What was your energy bill for Dec 2024? 4 bed semi detached

[BeShyPlumLeader]

Hi all

Husband is saying we're having the heating on too much / too high. Bill for December was £275. It's a four bed semi detached house, had all new heating system and boiler about two years ago, and new double glazed windows around the same time.

He likes it put it on about 16-17 degrees. I am comfortable at 18.5 - it never goes above that. Goes down to 9 at night time.

I absolutely HATE feeling cold. Possible thyroid issue that is being looked into, but when I'm cold it is all encompassing and I cannot focus on anything (WFH two days per week).

So I'm curious - if you live in a similar size property, what was your energy bill for Dec 2024 please?

(Just realised we were obviously all home a bit more than usual late Dec as no school or work)

Thanks

Exactly, the monthly direct debit amount is irrelevant really. I pay £240 a month but my December usage was £330.

Interested about the log burner costing nothing, I spend a fortune on logs!

You get it on every thread asking about usage / cost!

Large 3 bed 1800s semi, 12 foot ceilings, bloody freezing in winter but lovely and cool in summer

Our DD is £225 a month and in December we used £135 gas and £125 electric. Boiler is very old and inefficient, no thermostat so we just turn it on and off, house is regularly 12 degrees in the morning and barely gets above 16 this time of year but we cant afford to have it on more 😞 we have lots of layers on and 2 dehumidifiers running most of the day (not if we are out)

Mine costs nothing currently due to having taken trees down a couple of years ago. The wood is nicely seasoned now but I know I'm lucky to have that option.

Large 4 bed terrace with empty properties next to me and combined gas and electric was £269 for December, will be higher this month.

About £130 for a 3 bed dormer style semi.
It's off completely when we're out of the house, but there were a few really bitter days when I set it to come on if it fell below 14.
It also goes off about 8:30 in the evening and stays off all night.
Thermostat is set anywhere between 18 and 19.5, depending on my mood.

Are you all electric or dual fuel?

We were away for half December in a house similar to yours, brr, with family just moved in, having to feed a meter online, ‘heating’ set at 18, GCH from what I suspect is an old boiler, £15 a day.

However, the house was not insulated, this makes an enormous difference as we know.

We leave ours set at 16, through trial and error, when we are away - early January when we came home the house didn’t feel cold, it was ‘comfortable’ but there is a big difference between that and being warm.
During the cold snap recently we left it on at 21, for 5 days and nights, necessity here not luxury, as you say @WhatToWrite I would be miserable, cannot function in the cold.

I would love a real fire, but know the work involved and remember a smoke filled room in March winds, perhPs a log burner would be better, so that we can have heat
in Spring and Autumn without the CH and electric towel rails
Also it depends on how many bodies are in the house, showers, cooking, WFH, babies, visitors, and how well insulated it is, draughty as you say - my parents were obsessed with (so many) draughts, now I’m the same.

150 with Eon . 3 bed detached relatively new build. We have heating on twice a day for an hour each time but often switch it on about 3pm these days with the dark days.

We're in a 4 bed semi with next door empty so no heating coming from that side.

Our gas bill for December was £150. And that was mainly due to several cold snaps & me putting the heating on during the day as I was so cold (wfh). We don't normally have the heating on at all during weekdays but I couldnt manage without it in December.

We also had the heating in more over Xmas than usual as we were entertaining a lot of people over the Xmas period too.

So based on that, I would say yours was a lot (assuming that your bill was for gas only).

We're on a 12 month fix with Octopus so have a good deal on that so I know we're paying competitively too.

would you consider a lodger ?!

Mine is only three bed and was £248 combined, £175 just for gas. My house is detached, old and poorly insulated and I have had the heating on a lot in the evenings and weekends otherwise I'd be freezing. Even with it on it's not that warm!

£340
3 bed detached
2 adults

4 bed detached, 4 of us, home for Christmas, £170. New build, so our gas is relatively low, but our electricity is high (accounts for about £110 of the bill).

I pay monthly, no DD. Teeny tiny terraced cottage, 200+ years old, double glazed, two foot thick walls. No gas. December bill was £102, and I only had the heating on for one week and immersion tank for three days. Rest of the time I boiled kettles and used the logburner (or wore my Oodie). I did have family round over Christmas (hence having the heating on), so a bit more usage than normal, but I did think it was a bit steep! Smart Meter, so presumably correct.

Four bed detached house with storage heaters. December was savage, over £400 quid.
About to be replacing them for a proper heating system though.

£188 actual cost not the dd. Four bed detached three of us and I work from home.

£174 - but we also have an electric car that accounts for about £28 of that. The heating has been more than usual though, to 21. We live in a very well insulated new build though with different thermostat for upstairs, and that one has rarely needed to come on.

In the warmer months it is £140 maximum, and that still includes the car charging. We set the dryer, washing machine etc to come on throughout the night though as we have really cheap electricity then due to the EV tariff

We had a £318.03 bill for 5th Dec - 5th Jan, also a 4 bed semi (1200sq ft). Temp has been mainly on 19°.

I just looked. We live in a new build 4 bed semi. First winter here. Octopus energy. £89 from mid Nov to end December for gas only but we were on holiday for a week. Electrify is usually £100 a month including car charging

Well if he is pissed off with the Dec bill he is going to be even more pissed off with Jan.

IMO 18C is not unreasonable when you are at home. But maybe think about if you are WFH then heating the room (TRVs, small electric heater) rather than heating the whole house. Also it does not have to be at 18C all night.

A lot of people say they hate being cold. Presumably they hate setting fire to £5 notes less. Because that is pretty much what heating is.

Paying for heating is paying to be comfortable in my own home. I’d rather cut costs elsewhere and be comfortable.

4bed 1930s semi detached. Our bill for December was £284. We pay £180 a month DD across the year and we're currently in credit.

I keep the thermostat at about 17.5 and we air out the house regularly, but it's also a reasonably sized property (2500sqft) so it does cost a bit to heat throughout.

Not feeling as bad now, ours is a 200yr old 5 bed detached and bill was £386......but we are all electric/solar and also house the outlaws in a static in the garden running off our feed!

But......we were away for 11 days over Xmas, so I'm still a bit peeved its that high.