To think if my energy usage is lower than average my bills shouldn't be almost double average?

[ASHPwoes]

We have an air source heat pump heating system. It's an environmentally friendly technology which heats our four bedroom house efficiently. Our annual electricity consumption (total energy usage) is under 12000kWh. Previously we had it on a "green" tarrif which was supposedly from renewables, although I'm not certain that's still the case since the energy market went insane.

Anyway, because it is an electric system rather than gas, and because the current cost of electricity is 34p per kWh vs 10p per kWh for gas our annual bill looks like being around £4500 compared to about £2500 for a four bedroom house using 12000kWh gas and 2900kWh electricity. As the prices rise further for everyone that difference will be magnified for anyone with all electric households.

AIBU to think that having a reduced energy usage after investing in green technology we shouldn't be penalised with massively increased bills?

Should have said I took the 12000kWh gas and 2900kWh electricity from here as an indication of average: www.ukpower.co.uk/home_energy/average-household-gas-and-electricity-usage
If anything I suspect we'd probably be using more gas actually. We're a family of five living in Scotland.

Unfortunately they don’t look at what you use the energy for but just what energy you’re using. Unfortunately you’re using 4 times the ‘average’ household’s amount of electric which is around 3x the price of the same volume of gas.

Sadly this is the reality for those of us with all electric households where we use at least 3x the cost of gas to achieve the same heat and water temperature/availability and houses that use gas. I’m dreading this winter in a 3 bed end of terrace house with 2 ancient storage heaters downstairs, no heating upstairs and 3 year old twins, a husband who works from home and limited household income.

It's ironic though that it's gas which is the problem! Sorry to hear you're stuck with the same situation@LovedFedAndNoonesDead

AIBU to think that having a reduced energy usage after investing in green technology we shouldn't be penalised with massively increased bills?

YABU because you aren’t being penalised. The costs are the costs.

But why is electricity so much more expensive than gas? This implies it needn't/shouldn't be:

www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/sep/electricity-prices-dictated-gas-producers-who-provide-less-half-uk-electricity

"Natural gas is the main driver of electricity prices across Europe confirms research published by UCL. Despite gas providing under half of the total electricity in the UK, in recent years it set electricity costs 84% of the time."

YANBU. Compared to an electric/gas house we're extremely frugal with our energy use (c8000 KwH per year for all use), but because it's all electric we pay through the nose.

It is what it is though.

How much electricity are you actually using per year?

I thought heat pumps sourced the heat from the air therefore you use less energy surely?

There is a real push around here to install ASHP in place of gas boilers. It's fantastic from an environmental point of view but so, so expensive whilst electricity is priced at more than three times gas. How are we going to become less reliant on Russian gas if electricity from renewables is still priced based on the gas price?

We are being penalised, because our rates are doubling (at least), and we have nothing to show for the extra spending. If the yearly bill used to be £1250 but now it's £2500, then you may as well just gone to a casino and gambled that extra amount away.

We do use less energy. Our total energy usage is 12000kWh per year. We'd use that in gas alone to heat the house and have electricity bills on top. It's the source of the energy which makes it more expensive (ironically because it is linked to the gas price!) We are really efficient overall in usage.

That sounds an awful lot to me and I apparently have very high electric use (still not quite sure why)

Mine is around 5k in gas and 5k in electric. 3 bed semi.

Your rates are doubling because that’s the cost of electricity not because you’re being penalised. Penalised means you are being punished or a penalty is being imposed on you, and only you for something you did. That’s not at all the case.
No one’s charging higher electric rates to people with heat source pumps to punish them. You’re paying the same rates as everyone else.

Yes this - a quick Google suggests that an air source heat pump is over 300% efficient, so for every unit of energy you use to run it, you get over 3 units of heat energy.

Compare that to a gas boiler, which is around 94% efficient, so you get slightly less than one unit of heat energy for every unit of gas you use.

So at current prices the two should cost roughly the same to run.

So it seems like either you're using a lot more heat than most houses, in which case you'd be paying a lot more than average if you switched to gas, or you're using a lot of electricity for things other than heating?

But why is the cost of electricity still pegged to gas so tightly when most comes from renewables?

Compared to the average duel fuel household you're a high electricity user and a very low gas user

usave.co.uk/energy/average-gas-and-electricity-bill-for-a-3-bed-house/

This is what I'm trying to figure out. We are on 100% green energy. Shouldn't the price be less then. Also just have electric. No heaters on yet.

I agree OP.

We are building a house with ASHP, but have now decided to also connect to gas with a combi boiler.

Its the opposite of what the government is supposed to be promoting, but I just can’t afford to risk it.

electricity from renewables is still priced based on the gas price

Gas price is one of many drivers of electricity prices because we still generate 35% of our electricity by burning gas. So yeah, an increase in gas prices will cause a subsequent increase in electricity prices.

I can't be certain what we'd be using in gas. The ASHP was already here when we moved in. We do live in a much colder than average part of the country though.

For comparison my predicted consumption is 11,000 kwh but we have gas, estimated annual cost £2100

We are on 100% green energy. Shouldn't the price be less then
No. Because renewable technology costs more money to produce electricity. It’s better for the environment, but it’s not any cheaper. We’d have been 100% green, zero carbon at predicting energy since 1970 if it were cheaper! It’s not, it requires more investment money, more infrastructure, more maintenance…that’s why it’s taking us probably a century when all said and done to transition over.

I don't blame you and would absolutely do the same. So short sighted on a national level thpugh. If 35% of electricity comes from gas it makes no sense at all toe that the two always go up in the same proportion. Especially when we need to become less reliant on gas!!

Here are the current generation figures which may explain some of the issue grid.iamkate.com/

Green energy tariffs aren't really what you think energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/switching-your-energy-supplier/#:~:text=A%20green%20tariff%20means%20that,tariffs%20are%20also%20nuclear%2Dfree.

ASHPs are being pushed (as are many of the government's green initiatives) to reduce reliance on fossil fuels for political reasons, not green ones. The intention is to decarbonise the grid so that we are not reliant on the likes of Russia for our energy. If only Cameron hadn't had a war on red tape...

*producing, not predicting. Sorry.

Q