can't get access but they're the ones who put the bloomin thing outside in the middle of a field so they can access it but I bet they didn't bring their wellies or don't want to go in a field with horses so can't be bothered.

Given your costs and useage it does seem that i'm right to be querying this. I've never owned my own yard before and wasn't sure of the running costs so your input has been very helpful.
 
BBH said:
Thank you very much for that. Yes the metre was read about 15 months ago. They keep saying they can't get access but they're the ones who put the bloomin thing outside in the middle of a field so they can access it but I bet they didn't bring their wellies or don't want to go in a field with horses so can't be bothered.

Given your costs and useage it does seem that i'm right to be querying this. I've never owned my own yard before and wasn't sure of the running costs so your input has been very helpful.
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mmmm.......I'd said within about 2 years but going by OH figures they are wanting what would have been 16 years worth for him. When I thought about it the woman who shared the yard at the end used to split the bill with him and I remember her paying about £12-13 when the bill came in so I know he is remembering correctly.
 
BBH said:
Thank you for that.

Following an actual meter reading ( which I thought too high but we paid anyway ) was paying the estimated bills of circa £149 a quarter and now following an actual reading they want £1600 :eek:

I just cannot see how we have used this much electric for essentially a small usage. We do use an oil fired radiator in the mobile but even so thats only on in the winter.

The meter is across a field and we don't have a key to read it ourselves.

I just wanted an idea of what others are paying to see if even generously ours could be correct. The other thing that worries me is that a box on their pylon 6ft from our box caught fire last year and I'm wondering if there was some sort of energy surge but the electric company just won't help identify where we are going wrong.
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your bill sounds very high, as if perhaps something else is on your meter. I pay a lot less than that for both my house and stables combined. When we couldn't get into our electricity box, ie we lost the key, we simply phoned the leccy company and asked them to send us one. No problem.
If you get into the box then all you have to do is throw the switch and switch everything off. You may well have someone complaining then they have lost their supply! You can also leave the mains switched on but switch all your appliances off. The meter should then stop going round.


The other thing you can do is put a smart meter on. Many leccy companies have given them out for free so it you don't have one at home perhaps one of your friends does.
This would show your useage. You could then experiment and switch appliances on one by one.

I think you are paying way over the odds for this.
 
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