To ask how I’m supposed to pay this heating bill?

[ye10000]

This month I put the heating on set to 18. It automatically clicks off when it’s got to 18 and it goes off entirely at 10pm until the morning. I’ve looked at usage and it says the heating has been on an average of 7 hours a day. This had meant a bill of 502 pounds. We are in a three bed detached. That is almost a quarter of my income and I have one dc in nursery, single parent. I am so worried about the coming months, is 7 hours a day average a lot? I thought I was being careful.

Chase down random draughts and seal/block them but down block any ventilation fans as there needs to be a balance to avoid condensation/ damp.
Even on new builds, build quality can be dire so getting rid draughts can make a big difference especially to 'comfort'

Right now, we are at about 7 hours a day too op, it's cold!

Hopefully if it gets a little milder I can drop a couple of hours a day.

I don’t think 7 hours is a lot at all.

We heat a 4 bed detached from 6am to 10.30pm, thermostat set on average of 20 degrees.

gas central heating, works out around £10 a day so around £300 a month over the winter months.

With Octopus.

Ours is set to 19 during the day and 18 at night, it clicks on and off as it needs to throughout the day so I’d say it’s definitely on more than 7 hours (it was on at 4am when I got up this morning as wasn’t up to 18 degrees yet). We have one room that’s colder than the others (large windows on 3 sides and a lantern roof) so I move the thermostat into there if we’re in all day (we use that room as the play room). We pay £250 per month with octopus year round, so over the summer we’ve obviously not been using that amount so have accrued credit which means our winter bills shouldn’t sky rocket. I know a lot of people prefer to pay for what they use each month rather than a monthly direct debit but it does mean we don’t have to worry about having the heating on as much during the winter when we’ve already kinda pre-paid for some of it.

That does seem a vast bill, I'd contact your supplier to discuss. Do you pay monthly for what you use? You might be better off paying a fixed monthly DD then you would have built up credit in the summer for these bigger winter bills.

Last year I spent most of the winter months cold and in tears as I couldn't afford to have the heat on as I was struggling to get any shifts.

Buying sets thermal long johns helps - the type that skier wear. These can be worn under your normal clothes. Wearing a woollen beanie hat indoors also helps. Staying in bed to keep warm when not working isn't for me as I like to move and keep active.

I found on days I wasn't working, going to IKEA or a Weatherspoons pub (coffee £1.45 + free refills) & local library with my laptop was a place to stay warm. I soon discovered that I wasn't the only one and have joined the brigade of young people who brashly will plug their phones for recharge in shops and cafes sockets.

Public galleries and museums on days off. Last year, I met in the V&A an old retired woman who told me that she spent every day coming to the V&A with her book to sit near a particular spot that was near a radiator to try and stay warm. I've heard of people hanging out at Airports, if you happen to live close to one but that would be too far for me.

I loath the winter!

This.

£502 sounds like a lot, especially as you've only heated to 18 C, but what's your house like? A compact 3 bed detached new build with a modern boiler and radiators will use far less than an old drafty singled glazed spacious Victorian house with high ceilings and poor insulation.

But if you pay by direct debit, you can spread the cost all year round, which makes it easier to budget.

You can also see if you're entitled to any help - eg with childcare, or even UC if you rent. Plus whether there's any grants etc available.

Have a look at Moneysaving Expert and do everything that is relevant.

What to do if you're struggling to pay your energy bills (moneysavingexpert.com)

Sounds like your house is not insulated well at all. Is there any way you could do something in that regards? Ours is 22-23 degrees all day till 8.30pm but hardly clicks on cos the house is well insulated. Our bills are about 170 pm.

Are you heating the house but aren't home??? Might be better to put it on timer, say 3 hours in the morning and three hours at night. Rather than having it on all day. Also contact your energy supplier for help. Mine did a check and they were very helpful. Good luck 🍀

We had similar when we moved in. Hadn't really considered that a larger house might have higher charges even though we had the heating on far far less!

We ended up having to overpay each month till the balance was gone. Took about 8 months.

Are you heating the whole house OP, or just the room you are in. I heat the sitting room and downstairs loo but not the hall or kitchen. I heat 2 bedrooms we use but not 4 we are not using. You need to get the valves fitted to your radiators so you can heat room by room. It targets your heat to where you need it most. Also general advice is switch thermostat down 1 degree, so to 17 degrees. Use a blanket to snuggle up under in the evening and I switch down CH to 13 degrees overnight.

Yes 7 hours is a lot. We have 45 minutes in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening. One hour if we can manage. You need to have it off during the day.

7 hours is a lot.
We usually put the heating in the morning for let's say 30-60 minutes and then maybe afternoon for one hour and usually at the evening for another hour...

Ours is on from 6am to 10pm every day with the thermostat set to 17degC. January (coldest month) gas usage is 2,600kWh which in today's money is £259. This is in an old single-skin detached cottage with minimal insulation and only secondary glazing. We do also use a wood burning stove.

Dropping the thermostat even a single degree makes a huge difference.

Ours is set to 18 morning for 2 hours & evening for about 5 hours. During the day it's set at 15 but hasn't clicked on yet, even last week. At night it's set at 5, but has never come on in 20 years. In the evening it never stays on for the full time (probably a couple of hours). We have an oil fired radiator in the living room to keep that more cozy & turn off the radiators in rooms that aren't being used.

Running a dehumidifier helps maintain houses in this country and I believe it feels warmer but I don't know for sure.

The initial outlay and running costs aren't going to be right for this situation rn but worth considering in the future.

It sounds like you have an insulation issue.

Do you live very far north? Have you got modern double glazed windows, plenty of loft insulation, thick lined curtains, draft excluders on doors etc?

The house shouldn't need 7 hours of heating a day to maintain 18 degree temps in the UK unless its been really really cold.

Setting to maintain a temperature is supposed to be more efficent. Ours is set at 16 degrees and seems to have to come on a lot to maintain that - if it was 18 degrees would probably have similar bill to OP. Old house and so difficult to keep warm - we have new boiler, have changed out some radiators, thick curtains, wear loads of layers etc.

Changing suppliers advice is mostly not applicable surely? - aren’t most of us just on the price cap these days? It’s the same cap for everyone but just very small changes per supplier regionally. It’s hardly like you can get a good deal / a significant percentage off by just changing supplier and signing up to a new fixed tariff like you could a few years a go.

And as for whether it’s a lot… It is a lot, but I pay direct debit over the year to average payments out so I don’t ever have to pay the full whack for Dec/ Jan use. Even still, yes it’s more than I ever use .. some houses just eat energy. I think we may have had the heating on a similar amount (7 hours or so) on Saturday because we were all in and it was bloody freezing. Day to day I would see 7 hours as a lot though.

@Bobtheamazinggingerdog having heating off during the day is easier said then done. Ours is off overnight and the temperature can drop to 12degC before it comes back on again at 6am. It doesn't get back up to 17degC (the set point of the thermostat) before mid-morning so that is already 4-5 hours just to get back to a comfortable temperature. There are people at home all day so they need to have a comfortable working temp. I'm in my office and its currently just managed to crawl to 16degC in here so I'm still in fingerless gloves!

Also i just checked mine, for a well insulated house, we used about 7h a day this weekend. When its cold you do need a lot.

Genuinely dont know how bills are so high, we're with eon in a single glazed period property. I heat the whole house to 20-22deg whenever i want (not at night tbf). We also run a little electric heater, two dehumidifiers and i do lots of slow cooking in a big electric oven - £160/mo gas and electric.

Having the heating in for seven hours a day in December when it could be dark for fifteen hours a day minimum is not "a lot'.

Two hours in the morning and five in the evening?

7 hours on in the day isn't a lot if someone is working from home or at home all day.

Ours is turned off at night but it's on a lot during the day as we have 3 adults home most of the time with my husband and son largely wfh.

Sorry this is for gas and electric. I still think it’s a lot? I work from home and it’s utterly miserable sitting in the cold.