If this is correct, how can a family afford to pay then?

[InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest]

This is my latest electricity bill. I live alone, in a big (five-bed) house. I am very careful with electricity and gas usage because that's how I was brought up. I don't leave lights on when I leave a room, I use the washing machine every other day and same with the tumble dryer. I use a hair dryer/styling tools once every couple of weeks. Heating is gas and so is cooking. I have checked the meter and it seems to be working just fine. Does this bill seem correct to you? If so, do you mind sharing how much you use/pay and how many people you live with? AIBU in saying that this is not normal for a person living alone? Thank you.

Underfloor heating or electric radiators in bathrooms?

We are a family of 3 in a large 4 bed, we aren't particularly careful with our usage and have a hot tub running May - September, we use the dryer a few times a week, last year our average was 309 kWh/ month.

We do have all energy saving lights, hive heating, and smart plugs that turn stuff off overnight.

You need to figure out what’s using so much power

This thread prompted me to check my usage. Over the past 6 weeks we've used 2400kwh of gas. The boilers been broken since December (loses pressure every few hours!) And British gas has taken their sweet time not fixing it. Seems that I'm in for a nasty bill.

We have 2 fridges and 3 freezers, 2 of which are quite old, I haven't noticed that our bills are particularly high

How much electric do you use each month?

@beguilingeyes

Do you change your bedding every other day ?!

Quite. Unless you get in to bed filthy, have any kind of illness that makes a difference, are having rampant messy sex every day or are bleeding constantly or a sweaty menopausal woman (so quite a lot of reasons!) then changing bedding every other day is hugely excessive. As is your desire for fluffy towels. I don't tumble dry towels and they're never crunchy.

Mine is £160pm in winter for a 2 bed flat for 2 adults (with economy 7 heating on)

So similar to yours when you account for yours being 45 days or so.

After years of it being £70 or so, the combo of us both being home 24/7 now (as wfh) plus increased energy costs accounts for the change. But will soon be April and heating can go off again.

@mam0918 there are 5 bedroom houses all over the place

You can get them for anything from about £350k onwards in the midlands at the moment but will be paying £550k+ for anything at a half decent standard

[quote girlmom21]@mam0918 there are 5 bedroom houses all over the place

You can get them for anything from about £350k onwards in the midlands at the moment but will be paying £550k+ for anything at a half decent standard [/quote]
Agreed. Our 5 bed semi in the Midlands (4 beds plus loft conversion) we bought 4 years ago for £280,000, after 15 years on the property ladder.

@ivykaty44

We have 2 fridges and 3 freezers, 2 of which are quite old, I haven't noticed that our bills are particularly high

How much electric do you use each month?

This is for January, we are still on a fixed rate deal until end of February, I expect it to be up to double from March until October, though may be a bit less from not using dryer in summer

3rd Jan - 3rd Feb
day readings £41.23 at 19.633p kWh
night readings £18.49 at 7.834p kWh
standing charge £6.67 at 20.852p/day

Total for Electric including VAT £69.70

Gas was £87.71 at 2.734p kWh, on most days at about 19-20C, off overnight

We are there most days, I set up washer, dishwasher, use dryer and electric shower, heater in toilet room to take edge off cold in the morning before the day rate kicks in as it is a lot cheaper. The economy 7 meter was there when we moved in over 20 years ago and I'm very disciplined in using the cheaper rate electricity

At the moment we pay £107 month, I expect to pay up to £200 in future

We used 446 kWh in January

LED bulbs
Wash on cold

@sweetbellyhigh

LED bulbs Wash on cold

Washing on cold isn't going to do much good is it?

Washing on cold is marginally better than rinsing - with the added issue that you won't actually rinse all the detergent off.

@T00Ts

Ignore the posters decrying, ‘down size you selfish wench, how dare you live in such a large house alone? Don’t you know you’re preventing families from buying homes!’ etc etc *@InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest*

And I’ll move in as a lodger. Because I like painting and I like horses.

I hope I never have to downsize! I love living in a big house where friends and family can stay when visiting.

It’s a “you pays your money and you takes your choice” situation really: you want fluffy tumble dryer towels, you pay the resulting electricity bill. Getting a sparky round isn’t going to fix that. If you prefer a smaller bill, live with line-dried towels. ¯\(ツ)/¯

Thinking about it, I'm not sure that it is just the tumble dried towels, or even the frequent washing. Because that alone wouldn't add up to an electricity use that is 2-3 times the national average, especially when there's only one person living in the property, who says they are careful with usage.

You need to use the smart meter to pin point when electricity is being used and switch things off and on in isolation to see what's using so much. Because when your fix ends, your costs are going to double.

What's your gas use OP?

I live mostly alone in a 4-bed house with lodgers for about 14 nights per month when the usage is a lot more.
My annual bill for gas/electric is £1160 as I'm on a fixed rate until 31/05/2022.
Annual usage averages out at
Electric: 2100 kWh
Gas: 19000 kWh
After that if I go into a standard variable rate with the April price cap, my annual bill will be £2300!
I'm waiting til May to see if there are any deals but otherwise I accept I'll be paying more & maybe asking for a little more from the lodgers.

@BarbaraofSeville I tried switching things on and off but it doesn't seem to make much difference to my smart meter - I wonder if it's faulty.

My gas usage is very low. CH on for two hours a couple of nights a week, and hot water on for one hour at night. I mostly eat microwaveable meals, sandwiches or salad so don't really use my stove.

I would definitely be paying an electrician to take a look…

I tried switching things on and off but it doesn't seem to make much difference to my smart meter - I wonder if it's faulty.
That isn't how to do it. Turn everything off, including the freezer. Then look at the meter to see if it's still going up; if it is then that's a problem and you call the energy provider for assistance. If it isn't, then you start turning things back on and using them to see which have a big impact.

Mine at the moment is about that for 28 days in a 2 bed flat. Doesn't seem bad for a 5 bed

I live alone in small one-bedroom flat, so heating isn't much (three radiators in whole place, only ever have one on at any time). I don't have hair styling stuff but I do cook from scratch most days. My bill is less.

Could you do a big wash once a week, and if you have radiators on already stick clothes on there instead of the tumble dryer? That's the only possible thing I can see that is making it so big.

It is a lot for one person though OP, I think the issue is the energy company being money grabbing b**tards not you doing anything wrong!

4 bed house, 3 adults. 2 here most of the time. Washing machine most days, tumble towels & sheets only. About £120 a month electric, £95 gas average through year before increase. Gas heating & hob, rest electric.

@Fatgalslim

Not really the point but why do you live alone in a 5 bed house, if the bills are too much could you downsize?

What a strange question.

Worst aspect of this forum is the amount of people ready to tell you that how you live your life is wrong.

I would say it seems excessive, despite your usage - you're still only one person. There are on line calculators that will estimate your annual expected use (we = family of 4. Expected annual usage, according to the calculator, is 4400kw per annum. We're higher, but teens are a drain of their own).

However, unless someone is in exactly the same situation as you, you're not going to get many responses that will help answer your question.