Energy usage (sorry!)

[Scaredypup]

Aidbu for getting to this point without really looking into this… and for creating another thread 😬
I have buried my head in the sand, convinced myself it was all exaggerated but I’ve just begun looking into my usage.

My Mum is on a pay as you go meter and we compared our prices and her price per unit is cheaper than mine. I pay quarterly (but make payments monthly)

Ive looked at my usage but with no point of comparison I don’t know if it’s a lot and whether to expect the massive prices I’m reading about. Or if I’m below average so will pay less. I know it varies greatly.

my rough gas usage annually is 10,000
and electric 3000. Those are rounded up figures. I can cut back on the gas.

Can anyone post their usage for me to compare? Thank you

1200kwh electric and 3200kwh gas per year. WFH full time

@Scaredypup www.gov.uk/government/publications/postcode-level-domestic-gas-and-electricity-consumption-about-the-data/postcode-level-domestic-gas-and-electricity-consumption-notes#sub-national-consumption-datasets has data for average and median use down to full postcode level - separate files for electric and gas.

@Quincythequince I see your point but I still find it helpful.

interesting that paying monthly or quarterly is more expensive than pay as you go. I thought that was the dearest. I’m really reluctant to see up a direct debit. I like to pay for what I use.

Direct debit doesn't mean you pay for a different amount than you use, it just evens out payments. Most supplier allow you to alter the amount of you think they have set it too high.

If you get to know your usage well you will know how much you use in a year and can make sure your direct debit reflects that. Be aware of your use age and regularly review the unit cost and match that against your annual usage and direct debit charge.

If it does go into credit (over the whole year not just the warmer months) that can be refunded, however active management of it should prevent that happening.

Just keep in mind there are a few more price increases coming over the next 12 months and plan according when working out if your dd amount is right or not.

When the base costs are increasing so much it really doesn't make financial sense to opt to pay a higher cost just to have a different billing method.

@loudbatperson I just don’t like the idea of paying a set amount rather than for what I’m using. I don’t want to be in credit. I’d rather pay more in the winter and less in the summer. I always had a key meter in my old home so this is what I’m used to. I’ve tried so hard to get a key meter put back in but British Gas keep messing me around. I don’t care if it’s marginally more expensive, I prefer to have that control and be able to track what I’m using.

If you do want to 'pay for what you use' (which is a bit of a misnomer - you have to pay for what you use on any payment method), then make sure you are putting aside money for winter when your bill will probably be 3 or 4 times higher than summer. Direct debits are designed to smooth payments so instead of paying £100 in July and £400 in January, you pay £250 every month, which suits most people for budgeting reasons.

Winter month payments will be huge this year so make sure you have the money to cover them.

With those figures you'll be paying £3,300 a year with October's figures (although it will go up by around 50% again in January with current predictions so it will sadly be a lot more). So that's £253 a month across a year. So winter months will be more like £500/600 a month I would estimate based on usage due to heating costs, so make sure you have put a chunk aside,!

www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/what-are-the-price-cap-unit-rates-/#tool

Gas 12000
Elec 6000

3 bed house, 5 people (with 3 pcs almost constantly on, tumble dryer, dishwasher and various electronic devices-plus we used the hot tub a few times)