Is this ok for an electricity bill?

[Kaloobear]

I realise this sounds ridiculous but we only moved into our house in mid-June and until now we've never had to pay any bills. (Previous house was bill free as it was paid for by my work.) We've had our first electricity bill and it's £87.07, from when we moved in until the start of October. That includes a £40 discount for a 'QDD single fuel discount'-not quite sure why they'd give us a discount for NOT having dual fuel with them but there we go! Anyway, does that sound reasonable? Can I use it as a rough guesstimate for future usage or does it sound v high and we should look at swapping providers? I just don't know what's reasonable or to be expected. It seems like a lot of money to me.

[MrsPear]

Well how big is your home? How many people? Are there people in all day everyday i.e SAHP and small children?
To my mind £40 sounds about right but we live in a two bed with gadgets and i am SAHM with a toddler. Oh and another thing will your electric be your heating too? and what tarriff is that?

[Kaloobear]

Ok, all good questions and proof that we are new to thinking about this stuff! It's a small three bed middle of terrace. Two adults plus DD (1yo). 4 days of the week we're all out during the day, the others we're in and out.

I don't know whether the heating is electric or gas. Erm, that's really idiotic isn't it. How do I tell?

I'm so glad you can't see how embarrassed I am by this!!

[LIZS]

That sounds low tbh. Do you also have gas appliances/boiler and were the meters read or is it an estimate based on usage during same period last year ?

[MrsBranestawm]

So the bill was for three and a half months over the summer and it was £87.07. Would it have been 127.07 without the discount? Or did you actually pay £47.07?

If you don't have a gas bill or a gas boiler then you don't have gas central heating!

It doesn't seem all that much to me to be honest, but it really does depend on whether electricity does everything in your house.

[LIZS]

If you have a boiler with a blue pilot light to heat water/radiators it is gas!

[Kaloobear]

We do have a boiler to heat water. Ok, that makes sense

The bill would have been £120ish without the discount.

If it sounds low then that's good I guess!

[Kaloobear]

Oops, missed a qu. The metres were read, yes-by us when we moved in and then at the start of October for billing purposes. We've asked to pay for what we use every three months rather than a set amount monthly as we don't want to end up owing them anything.

[windsurf74]

Really??!! I live in an apartment - we pay £77 A MONTH for our electricity!!!!

[Goldensunnydays81]

We live in a 2 bedroom house and our gas and electric together is £75 a month do I would say that is probably right!

[Kaloobear]

Oh my God! Ok, that's weird then. I'm scared that we'll be complacent and then next quarter suddenly get a giant bill and be fucked.

[Kaloobear]

Last message was to windsurf.

[MissKeithLemon]

Grrr - just lost my reply

In a nutshell OP - take a meter reading and then another one in exactly a week. This will help determine your average usage.

Post here forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13 and the good folk of MSE will help you to understand your bill

Oh, and do you have radiators? (Sign you have gas central heating). Am sure I had some other helpful tips but that link was the most useful I think!

[Kaloobear]

But goldensunny fills me with hope again! Maybe I just need to wait till next quarter and stop worrying about it.

[EnglishGirlApproximately]

That sounds a bit low. I'm in a 3 bed mid terrace and pay around £85 a month for gas, elec and landline. I would double check your meter readings. It could be that you're just very good at conserving energy but do make sure.

If you have a gas central heating how come you don't have a gas account with them?

[Kaloobear]

Gas is with British Gas and electricity is with NPower. We inherited what the previous owners had and have only just started thinking about it to be honest.

[windsurf74]

(we don't have gas by the way, so electric is our only source of energy!) - but yes, £77 a month (we were paying £64 a month, and Scottish Power have just upped it to £77 to cover us over the winter months when obviously we will use more)

[Fluffycloudland77]

If it's £120 without the discount do you get the discount yearly or quarterly? £40 a quarter discount is high.

Take your readings so you know how much you have used and go on go compare electric or utility switch etc and see if anyone comes up cheaper.

Then use those figure to work out how much your bill would have been with the cheapest supplier eg mine was £60 with my old supplier but came out as £50 with my new one so I swapped.

Dont use one of the expensive quarters to find out if your on a cheap tariff, I thought gas was cheap here until I got my bil for £80 a month for duel fuel in the summer.

If you find someone cheaper swap through energylinx on topcashback and get yourself some cashback, I think its about £30 at the moment.

[Kaloobear]

Good question about whether the discount is quarterly or yearly. I didn't even know we were getting a discount so I'm not sure...I'll give them a ring on Monday.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Good idea, believe me heating bills can go up like you wouldnt believe.

[MrsBranestawm]

Remember that you might use more electricity in the winter months - more lights on, tumble dryer, maybe an electric heater.

Remember also that your gas bill will go up considerably over the winter months when you use the heating.

You need to think of both of them. If you pay quarterly as you go, you will have really low outgoings in the summer and high outgoings in the winter. Many people like a monthly payment because it allows predictable budgeting.

[gemma4d]

£71 pm here, 3 bed, 2 adults, 2 little'uns, only electric. But that £71 is an average so in summer I go into credit, and in winter I use up my credit.

[BlackandGold]

Mine was £184 for the period June - Sept for a 4 bed detached, elec only.

Does that help?