So - just got my gas bill for November…

[Notcontent]

October was really mild so my November bill is the first indication of heating costs. And it was higher than I thought - £147.

This is for two people in a small 3 bedroom terrace house. Daily showers and heating on for a few hours a day but much, much less than normal. It’s a period property but has had some upgrades such as new double glazed windows.

My electricity use is pretty low - £50 per month - but expect it will be higher going forward as will be using dehumidifier more to dry washing.

I keep track of mine on a spreadsheet and it’s £153 for the last month just for gas of which at least £90 is heating (as compared to last month).

We’re also relatively low users and I’m very mindful of the heating use - although would have it on a lot less if it were up to me! But it’s set at 18 and it’s never massively warm in our house, plus we have blankets, hot water bottles, heated throws etc. There’s condensation on all the windows every morning and a fair bit of damp/mould around. But I’m at the limit of what I can easily afford now.

Are you home in the day? I found that only heating in the evening is much cheaper than heating for an hour in the morning too as I did last year. I was heating up the house twice unnecessarily. Keeping a house warm longer in the evening once already warm doesn't use much energy.

We are two in a new build three bed semi and our gas cost £37. Heating on the timer set to 16 for two hours in the evening for the last two weeks, an hour as needed before that. October was £19 for gas without heating.

We’re electric only, used 1 oil filled radiator for 45-60 minutes a day at most to make the living room bearable and had to use tumble dryer to dry clothes as the last fortnight has been too wet to be able to dry it any other way, and we’ve used 20% more electric than in October

Mine came in at just under £100 for gas - heating on daily from about 4/5pm, although I've just started leaving it on at 18 all the time and switching it up a degree or so manually if I'm still not warm enough.

My electric is usually about £25/month but I've just got a dehumidifier and am using up to £3 a day if I leave it on full whack for 24h (been running since Monday). My electric for Nov was about £35.

I'm on my own in a 1 bed flat 2nd floor flat in a converted Victorian terrace - high ceilings, big rooms, a bit of damp in the front room, black mould in my bedroom, single glazed sashes and no insulation.

I've got asthma and COPD, so have targets of 18° temperature and 40% or lower humidity.
It's going to be a pricey winter.

Im in a 30 year old little semi, just the two of us and I WFH most of the time. My bill for gas for November is £60. I have the heating on rarely and use the gas fire in the evenings now. My hob and oven are electric though.

That’s sounds pretty low tbh for heating “a few hours a day” - it quickly adds up.

Our gas for last month was £52. 2 of us in 3 bed semi on relatively mild south coast. We also didn’t have a shower for most of it due to bathroom refit so do expect December to be higher. Also dses will be home from university which will increase things.

We only have heating on morning and evening.

4 bed detached new build (good insulation) and ours was £66. Electricity was £125 though for the month. Central heating is gas, as is the cooker but everything else is electric.

Ours was £95 for 27units of gas. 4 bed badly insulated House has 13 rads and 24kw boiler. Boiler flow 68 degrees and house heated to 18 from 4-8/9pm. Bedroom trvs set to 16 degrees. Don't bother with it in the morning at the moment.

Will definitely increase as the winter goes on.

Wow! Some people have extremely low bills.

I do work from home half the time so do
need some heating as my job involves sitting down at a desk and I really feel the cold. But during the day I only heart that room and only up to 19 degrees. Upstairs I only heat for 2 or so hours in the evening to get it up to 16.5. We have already changed our habits in that teen dd does her school work downstairs in the room we keep reasonably warm. This would not be practical if we were a larger family.

I got my Bulb electricity statement today, November usage (I took a reading) was £420.

So in one month, with no central heating (we're on oil anyway) apart from the last 4 days.

2 of us in a draughty, badly insulated 5 bed detached. I just don't get it, we have 2 log burners, using our own wood, how the hell have we used over £400 in a month!

Around £150 for gas in November, that's heating, hot water and hob, shower is electric. Not great but not too scary yet, the predicted cold in December is going to increase that a lot.

I'm finding if I leave the thermostat on 16 overnight instead of off, it reduces the condensation and I don't feel the need to put it on when I get up. Hopefully helping the damp and the bills but it might click on a lot at 16 in proper winter.

That doesn't sound right, my electric was £165 for November, 5 bed, run a dehumidifier, 2 fridge freezers, electric heater, consoles etc.

@Mumblechum0 wow - that’s super high. Electricity is a lot more expensive than gas, but things like lights, tvs, etc don’t use much. It’s usually things that generate heat that use a lot of electricity - so electric heating, tumble dryers, dishwashers, etc.

Im in an old 4 bed, 2 rooms closed off, thermostat set at 17 degrees max and my gas and electric bill for November is on track to be just over £400.

1950s large 4 bed semi. Dual fuel monthly bill came out this morning, £292 up from £164 last month. Really trying not to put heating on too much. Wfh and use oil filled radiators. Hope it doesn't go up any higher

Depends what "a few hours a day" is really...

Our gas bills have come down a lot since we had a new boiler and new windows installed 2 years ago.
Thermostat set to 20, comes on at 6am when we get up, on all day as WFH, off (frost protection) overnight.
November usage was £68

I think that just proves how energy inefficient many older uk properties are. I have had a complete renovation - new windows, new boiler, etc but there is only so much you can do with Victorian properties. Our house is never super warm.

My boiler and radiators were replaced 3 years ago. I think that helps a bit.
There's a possibility that my LL may be replacing the windows this year (with single glazed sashes again, we're a listed building), which might make a difference.

I have invested in a heated throw, best thing ever, it keeps me toasty while I WFH so I hardly put the heating on, I’m in a Edwardian draughty house as well. Would recommended

Oct 31-Nov 25 £159 - heating been on low. Horrified to say the least!

253 for a 3 bed semi.

Out fully 3 days a week in the day and home evenings and weekends.

Heating on for around 3 or 4 hours a day.

How can we go on like this?

Ours was £240 for November and we had the heating on for a total of about 10 hours the whole month.

Dreading December bill. And Jan as our fix ends in Jan. From Jan our DD will be £500 a month 😱

£500!!

Can you afford that?😱