Direct debit going up to £600pm?

[nogella]

It's just me, DS and DD.

I don't even own a telly. They just get broken. Lights rarely on. I mostly just use the microwave for food, and oven a max of 15 mins a time. During the day none of that is in use really

What on earth am I spending £600 a month on exactly?! Charging phones and the shower?

I don't know what to do. What will I do! I don't really use my energy anyway. So I can't cut back either and I can't afford £600 a month. I don't have that. It doesn't exist even if I stopped eating

How much do you normally pay? Is this for both gas and electric?

How much is your actual bill now? Not your direct debit. There are a lot of threads on this - just because a company proposes £600 doesn’t mean you’ll spend £600.

My current bill is £360

That's both has and electric

That's more than my mortgage!!
What are you paying now and is your account in credit? Unit rates are going up but that seems ridiculous. I'd check what rates they're charging you and how much you typically use and adjust the DD accordingly. My energy supplier put mine up by £10 a month but my account was nearly £300 in credit after the winter so I actually reduced it by £10 for the original amount!

Microwave is a huge drain on electric. I discovered this when on a canal boat, tried to microwave something and the whole boat lost power.

£360 at the moment, actual cost, in the summer? That seems a lot. Do you have a smart meter? And if not, can you have one installed in your area? It’s an excellent way to see what is actually consuming for electricity. For me, washing machine and tumble dryer days are the biggest hits - excluding heating.

How many kWh did you use last year? You should find it on your account. They use that to calculate what your DD should be with the increased unit costs

I am more interested in the detail behind…

don't even own a telly. They just get broken. Lights rarely on. I mostly just use the microwave for food, and oven a max of 15 mins a time!

You need to know what energy you are using.

Metre readings, track it yourself, get a monitor plug to track different devices and their usage.

It really helps to properly get a grip of what energy you use at the different times of year, what the cost is per kwh for that energy and what devices are using the most.

Without it, you'll always be guessing in the dark (pun not really intended).

That's insane. Mine was 77.44 this month and there six of us.

Are you on a fixed tariff?

What is your energy account current balance (credit or debit?)

What are you actually using in kwph?

That just isn’t true. Microwave is one of the cheapest way to cook as it uses very little power. You had either faulty electrics or appliance.

Likewise that figure is pretty insane

are you the person on the other thread not flushing toilets, 2 min showers one after other, reusing shower water to mop floors?

You need to look at your actual usage over the last 12 months. Assuming your usage stays the same for the next 12 months, work out what your expected bills will be at the new rate. If it’s significantly less than 12x£600 then contact your energy company to discuss what your DD should be. Also check to see if you have built up a large credit on your account over the summer.

£360 per month currently seems like high usage unless you’ve built up a significant credit balance.

How peoples bills are so different amazes me.

Yours is £77.44 for both gas & electricty?

That is crazy cheap.

@AmandaHoldensLips you're incorrect about the microwave - it is in fact one of the cheapest ways to cook

Is the £360 for a month or longer? A quarter? Direct debit or actual bill? My summer monthly bills are currently £50 odd a month for two of us. Did you use a lot of heating last winter?

Well my bill for August was Gas £15 and Electric £53, Total £68!

My bill is not a direct debit. I just pay it when it comes in

My last bill. I'm on a cheap fixed rate which runs out next month ew

£360 a month?? You really need to go back through your bills and take meter readings and work out where you actually stand if that isn't coming off smart meter readings.

And I worked out that I paid £87.50pm for gas & electric together as the average for 2021.
Plenty of room to cut back as well.

I wonder at so many on here using so much!

I also think £77 for a summer month is pretty average. I had a thread recently about how shocked I was that we’d been using 30,000 kWh of gas in the last 12 months but even we only used £23 of gas in August.

But you said your direct debit is going to be £600 a month. So if you don't pay your bill by direct debit, why have you got a direct debit of £600? That doesn't make any sense.

But for what period? A month, a quarter? How many kWh for each?