To ask about heating bills in the UK?

[PrincessNutella]

I have read a number of threads about the high heating bills in the UK with interest and sympathy. I have lived in the damp UK and live in the frosty northeastern part of the U.S. It gets much colder here than it does there, and has about the same rainfall, I believe, but I do recall winters having a definite chill to them there as well. I was curious about why heating bills seem to be so high, and how high they actually are, in the UK. Is it because fuel is so expensive? Are your homes well-insulated? Is the type of heat not efficient? Or is it because the DH is a wanker who thinks his T-shirt is a "warm" T-shirt (I loved that one!). All anecdotes welcome, sending blankets and mugs of tea (don't worry, I get PG tips straight from the source) for all. (P.S., not saying it's cheap here, either, it just hasn't been that cold yet for some reason.)

A multitude of reasons I suppose, not least of which is high fuel costs.
I have a well insulated house. We used to pay £120 month for gas and electricity, now it’s closer to £300. Higher over the past 20 months due to working from home.

Depends what you live in
I understand from European friends their bills are much higher. We have a detached 2,,bed single storey dwelling. Cavity wall insulation,brand new triple A rated double glazing added everywhere. LED light bulbs. Economy 7,which gives you cheap rate electricity for 7 hours overnight. Our bills electric and gas combined have gone from £100 pcm to £130 this summer
Another rise of around £300 PA expected in April. We have just paid survey fee to have solar panels installation

To be honest I live in the UK and yet I am genuinely baffled by the amount some people pay for their fuel. We are lucky to have always lived in newish well insulated properties so that definitely helps a lot. I now live in a 4 bed detached new build and we have just increased our direct debit to £90 a month to cover the winter but that’s electricity and gas and we have an electric car so approx £20-£25 a month of that is charging the car. Before having the car we paid £60 a month direct debit year round and that balanced out over the year to accommodate the higher bills in winter and lower bills in the summer.

I suspect insulation counts for a lot but also what people are accustomed to. My parents always kept their house tropical, when I first moved out I felt freezing all the time but gradually got used to a cooler house. We rarely turn the thermostat above 20, whereas if you have it at 23/24 it’s obviously going to cost a lot more.

@Robostripes

To be honest I live in the UK and yet I am genuinely baffled by the amount some people pay for their fuel. We are lucky to have always lived in newish well insulated properties so that definitely helps a lot. I now live in a 4 bed detached new build and we have just increased our direct debit to £90 a month to cover the winter but that’s electricity and gas and we have an electric car so approx £20-£25 a month of that is charging the car. Before having the car we paid £60 a month direct debit year round and that balanced out over the year to accommodate the higher bills in winter and lower bills in the summer.

I suspect insulation counts for a lot but also what people are accustomed to. My parents always kept their house tropical, when I first moved out I felt freezing all the time but gradually got used to a cooler house. We rarely turn the thermostat above 20, whereas if you have it at 23/24 it’s obviously going to cost a lot more.

Ours is set to 19 degrees. It doesn’t get put any higher. We have 5 people living here, 2 of whom work from home almost full time.

As others have said I think it’s a mix of factors. Also there are so many tariffs and suppliers available (well less so now after a bunch of them folded) - not everyone is on the best deal/tariff for their needs so may be overpaying but don’t know it (or don’t want the hassle of changing).

We have a 2 bed semi and gas and electric are roughly £80pm which isn’t not extortionate but any means. We are yet to turn the heating on as our house is very well insulated and stays warms.
My mum and sister live in Europe where these bills have increased insanely, they pay over £300 in heating and electric per month.

My fuel bills are around £300 per month. They are my biggest monthly expense. I have a detached 1969’s chalet style home so the main bedrooms are in the roof space and I have an attached annex. This is home to 5 adults one of whom is in her 80’s housebound disabled wheelchair user. She can’t warm herself up by being active nor vacant she wear extra layers as she would then have difficulties with her limited movement so the heating is on 24/7 set to 20 and she also has extra oil filed rads in her room to bring the temp up to about 25. I can’t even turn it off at night as she doesn’t sleep well and is up most nights watching the tv in the early hours. With the price increases this winter I expect my bills to be more than the £300 I am currently paying but it is not an expense I can cut down on.

I've lived in Montreal and in the south of the UK.

The climate here is much damper than the east side of North America so while it may not be as cold, the damp is very chilling.

Secondly, a lot of British housing stock is old (100+ years) and poorly insulated. I've owned three old houses in the last 30 years and I've had to replace windows, exterior doors & loft insulation, and repair damp walls in all of them.

Mostly gas or electric heating in the UK plus a eco surcharge that is supposed to pay for upgrades to infrastructure.

We live in a 4 bed detached now and it costs £100pcm for gas & electric, set at 19 degrees.

We live in a well insulated house. We have smart thermostats on every rad so we can heat rooms individually to be more efficient. Heating usually sits between 16-18 degrees (no higher!). Pre-lockdown we were usually at home during the day anyway.

Was paying £90 p/m on a dual fuel tariff and was broadly right by the end of each quarter in terms of usage, but now increased to £260 p/m!! The cost of gas has skyrocketed so there isn't much more we can do about the cost as we were already quite frugal with the heating before the price rise.

£126/month for electricity and gas; house is almost constantly occupied and warm. We have fixed the worst of the insulation issues downstairs, but some heat definitely still gets out (and in, in summer) through the loft extension where it's harder to fix the heat leak due to the build structure. We also lose heat going in and out of the freezing utility room or garage; that's also a structural issue so not worth heating it yet, it needs to be rebuilt entirely at some point.

I'm hoping in a few years to fit solar panels on the roof and switch over to hydrogen heat pump, but I'm fearful of how much space the infrastructure will take up and want to wait a little for smaller models!

I think it is more the sudden huge increases that is making people talk about it at the moment. Our gas has doubled in price per unit due to the increase in gas prices meaning our supplier has gone out of business. We hadn’t budgeted for our bill to increase by such a huge amount. Usually when your tarried ends it is easy to shop around and find a new deal at the same or lower cost but not at the moment.

As others have said, lots of different factors. However you only have to read any of the heating related threads here to see that there are some people who hate being cold and who keep their thermostats on 23/24 or even higher year round. That temperature would be considered a very warm summer day I.e. shorts and t shirt, sunbathing in the garden weather in the UK so seems excessive to me!

There are lots of ways of ways to reduce heating costs such as using hot water bottles, throws, wearing hoodies, getting up and moving every so often, but loads of people I know can't be bothered with that snd do just sit around wearing t shirts with the heating on full whack.
Often seems to be the same people where each family member has multiple showers per day and washes anything that's been worn or used once, whether it's dirty or not.

Obviously this is entirely their choice but it's not surprising it costs a fortune. There are loads of people in the UK who do all the heat saving tips and more and still have freezing houses and have to spend a fortune on heating, and others (elderly etc) who need warm homes, but there are also a lot of people who just use a huge amount of electric and then complain when their bills are high.

Thank you--it isn't too dissimilar to prices here, really. And I agree about the dampness factor in the UK, which can make higher temperatures feel colder. On the other hand, if I remember correctly, lovely daffodils bloom in March and sometimes even late February there, right? (or is my memory deceiving me?)

My heating is going up because the downstairs neighbours have turned their heating down

We use about 2500l of heating oil a year which works out at about £1000ish a year, then pay about £80 a month for electricity at present (up from £50 this time last year). We also go through a bit of coal but total house energy costs must still be only £150-£200 a month.

We’re in a small, mid-terraced three bed, well-insulated house heated to 19 degrees for about five hours a day. I would like it to be on for longer but can’t afford it. £155 a month all electric.

I live up north where temperatures daily hit the minuses (last year lowest it hit was -6!) and we get 3 months solid of snow and spend £70 on gas a month pre payment meter as well.
It baffles me some prices people pay.

Increase in cost
Older houses with limited insulation
Lack of jumper wearing husbands ( I told mine last night if among other things if he couldn't stop his twice daily 20 min showers & needed every light on in the house. He could start sorting the bills & search for the cheapest providers because I dont mention wastage for fun & I refuse to be labelled a nag)
I was moved to British Gas when my utility provider closed. I tried to set up a direct debit & the monthly cost was going to be over £1000. Clearly something has gone wrong 😂 & I am now trying to get this sorted.

It's not been that cold here (UK, East Anglia) yet either. I've put the heating (gas) on maybe for a total of 4 hours in the last month, plus used the hob most dinner times. Our gas bill is based on actual readings, not direct debit amounts, and for the last month is £38 (electric is about £55).

We have blankets on each sofa, fleecy bedding, electric blankets on beds. Our house is large, 1980s build, but triple glazed. It is expensive compared to our wages, so we will hold off using it much until it gets really cold.

@Gimlisaxe

My heating is going up because the downstairs neighbours have turned their heating down

I used to live above a hairdresser! Bliss. All those dryers going all day sent heat up to us, but they were closed by 6pm and so there was no noise.

Later we were in a long deep mid-terrace house so the neighbours each side were paying much of our heating bill, so to speak.

It's so expensive that the government started giving £150 toward heating your home if you're in poverty.

I pay £50minimum a month and use as little as possible. Haven't put any heating on as yet this year, daughter and me live under duvets and use hot water bottles. Try to keep those costs down.