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?

Wow - large Victorian four floored house
Husband working at home, two kids
Last month £224

Do your radiators need rebalancing rather than bleeding? I'd look at your insulation too
Maybe better money spent, it's bloody madness isn't it

I think where you are in the UK can also make quite a difference as to how much heating you need which can make it difficult to compare figures on here.

It feels absolutely freezing. As in my nose gets cold like I've been outside too long, and my feet are cold in sheepskin slippers.

I've just adjusted the heating to 20c throughout the day, but I had it off completely over night, and have now changed that to come on at 15c. I wonder if the house is getting far too cold while we're blissfully unaware under duvets, then subsequently can't heat the resulting damp/chill off throughout the day unless I set it to "flambé."

Oh poster get some thermals and some heated blankets

I'd say that is cheap to say you have it set to go on if drops below 21 degrees! We have three bedroomed detached and with a baby at home we decided not to use central heating and instead buy some electric fan heaters for a couple of rooms, put them on on an evening when doing bath time and bed and also for a bit in the morning - last months bill £683! Heating is going on this month...

Your electric bill is high.. how many KWh did you use?
And what is powered by electric? Your oven, hob, showers, immersion heater?

I don't have a gas supply so everything is electric and l use about 300kwh a month. I WFH most days although haven't had much electric heating on yet. Three bed terrace, two adults and two primary aged kids.

My bill was £84 last month though we were away for a week so used 260kwh which is a bit less than normal.

You are running something expensive on electric.

Have you seen the chart of what everything costs per hour? I can’t find it now but before the cap was announced the electric hobbs would have cost £1 an hour for each ring that was on! I think now it’s around 60p each for an hour, it’ll soon add up. Could you get a smart metre installed to see where it going? My old house cost a lot more in gas to get to 20 degrees than my new one , you may not realise how much it’s being turned on.

Yes, I think something is expensive on the electric, but we literally aren't doing anything differently to the summer months re cooking, TV, appliances etc. Just lights on. Can it really be lights? Maybe two room downstairs go on in the afternoon until bed time now. It can't be that can it?

We have got a smart meter, but you just get a running daily total for the gas and electric independently, it doesn't break down anything further than that.

Can you get better ones that tell you what's using what?

3 bed semi, not really had to use the heating this month- £70

Here's the bill, as I have been asked about kWh etc by several, and to be perfectly frank, I am clueless about this. Can I just say I really appreciate everyone's advice and help here, thank you to everyone who is contributing to this thread xx

We're in a large 4 bed. Both wfh. Gas for water and heating. Teenager and 8 year old. Tv on quite a bit and PS4. Hive set to 19c but timed only 3-4 hours a day. Mid oct-mid Nov actual bill was £300-£66 from gov.

Yes a lot of them will tell you if you plug in a high use item. Say for instance you put the dryer on, you’ll see the metre go in to red and the price increasing quite rapidly. Try and see if your energy company have an app you can download if you have a smart metre already , a lot of them you can see when the price is going up etc.

We keep the thermostat on 19. On hive you can see how long the heating has been on in the day. It's around 2.5 hours a day when it's quite cold outside. Our heating company said to keep the thermostat to the same temperature instead of turning it on an off.

Are you with Shell energy? That looks the same as mine. Download the app and it should give you a daily energy use chart.

I guess a lot would depend if you are on a fixed rate, doesn't seem too bad if you are paying the huge rates that apply if your not.

So you used 546kwh of electric... which is nearly double my use but I power everything on electric - water, cooking, showers etc (no gas where I live)

No it's not lights. You don't have a water heater or something?
How many times do you run the dishwasher? I reuse mugs, glasses for the same person so it is every other day.

Tumble dryer on more than summer???

2 adults, 4 kids in a 5 bed. Our electric is around 120 a month. Kids are at school all week, I'm at home all week and dh wfh 3 days. Gas is 250 pm but I keep heating set to 19 and only turn it up if it feels chilly. I don't use it during the day while the kids are at school. If I'm sat reading or watching TV I use a heated throw to keep warm.

Is the difference in electric costs between now and the summer not just down to the increased prices from October? Unless you’re on a fixed rate that didn’t change?

£76.88 for a 4 bed detached for gas and electricity. We have solar panels so that always helps. No gas.

Your electric seems high to me.

We're about £140 pm electric. I use the tumble dryer daily, 20 washing loads a week, daily dishwasher, two gaming teens, a 5 year old that leaves every light on. I'm also WFH so there's nearly always someone home. We're pretty high users I thought!

My gas is far lower than yours but I'm not heating the house to 21, I think we'd find that uncomfortably warm tbh.

Not a water heater.

Dishwasher once or twice a day. No different to summer.

Tumble dryer on the same amount.

Yet the August bill was £26 for gas (hot water) and only £120 for electric. I say only. That's a lot isn't it. And yet it's managed to virtually double now.

4 bed detached (modern) house and we're currently £200 a month for both elec and gas. It will depend what your tariff is; I fixed over a year ago on a rate reasonable in todays terms.
That includes charging up an electric car but we have our thermostat much lower than you. 19 in the morning and evening but 17 during the day and 15 (off basically) at night.

I have a garden office so have a wee heater in there and so there isn't usually anyone in the house during the day.

Gaaaaarrrrrgh yes I am so I just downloaded the app and the twunting twatty bastardous thing has just told me I've used £404 since 1st Nov!!?!