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What is your annual gas and electricity consumption

128 replies

Cosmos123 · 11/09/2022 18:18

We are family of 4.
4 bed semi
Annual usage.
Gas 14,000 kwh
Electricity 4500kwh
Care to share?

OP posts:
RedRobyn2021 · 14/09/2022 20:56

Placemarker

Angelicapickles1 · 14/09/2022 20:58

5 bed new build
2 adults and a pre schooler and toddler

3000 - electricity
12500 - gas (Though this should come down I am not home as much as back at work this year so heating won't be on as much)

Curlygirl06 · 15/09/2022 00:03

3 bed semi, 2 adults, 1 working out the home, 1 working very part time, so home quite a bit.

3300 ish for electric
6600 for gas

We cook with gas, heating and water is gas, shower off the hot water, not electric.
We're a bit over the average for electric but way under the average for gas.

GasPanic · 15/09/2022 08:54

@Mumtofourandnomore

I actually re did my calcs based on my actual gas usage last night and found that in reality I used about 2.5-3 Kwh per shower. The discrepancy between that and the boiler power rating calc (4 Kwh) is probably because the boiler cuts out as the hot water tank reaches maximum temperature before the allocated hot water time heating is complete. I did notice that the optimum time for me to have the hot water on was somewhere between 15mins and 30mins, but I couldn't set Hive any higher in resolution than 15mins.

Anyway, the TLDR of all this is try just reducing one of your heating times by 15 mins or so until someone yells there is no hot water. I would knock 15 mins off the evening time, then 15 mins off the morning time, see what happens and then go on from there.

TBH there isn't that much money to be saved by optimisation. Cutting down the usage is where you really win. It's important to remember as well that excess water heating is really only wasted in the summer when you would not want any heating on anyway. In the winter the boiler just acts as a giant radiator. If you didn't heat the house with excess heat from it, you would have to have the radiators on for longer ! It's a similar story with LED lights. That 35W or so you save on a 40W bulb by using a 5W LED instead has to come from somewhere else to keep the house at the same temperature. There is a slight difference of course in that that extra required heat in this case is probably achieved using gas rather than electricity which is 1/3 the cost.

The calcs re solar are tricky, and the batteries are expensive. The long term price of energy is also difficult to predict. The situation we have at the moment in terms of high prices is man made and dependent on a specific set of circumstances, it's not due to any sort of fundamental lack of gas in the world. I don't think it will continue longer than a couple of years or so (but that of course is speculation). If I'm correct that means the prices could end up going down quite a bit in the near future, so predicting a ROI on solar is very difficult. I think it is also quite difficult to get a good price on solar installs atm, as a lot of the suppliers are loaded up with work.

MidnightMeltdown · 15/09/2022 18:08

I can't believe how high some of these figures are! 😮

Electricity 1,440

Gas 8,580

Gas central heating is on almost all day every day during winter so not frugal with it. 3 bed semi.

RelativePitch · 16/09/2022 10:35

4 bedroom detached new build. 2 adults WFH, 2 DCs.
3700 kw for electricity
13000 kw for gas

GasPanic · 16/09/2022 11:29

@MidnightMeltdown

It's not that everybody else's usage is high, it's that yours is very low.

The average semi in the UK uses about 4000 kwh per year of electricity, so you are using about 1/3 of the national average.

GreySeat · 18/09/2022 10:15

WFH,
elec 4500
gas 11000

Thought we were fairly frugal with the heating, only had it on 2 hours a day max and only heating downstairs.

MinervaTerrathorn · 18/09/2022 14:22

MidnightMeltdown · 15/09/2022 18:08

I can't believe how high some of these figures are! 😮

Electricity 1,440

Gas 8,580

Gas central heating is on almost all day every day during winter so not frugal with it. 3 bed semi.

I'm guessing large, poorly insulated houses, long shower times, washing clothes other than tshirts/pants/socks after one wear, tumble dryers?

Ours is 1100kwh for electric, 5100kwh gas with two of us in a three bed new build semi.

LarissaFeodorovna · 18/09/2022 15:07

The calcs re solar are tricky, and the batteries are expensive. The long term price of energy is also difficult to predict. The situation we have at the moment in terms of high prices is man made and dependent on a specific set of circumstances, it's not due to any sort of fundamental lack of gas in the world. I don't think it will continue longer than a couple of years or so (but that of course is speculation). If I'm correct that means the prices could end up going down quite a bit in the near future, so predicting a ROI on solar is very difficult. I think it is also quite difficult to get a good price on solar installs atm, as a lot of the suppliers are loaded up with work.

These figures are really interesting, and suggest to me that our solar panels are actually saving us quite a lot, and that the payback time will be shorter than we originally thought.

We have a big old stone farmhouse with a 4 kw solar array on a south-facing roof, and our annual elec usage is about 2000 kwh. That's for lights, sockets, appliances, ovens, and occasional use of a plug-in oil-filled radiator in winter. My ballpark calculation is that solar provides roughly half our total elec usage. We don't have a battery with teh solar system, but we work from home so can run appliances during the day to make the most of the solar.

No mains gas here, but at current prices it costs the best part of £1000 to fill the oil tank (1000l) and we get through three of those a year. We've massively upped the loft insulation this summer, and having some of the most ropy windows replaced with double-glazed ones, so hopefully that will help keep the oil consumption down a bit.

JellyTots2022 · 19/09/2022 20:54

I'm guessing mine is quite low. 🤔 3 bed. Family of 4. I'm home all day as well.

Elec - 2800 KWH
Gas - 8500 KWH

frangelicoandlime · 24/09/2022 16:35

3b semi rural no gas
2 adults home all day

1800 kw electric
1700L heating oil

Spacemonkey2016 · 24/09/2022 19:57

3 bed Victorian end terrace. Leaks heat so prefer to jumpers than have heating on all day anyway. Family of 4 (2 young kids). 50/50 split between office and WFH. Gas central heating, gas hob, electric oven.

Gas: 5183 kwh
Electric: 2729 kwh.

No idea if that's about average for my circumstances.

AgentJohnson · 25/09/2022 12:07

Family of 2 (1 teen)

aug 2021 - sept 2022
Electricity = 1438 kWh
Gas = 173 m3

New build apartment (2018) with underfloor heating.

speakout · 25/09/2022 12:10

24,000 Kwh gas
6,000 KWh electricity.

I am trying to cut both these figures.
My very elderly parent lives with me and feels the cold terribly, so I have the house warmer than I would otherwise.

AgentJohnson · 25/09/2022 12:20

The heating is usually off between April and October. We have smart lights and smart plugs for items that don't need to be on all day. We also have a mechanical ventilation system (not air on) which we only use when it gets too hot and there's no breeze. We have a washer dryer but the dryer is only used once a week for towels. Typically on a weekday no one is home between 09:00 and 17:00.

MinervaTerrathorn · 25/09/2022 12:25

speakout · 25/09/2022 12:10

24,000 Kwh gas
6,000 KWh electricity.

I am trying to cut both these figures.
My very elderly parent lives with me and feels the cold terribly, so I have the house warmer than I would otherwise.

Will they consider an electric throw? My DGM is about to agree to one I think, I brought mine for her to try. Not as a replacement for heating but just so it could potentially be set to 20 rather than 22 and she could still be warmer than before. Do they have warm woollen jumpers or cardigans, socks and slippers?

speakout · 25/09/2022 12:35

MinervaTerrathorn · 25/09/2022 12:25

Will they consider an electric throw? My DGM is about to agree to one I think, I brought mine for her to try. Not as a replacement for heating but just so it could potentially be set to 20 rather than 22 and she could still be warmer than before. Do they have warm woollen jumpers or cardigans, socks and slippers?

She has an electric throw, doesn't like using it.
I have bought her thermal underwear, thick woollen socks, fleeces an electric blanket, throws, hot water bottles.
She says she doesn't like thick clothes, and walks about the house wearing a thin nylon blouse and nylon trousers.
Constanly telling me to "feel her hand" because she is cold- despite the fact I warm the house to 23 degrees.
I recently saw lots of the warm clothing I have bought her in a bag she was making up for charity donations.

ChittyChittyBoomBoom · 25/09/2022 12:39

Gas 7900kwh
Electric 2600kwh

4 bed 1 adult and 3dc

MinervaTerrathorn · 25/09/2022 12:45

@speakout That sounds difficult. My DGM isn't keen on blankets but is recognising that she feels the cold more than before so is starting to use one on her legs now. She does wear corduroy trousers, wool socks, lightweight merino or cashmere jumpers already.

Fcuk38 · 25/09/2022 12:59

It’s not comparative without stating the Epc of the property. If it’s A rated your going to use a lot less than a lower banded property.

157y · 25/09/2022 14:56

@Fcuk38 can you only get the EPC rating if some surveyor has looked at your house re a sale?

user7845209 · 25/09/2022 15:08

With the EPC rating, you can generally make a guess at what yours would be, if you go to Gov.uk where they all are and look at all the houses from your road and then look at ones which are probably comparable to yours, from doing this, I guessed ours would be probably be D, any house sold since about 2007 will have one.

I think anyone can get one though, form is on Gov.uk, it used to cost about £60 but may be more now

Cheeselog · 25/09/2022 18:28

2 adults, one wfh in a 2 bed mid terrace. We average around 1000 kwh electricity and 2000 kwh gas. We have gas central heating and hot water but electric cooker.

MinervaTerrathorn · 25/09/2022 20:29

@Cheeselog Do you use much heating? Your gas is very low! Or does the house maintain it's temperature being a terrace?