Is this heating bill normal?

[TwinsAndTiramisu]

Just want to know if this sounds reasonable....

Family of 5, 2 adults, 1 teen, toddler twins. 4/5 bed detached.

Twins home all day 3 days a week (nursery the other 4)

Teen home all day weekends and school the other 5.

Us, home most days, DH usually WFH and me some part time work (online seller), with usually a TV on, and heating set to come on at below 21c.

Gas central heating. Electric everything else.

Our precise bill (smart meter) for the last calendar month is £470. £220 electric, £270 gas.

Does this sound vaguely in line with what others are getting billed? A bit toppy, or ridiculously too much? Or indeed, cheap compared to other people in similar circumstances?

My house must be losing heat dramatically then. There's no way we could only have the heat on for an hour in the morning and the evening, when it's 8c outside...the house feels cold by mid morning and like it has a chill by lunch.

And not because I'm shouting but because I did a very relevant drip feed (sorry) which most have missed...THE HEATING IS OFF AT NIGHT

£470 sounds really high. Is your house quite old? My last hoise was 125 and took ages to heat up and didn't hold the heat long. Currently house hold the heat much better.

4 bed detached and my bill was £279 last month. House is usually 21-22 degrees. I WFH so I'm home most of the day. I try to remember to turn the heating down at night but often forget. TV off during the day and all our lights are LEDs.

I’m in a chilly 4-bed detached with WFH people 5 days a week and an electric car we charge at home. Haven’t had the central heating on much (no thermostat), but even so our DD is £240 pcm and I’ve just had notification it needs to go up to £255 to get through winter without debt based on Oct-Nov readings. So I’d say your electric and gas are both high, but as you are high consumers, and if you won’t turn your heating down, that’s why.

It matters because I'm trying to gage if someone else operating with a similar size house, family and circumstances, pays roughly the same - or if it sounds like my bill is way off.

Ours is under £200 but we are 2 adults 1 preschooler in a new terrace. The house sits at 17 with no heating. Therefore I don't think it's that strange for yours to be double ours.

It sounds like your bill is accurate - and you can check that yourself by reading the meters - but that you are high consumers, not average or low.

Thing is you are now comparing against a lot of people who are adjusting to what you'd class as "a chill" e.g. 17/18 as normal, with some shorter warm periods. There's not many on Mumsnet admitting to questioning their bill while their thermostat starts with a 2!

I think your electric sounds high but your gas sounds like a bargain for how much heat you're using

I don't think we are particularly high users I suppose, in my mind. But general consensus seems to be that we are, so perhaps that's it.

It does concern me that no one has reported as much, or higher though.

I keep wondering if we've got like a rogue appliance which is using ten times more power than it should. Or if somethings gone wrong with the gubbins of the heating system.

We had a new boiler just a couple of months ago,but I've never been convinced by the radiators, they seem to need bleeding a lot.

Not a particularly old house, maybe 70s build?

I think you are high users from what you’ve said and to be honest it sounds quite reasonable for the gas!

Look at your electric usage first. Do you cook in the oven a lot, have lots of screens plugged in (TV plus WFH computers, teen charging stuff etc). Do you run the dishwasher multiple times a day and do a lot of washing?

And - do you have a smart meter and these are actual usage figures, or are they estimates?

I think it’s about right tbh, we have a 3 bed semi, we have it set to 14C all night and day, have it at 18C 6:30pm-10pm and during the day three days a week and our last bill was £150, it’s probably going to be well over £200 for this month.

Your bill is a little high. For comparison our house is 2500 sq ft and we use every inch of it as DH runs his business from home, so there's only a few hours a week when no one's at home and we paid £400 in the past month. We are not scrimping on heating/tumble drying etc but are being mindful of how we use energy eg full loads, oodies etc.

I'd recommend reducing the thermostat 1 degree at a time and seeing how you go. You will acclimatise. Also leave it off and if you feel cold, try some layers and if that doesn't work then switch it on. If you do it that way round then you'll save loads.

Saving gas where you can will make the biggest impact in my opinion.

There bed twin house, 2 teens, 1 adult working from home full time, other adult working from home 1/2 days a week. Last month our bill was £160. Waiting to see what November brings.

four of us - two adults and two teens in a big four bed terrace. I'm alone all day working from home and have a fleecy primark kneelength hoody which is fab so am fine. I dry our clothes in the front room which is sunny and leave the windows open to try to keep the damp away. This week in the evening I've put on the woodburner and move the clothes to hang off the bannisters in the landing which works well as the heat rises. Latest bill for October was 33.25 for gas and 126.67 for electricity but the woodburner probably uses a £5 worth of wood in the evenings so it's not a good as it sounds. it's been very mild though so I will put on the gas cental hearing once it gets cold for a few hours a day

Cook from scratch mainly on electric hob, although will usually have a pizza or a cake in the oven most days as well.

Yes lots is plugged in.

Yes, dishwasher runs at least once, usually twice.

Usually two loads of washing a day, and tumble dryer.

None of this is gas though, and all those things are done in the summer months now I say it out loud, so why the hell has the electric gone nuts as well. It can't be solely lights.

Very similar set up to you and our smart meter is averaging about £12/day at the moment. Heating is set to 18c daytime and 15c overnight due to the children. We have a huge hot water tank so we only set the water to heat up once a day.

I expect November to be about £360

It’s nine degrees in my house. I’m cold but I haven’t put the heating on

I’m just 😳 at people having heating come on at 21 degrees

Four bed detached

2 adults

2 teens

£300 per month about £10-12 per day

Thermo set at 16 comes on for one hour am, 30 mins lunch 8-10pm evening when heats to 18

4 loads of washing per week eco wash
6 loads with towels and bedding

Terrifying isn't it? I live in SE and it has not been cold

We used 513kWh of electric and 933kWh of gas last month, 15th oct to 14th Nov.
That cost us £173.74 for electric and £89.96 for gas.

We live in a very old draughty house with the heating set to 17c all day from 6am to 8:30pm.
We are £1k in credit though so not too bothered.

If it's set to under 20c then the house feels absolutely freezing

18/19c is categorically not "absolutely freezing".

I don't believe that you really think that, unless you're in shorts and a vest top all day.

You need to compare your KWH usage not price. This will tell you if you are a high energy user.

Yes, ours was around £390 for an old 4 bed detached with 2 adults and 3 young adults.
I've got it down to £340 though with banning the tumble dryer, scrapping the dishwasher, having short showers instead of baths, turning heating down to 19 and getting LED spotlights fitted.