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?

What are you using at 3am @wohmum

Ah, this is why I can't drill down into daily, I just see a message saying I need to opt in for 1/2 hrly readings.

But then no indication of how/where I do this.

Do you know please?

You use a lot of electricity a day.

15 kWh - so knowing where that's going will help.Is it showers?

Look in and near your airing cupboard for any random switches. I am wondering if you have got an immersion heater turned on by accident. It's easily done but very expensive!

i reckon that was my 20 yr old DS getting in late and putting a pizza in the oven !

If you aren’t fixed costs for fast and electric went up quite a bit in October so even if your elec use is similar to summer it will have gone up cost per unit.

I know we don't have an immersion, purely because we had a boiler this summer

Obviously electricity is much more expensive now - so you need to have the kWH for summer and winter months.

I’m sure you can do it on the website - I couldn’t see it on the app though . Definitely get it changed though - it’s really useful

Do you know how many kWH of electricity you used typically in the summer months?

This was about opting in to 1/2 hour readings …. Contact them on chat or email if you can’t find it

Looking at the august bill I posted, 462kwh electric

Your electricity use has increased by about 100kWh a day compared to that month.

The cost of electricity has increased by about 20%

The standing charge has increased.

All those things have made your last bill expensive.

However - it's not too difficult to reduce electricity usage.

August

Electricity use: 462 kWh @ 27.8p per kWh
Standing charge - 36p per day

Oct

Electricity - 546 kWh @ 36p per kWh
Standing charge - 42.45 p per day

So an increase in usage by about 80 kWh - so about 2.5 kWH per day

It does not take much lifestyle difference between August and Oct to increase the electricity use

True, but I need to establish how on earth we started with a base of £146 p/m for electric before the price increases. I think the hourly usage chart will help to identify what is the rogue appliance. We've got a new boiler, new oven, new microwave, tumble dryer, dishwasher, less than 2yo washing machine. All decent efficiency. The only thing that's old is the hob.

This is interesting . I’ve just done the same comparison- 4 bed detached . Generally fairly low - middle CH usage. My august Elec Kwh was 320, October 386. No real change in habits apart from gas CH on typically for 3 hours a day , so for us I think it’s the gas boiler / pump using more elec too .

sorry to hijack OP but I think we’re in quite similar position and I’m also with Shell

True, but I need to establish how on earth we started with a base of £146 p/m for electric before the price increases. I think the hourly usage chart will help to identify what is the rogue appliance. We've got a new boiler, new oven, new microwave, tumble dryer, dishwasher, less than 2yo washing machine. All decent efficiency. The only thing that's old is the hob

It's useful to think of the kWH - rather than the money.

You are using about 15kWh. If you have a smart meter, you should have a monitor. That is really useful. I once turned everything off in my flat (except stuff that had to remain on). I got a baseline for my flat - about 33 watts.

I can see when DS has his shower - as the reading goes up. I can see when the fridge motor goes on, when the TV goes on, the kettle. The reading goes up.

So keep an eye on the monitor.

What is it showing now in your house?

@TwinsAndTiramisu click on account then scroll down to preferences and it's in there

I think it’s the gas boiler / pump using more elec too

Could be. Lights on more - but lights don't use much. More TV in the dark evenings.

21 is high for heating.
Ours is at 19 when kids (3 & 5) are home, 18 if its only me/DH, 15 over night.

Why is there a tv on the time?

The question is not whether it’s higher than the next person’s bill or lower than the previous person’s bill as all homes and circumstances are different. The question is whether it’s affordable to you, not anyone else. If it is, great. If not, you need to reduce your usage wherever you can until it is affordable.

TVs don't use much - depends on the wattage of course - but you are looking at about 50 - 100 watts.

So it would take 20 hours @ 50 watts to use 1kWh of electricitiy

I blame the teenager - do they take long electric showers?

I just googled what a smart meter monitor was. Turns out it's the thing I thought was the smart meter

I have no idea how to work it. I know it rotates through its various screens throughout the day to show in £ what we're cumulatively on for the week.

I need to work this out then do the turn all non essentials off. Then, how/where do I see the equivalent thing to your 33 watts? What is that? Electric something per hour?

Please excuse my absolute dimwittedness about all this.

Absolutely incorrect.

Just because we could afford a (say) rogue fridge which happens to be running up £150 a month on it's own, does not mean I'm happy to do so when everyone else's fridge costs £20.

I am specifically looking to compare for this purpose.