AIBU to turn down a flat due to electric heaters?

[OutdoorHousePlant]

I've been searching for a decent non mouldy flat for a while now. Today I viewed one that ticks every box, except it has electric heaters. They are programmable ones and not night storage heaters but I'm worried about cost. It's a small one bed flat with 2 heaters in the kitchen/lounge, 1 in the bedroom and a towel rail in the bathroom. All white goods are electric. No gas whatsoever in the property. Rent is right at the top of my budget so I can't afford to be hit with massive bills and have never had electric heaters before. I work about 50/50 in home or elsewhere in the week. Anyone who can give me a rough estimate of bills?

YABU don't even think of turning it down
YANBU electric is expensive stay away

EPC ratings are done only once every 10 years so it might be outdated.
My one-bed flat had brand new, programmable electric heaters put in. The flat was well insulated with carpeting everywhere so it didn’t cost much. About £100 + in winter. The heating was mostly on in one room as I wrapped up warm in the bedroom and kitchen use heat from cooking etc.
DP’s was a 2 bed with terrible insulation. Rooms never really warmed it, couldn’t tell when heating was on and his winter bill ran into a couple hundreds. His electric heaters were the old kind.

Also to add I’ve lived in places heated by gas and it really depends on the insulation! One was again no carpets, old heater and the insulation must’ve been off because It was cold all the frigging time. My mental health took a nosedive that year because of how cold it was. Couldn’t even tell if the heating was on and walked around all the time like I was in the arctic 😡

My flats 1 electric heater doesn't work. I did some research & a 1200 watt halogen heater is cheapest option to run for a 1 bed but prob wouldn't heat anything bigger. It also lights up the room with a cosy glow so I'm not using my table lamp any more, so saves electric .

You could switch the electric heaters off and use oil heaters in the rooms.

Thank you all on reflection with your help l, I have worked out that with bills (and being in the SE UK) it's going to come out at 2k a month! I only earn 1500 on the NHS so this is not feasible. Many thanks for the advice.

OP have you asked the outgoing tenants what they spend?

We did this once. Only lasted one winter there. Was freezing & cost us a bloody fortune. I wouldn’t

Modern electric heating Yes
Old style electric heating (like the night storage heating system) Hard No

Gas will probably become obsolete before too long and we will all have electric heating. Might as well get switched over now

@crosstalk

OP have you asked the outgoing tenants what they spend?

Yes the agents said they were not in touch with previous tenants. With epc e eating they thought it would be £1800 a year.

I'm back to looking for a double room in a shared house of 5 at £800 including bills.

Honestly I have no idea how other people live. The estate agent told me I'd need to be earning at least 31k to afford a 1 bed flat. I am nhs and on much less!

The most expensive heating bill I ever had was for a tiny one-bed flat that only had electric and no gas.

Mind you, it had appalling insulation, so that might have been something to do with it. I don't think I'd do it again - I still remember telling the energy company there must have been a mistake, because it was impossible to have a domestic bill for that much.

Turns out, the only mistake had been sending us estimated bills for a year - the catch up of a grand was accurate. Painful, just painful.