Electricity use

Your utility questions answered

Here at CODE we try to keep things simple, so to make your experience as easy as possible we’ve given you the choice of two ways in which to pay your electricity - depending on what suits you best.

Which option are you on for 2024/25?

ALLOWANCE OPTION

CODE will take a meter read and update you on how much of your allowance you have used each month using a traffic light system. 

Once you exceed your allowance, we will bill you monthly. If you stay within your allowance you won’t receive any bills.

We are still negotiating with suppliers and the number of units will be confirmed before you move in. They will be confirmed at https://codestudents.co/leics-costs

We strongly advise you to conserve as much energy as possible. Your allowance is more likely to last you all year if you reduce the number of units you use.

EXCLUSIVE OPTION

You will only pay for the energy you have used. The rate once confirmed will be outlined at codestudents.co/leics-costs.

We will be billing you directly for the energy you use, our bills will be based on actual meter reads and your daily standard charge. You won’t have to deal with electricity suppliers.

We will send you a bill monthly. It will be emailed to you and also added to your student portal. 
 

ENERGY SAVING TIPS

We’re working hard to get you the best deal possible for your electricity, however if you are trying to save as much money as possible check out our top tips for saving energy:

  1. Unplug and switch off devices rather than leaving them on standby.
  2. Charge portable devices elsewhere e.g. at the library for free.
  3. Avoid opening the window and leaving the heating on at the same time.
  4. Turn off the lights when the room is empty and on sunny days.
  5. Put on multiple layers on chilly days instead of switching on the heater.
  6. Put an extra blanket on your bed to keep you warm at night.
  7. Make sure to turn off the towel heater rack when not in use.
  8. Only fill up the kettle with as much water as you need each time you boil it.
  9. Try to be as quick as possible in the shower!
  10. Turn all fuse switches off when checking out and empty the fridge.

We've also created a blog to give you some more information on how much some items may cost to use. 

How much energy do I use?

Staying within your allowance

Sometimes your charges might be higher than you anticipated and that’s because of the amount of energy you’ve used.

If your bill has suddenly increased or you are getting close to your allowance, we thought it might be helpful for explain how we calculate your bill:

  • We send out our team to collect the meter reads each billing period – and update you as soon as we can by getting in touch about your usage.
  • We go to a lot of effort to ensure we don’t overcharge tenants, checking and double checking readings several times and investigating use before the unit price gets to our tenants.
  • We take a meter reading for your flat specifically – so bills are calculated using actual reads. The majority of your bill is calculated based only on what electricity you have actually used.
  • Your bill also includes something called ‘standing charges’. This is set by our energy supplier and these costs include the price of keeping you connected to the energy network and network maintenance. Part of your standing charge will also go towards the cost of government initiatives aimed at helping vulnerable homes and reducing carbon emissions.

What am I using my electricity on?

One of the questions we get asked a lot is “why am I using so much electricity?”. The answer is it really depends on your individual use. Long showers, or leaving your heating on for long periods of time, can all contribute to a higher bill.

Our meters only record total units used and we cannot breakdown what items in your studio contributed to your bill. However, the independent national charity Centre for Sustainable Energy has given advice on what appliances use the most electricity and the table below shows the average* cost of using each item.

If you are looking to save money, it might be worth limiting how often or for how long you use power-hungry appliances. You can find more advice on how to conserve energy in our blog mentioned above.