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.

27kwh per day is slightly high but at present we are using much much more, around 100 kwh a day as oil is incredibly expensive and no gas here. We are currently on a cheap tariff with 5p overnight so are heating using electricity in the 5p hours. When our tariff finishes we will struggle if oil is still so high. We calculated that oil is equivalent to around 7p a unit at present. No price cap on oil unfortunately so it could easily go up. This is for a family of 4. Without the heating we use on average 20 kwh a day as we are at home all day and cook a lot. Electric heating really racks up the consumption so even if it's running for a few hours it would have a massive impact.

Fartypantsmummy
I saw a woman on the net do this. She put her clothes horse near the radiator and threw a sheet over the horse and the radiator to make a tent. Apparently it dries in a few hours.

Have you set a "tariff" for both your electricity and gas - if with same firm for both, as gives you a cheaper rate.

I dont know as we in a 3 bed semi with both children left long ago, and yes sometimes my husband annoys me on leaving upstairs lights on have to keep a check on things, and just lately have been pegging washing outside on line to save on tumble dryer, as I have a friend in a detached house who uses a tumble dryer all year round even in the summer months - cant quite get my head around that statement she told me last year - bit ridiculous - yes her husband is a top earner but STILL. BIT RIDICULOUS.

Also I dry socks + undies over a large radiator in our hall, then just peg outside on the washing lines - towels and larger items on nice days.

Yep your right 16.21p kWh is my old tariff. Told you I was losing it. need to see how much going too 😱

@Darbs76

3 of us in a 5 bed house (one rooms tiny and one is an annex we use for an office) and currently paying £120 for both gas & electricity. It was double that in the summer due to an inflatable hot tub (won’t be on this year). I work at home apart from 1 day (soon to be 2) and we are more careful recently but don’t leave lights on etc. Gas I have it set to come on under 20 between 5-8am and 4-9pm and in the day if it dips below 19.

If I had my electric radiators on between 5-8am and 4-9pm it would cost approximately £1252.80 per month.

I think those with gas central heating congratulating themselves that they don’t use that much electricity need to realise that once you take out the heating element of peoples bills it isn’t for most people all that different.
My electric bill would be about £50-£60 per month if I take out the 1 radiator we have on to heat the living room where Dh sits for most of the day. Instead I am getting £300+ bills and I am freezing

My cost is 24.9p per kw and because of where I live I can’t seem to change it.

Tried but we seem to be tied into Ovo who don’t seem to have a clue what is going on.
They don’t seem to know what company I am with. I don’t even receive bills. I get emails to say my bill needs paying but I have to ask for the amount I have to pay and then spend time on the phone whilst they try to decide who I am.
I am going to be very careful which house I live in next as I can’t do another winter being so cold I can’t sleep which then means I can’t work which then means I can’t earn money

@Ddot

Fartypantsmummy I saw a woman on the net do this. She put her clothes horse near the radiator and threw a sheet over the horse and the radiator to make a tent. Apparently it dries in a few hours.

Lakeland do all sorts of covered, heated, drying racks and they tell you what they cost to run. The reviews are great, but the water has to go somewhere so I don't know whether this could help with condensation. We have a little dehumidifier from Argos and we run this in the small room where we dry the washing. It takes quite a lot of water out of the air and heats the room a little too. I'm guessing the running cost will be listed somewhere? Certainly much less than a tumble dryer - even our heat pump version uses quite a lot of power.

I half dry stuff in the tumble dryer to take the main wet out then hang on airer in front of main downstairs radiator. Some things only go in the dryer for 10 -15 minutes and it help a lot with avoiding condensation.

Yes electric heating is really expensive to run and people forget how hard this it going to hit all electric homes who are already living in cold houses due to the cost of heating.

Are you struggling to switch because of a time of use tariff or legacy meter? Do you have two MPANs? If so it can be a nightmare.

If so I recommend calling the legacy provider for your area, and asking for their complex metering team. They might be able to switch you onto an E10 or E7 smart meter. We did this with EON and it has saved some money as now we can use our off peak rate for all appliances rather than just the heating.

I would also recommend getting to grips with how storage heaters work and how to use them efficiently.

KennyKenKencat
Get yourself a heated blanket

2 pensioners in a two bed house with gas water heating, this month's LX was over £400. We must be frittering, but I don't see where !:0(

To answer your question, a family will struggle to pay the Bills!

@fartypantsmummy
I don't have and don't want a tumble dryer so I spin clothes on the faster cycle, shake out and hang over racks which hook over radiators but don't necessarily have the rads on.
I also hang jeans/leggings/trousers over the upstairs landing bannister after smoothing them out. I haven't had condensation even though my windows are single glazed. All my clothes dry in 2 days at most for jeans, that's with no heating on and I never need to iron (and I'm picky)
I put jumpers and sweats on hangers on rail in utility room which houses boiler and naturally warm and just waiting for collapsible airer from Cooper's Stortford to be delivered today.
The house temperature is usually 18c without heating on.
If you ramp up radiators then you will likely get condensation. Understand you prob have more washing than I do. I wear clothes several times before washing (other than underwear) and hang and air between times.

I honestly don't see where people are using all this electricity. Yesterday we were 1.57 Pounds with a dishwasher load , a 1 hr 27 min wash, electric blankets on before bedtime, TV for 3 hours plus all the usual. We also had the heated blanket on over us while watching TV.

My electrician agrees usage is too high. He's coming next week to have a look.

To those who are telling me to suck up and pay - I don't mind paying. I never said I do. I'm just asking whether my usage is too high for what I'm using. By the same token, no, I won't downsize either.

@InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest

My electrician agrees usage is too high. He's coming next week to have a look.

To those who are telling me to suck up and pay - I don't mind paying. I never said I do. I'm just asking whether my usage is too high for what I'm using. By the same token, no, I won't downsize either.

I'm glad it is getting sorted as there is definitely something going on. You use twice as much as us (three people in five bedroom house) and we aren't even that careful.

Yes, that electricity usage is extremely high, especially for a house that is heated by gas - as is your hot water if I understood correctly.

I can't do a straight comparison, because our house is much smaller than yours BUT we are all electric, including our heating, yet despite that, still used far fewer units of electricity over that time period than you did - we used about 900 kw/h between the dates you gave.

If you heated the house with electricity, I could understand the high usage in a 5 bed house, but as you don't, it seems way above normal.
It's a long shot, but I don't suppose you have been using a portable electric heater anywhere for extra heat? Just one of those could make quite a difference!

Seems normal to me

Having taken on board what a previous poster said, that some of us have quoted our payments for gas and electricity and the op is talking about her electricity bill only, the following qualifies what I previously said: I am with EDF and my joint monthly payment for gas and electricity is £87, that is £76 for elec and £11 for gas. My tariff is 'budget' whatever that means. I live alone in a three bed semi.

I always dried laundry on a clothes airer and when it was nearly dry, would tumble dry for a short while to make it smooth and soft. I never completely dry anything by tumbling (or have rarely done so), that is known to be very expensive.

Always good to check, if you think it is wrong should always stick to your guns. I had this battle when I was using £4 a day on gas and power company said it was normal, this was summer and only used for cooking. Eventually they confirmed an issue and turned out to be a gas leak and myself and gas men struggled to find it cause gas was leaking from a pipe and straight up the chimney, probably saved our lives the leak being there.

@fartypantsmummy

Get a dehumidifier. They are cheap to run and actually heat a place but remember to take the water out so it continues to work. A Halogen heater is also your friend, also cheap to buy.

I spend £88.00 a month on gas and electricity in a 3 bedroom house. I live alone but heat house all day with every radiator on full. I dry towels on radiator after bath and wash them infrequently in winter.I use white vinegar in washing machine so I can wash on low temperatures and this softens towels. I don't use a tumble dryer but instead use a spin dryer so very little moisture left in clothes. I also dry clothes outside and only bring them in when they are dry(which sometimes takes days).I am not on a fixed rate and £450.00 in credit(for now) I wash bedding a lot more frequently in summer.

Thanks for replies - I really appreciate it. Will have a look on Amazon for a dehumidifier. x

Hi am with nabuh for 14 months now OK it's amazing how people waste money and energy ch on when not in husband working wife part time and Esa would they care no it's taking advantage of us

@Bromse
Budget account means that EDF calculates your use over the last 12 months and divides it by 12. That is the fixed amount you pay winter and summer. Twice a year EDF recalculates the amount you're paying to see whether it covers your yearly use.
I have DD Whole Amount which means EDF calculate by use (as above) but if I give monthly readings between the dates they specify and my use is lower than the DD, then EDF only take the cost of energy used. They also monitor the amounts and lower the DD accordingly if regular readings show I use less than they think.
I'm on their Welcome Standard Variable tariff but move to ordinary SV in April which is still a great price compared to other providers and can't go higher as it's the Ofgem capped rate until Oct.