to ask how much you pay for fuel each month?

[Newmummytobe79]

I'm currently on maternity leave so stressing about our fuel bills. Before DC we were both out of the house from 7am - 7pm so heating wasnt an issue, but with a baby I obviously need to keep our house warm, use the washing machine more etc

We live in a small semi detatched and our monthly payments are £117 for gas and electricity. This is based on our usage prior to me being at home ... so I havnt a clue what we'll owe once winter is over!

I want to move company but keep reading about how they are all as bad as each other.

Is this amount excessive or reasonable in the current market?

"I run a standing fan all night in our bedroom"

Why?

I've never felt cold at 18, when I lived in flats I had to have the window open almost all winter and never once used my heating simply because of the heat from the surrounding flats. The hall thermostat is set at 18 or 18.5, it's generally a little warmer than that in the living room where we actually are, but much cooler than that in the bedrooms where the radiators are turned off. The night time temp in those are around 15 degrees when we get into bed, but I'm not yet on the full winter quilt even then. I rarely wear a sweater in the living room and almost never socks or slippers but do occasionally if it feels chilly after being out or something.

There was an insteresting study that showed average winter night time room temps and obesity rates, with the US (in northern cold cities) and UK both getting fatter exactly as the room temps increased with the US starting 10years earlier as there central heating arrived. Obviously could be any number of linked reasons rather than the temp, but an interesting hypothesis nonetheless.

btw I actually have no idea how much we spend, but that must mean it's signifcantly less than 100 a month or I would've noticed!

As my dh firmly believes, because I am odd and hate the planet. I like being all cosy and warm under a blanket but a breeze on me. Back home we used to have all our windows open so we'd always have a breeze but here its too cold (and you nutters don't have burglar bars so I worry about being robbed). So I have a fan on.

You did ask.

This thread has spurred me on to do a utility switch but I'm finding it confusing. Can anyone please help me decide on the best of these two deals?

npower sign online v24
Dual fuel discount £105

Gas charges:
1st tier - 3.4140 p/kWh (16690) = £ 569.80

• Standing charge £133.01

Electricity charges
1st tier - 9.7700 p/kWh (5483) = £ 535.69

• standing charge £134.54

New total with discount £ 1268.04
Saving of £ 213.86 on our current bill

or
Scottish power online energy saver17

Dual fuel discount £33.58

Gas charges
1st tier - 7.4880 p/kWh (2680) = £ 200.68
2nd tier - 3.4400 p/kWh (14010) = £ 481.94
No standing charge
Total £ 666.34

Electricity charges
1st tier - 22.0090 p/kWh (900) = £198.08
2nd tier - 10.4190 p/kWh (4583) = £ 477.50
No standing charge

Total £ 659.30

New total with discount £ 1325.64
Saving of £ 156.26 on our current bill

The npower deal looks cheapest but the Scottish Power gives £80 cash back so the difference is only really £57 in the first year and prices will remain 8.6% below their standard monthly D/D prices until March 2013 (although presumably that still means they could go up.?) I'm also confused as npower has a standing charge and Scootish Power doesn't. I'm hoping we can reduce our consumption over the year so would greater savings be made if we had no standing charges?

We pay £40 gas and £35 electric direct debit per month. This covers what we use over the winter months and gives us a bit of credit over the summer months. I make sure I give regular meter readings and check that we are paying enough to cover our usage.

We live in a 1960's 3 bed semi with cavity wall and lots of loft insulation. I'm a sahm so there is someone is the house pretty much all the time. We use dishwasher/tumble drier etc. We are all electric (oven/hob etc) apart from gas central heating.

We are on an edf capped til sept 2012 tariff.

We pay £50 a month for electric and £50 for gas. 3 bed end of terrace, 2 adults and soon to be 3 children! But our house is only 5 years old.