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Original poster

December Bill - GULP

130 replies

MrsDoyle351 · 27/12/2022 08:34

Yeah - I knew it was going to be high... 4 bedroom semi detached stone house.

£314 for gas and electricity. No doubt January will be similar - unless it warms up a bit?

Been putting on the heating from 16.30 til 20.00 most days - obviously more over past weekend...

OP posts:
DipmeinChoc · 02/01/2023 09:53

Drafty 1960s 4 bed detached, Dec bill was £534, inc standing charge and vat for both Gas and Elec. £400 of it was Gas. Much higher than anticipated but the freezing weather didn't help. We've figured out our new very complicated heating system so hopefully it will never be as high as that again.

JadeSeahorse · 02/01/2023 17:19

Just had our December bill today!

We are on Eco 7 flexible with Octopus. November bill £258 - we were away for the last 9 days of the month - December bill £388 despite still being away until 6 December.☹️(4 bedroom, well insulated, 35 year old detached.)

We have hugely reduced usage with both fuels. Hardly use tumble dryer now as bought a Meaco dehumidifier and use this with airing cupboard. Have a Tower air fryer and a Ninja foodie 15 in 1 plus microwave so range cooker virtually an ornament these days. Heating is on 24 hours per day - both DH and I retired - but had the whole system and gas fire overhauled, power flushed etc. in the summer so heating only set to 13/14 and gas fire used on lowest setting for around 9 hours per day which combined keeps us comfortably warm.

Can't really cut down any more than we have as dishwasher and washing machine always used overnight. Am considering swapping to 1 rate instead of Eco 7 but otherwise just have to be grateful we can afford it. How on earth single parents, low paid, disabled, low - to many middle earners etc. are coping with these prices God only knows but I find it incredibly worrying. Won't be voting bloody Tory next time that's for sure.

Rishi claims he understands how people are finding things really tough but feels extremely confident about 2023. Well so would I if I had £800 million plus sat in the bank. 🤬 Smug git!

GordonShakespearedoesChristmas · 02/01/2023 18:12

Pelo22 · 28/12/2022 17:35

Not too bad for me
Averaging £3 for electric a day and £8 for gas and that was the coldest days
My £45 DD is covering it (plus the £66 credit)

Is that because you were in credit before? As £11 x 31 is a lot more than £111.

Calmdown14 · 02/01/2023 20:00

@JadeSeahorse you need to look at what you are running on each rate.

Do you have electric heating? Or hot water?

We are £113 for three bed terrace on economy 10. But we've moved as much as possible to the cheap rate. 420kwh on that and just over 100 on the expensive rate in December.

You will be paying a premium for your peak rate. Ours has just gone up to nearly 55p but the off peak is down to 5.5p so it's a massive difference. Unless you are running the 'big users' like storage heaters or an immersion tank on it then it's unlikely to make sense.

JadeSeahorse · 02/01/2023 20:06

Calmdown14 · 02/01/2023 20:00

@JadeSeahorse you need to look at what you are running on each rate.

Do you have electric heating? Or hot water?

We are £113 for three bed terrace on economy 10. But we've moved as much as possible to the cheap rate. 420kwh on that and just over 100 on the expensive rate in December.

You will be paying a premium for your peak rate. Ours has just gone up to nearly 55p but the off peak is down to 5.5p so it's a massive difference. Unless you are running the 'big users' like storage heaters or an immersion tank on it then it's unlikely to make sense.

Yes, this is what I'm thinking but nervous about changing and being even worse off.

No storage heaters, don't use immersion heater at all as we have a standard condensing boiler and hot water is heated twice per day for 40 minutes each time which is perfect for us. We use roughly 27% of our electricity off peak.

Will see what they say when I get chance to speak with them.

Fourcandleforkhandle · 02/01/2023 23:34

My Account balance was in credit about £460. I have just submitted my December readings and I am now minus £64 as the cost for December was £520! I can't believe how much more it is now. The thing is if I had a constantly warmish house that would be ok but the House is mostly Cold.
I am a single Parent and do not know where to make the cutbacks as I don't always have the Cental heating on, don't own a Tumble dryer or Dish washer.
I will be ringing Octopus my energy provider about how paying between £100-£170 a Month for the last 5 years has gone to £520. I know it is because of the price increases but need to know if they can help me in anyway.

Original poster
MrsDoyle351 · 03/01/2023 05:40

@JadeSeahorse

Your high bill will be due to this - Heating is on 24 hours per day

I know you only have it on a lower temp but still...
Maybe you could leave it off overnight for 12 hours?

OP posts:
D20 · 03/01/2023 07:46

@JadeSeahorse what made you choose your split tariff? I thought they were specifically for storage heaters so wonder if you are getting bay benefit from it. Have you done a calculation to see if paying a flat rate would be better for you?

JadeSeahorse · 03/01/2023 08:22

Can't remember why we went on Eco 7 but have been on that for years.

I have thought about turning off overnight but we always turn it down to 11/12 anyway and can't bear getting up to a cold house as the thermostat is in the hallway near the kitchen so would have to get up, walk across the landing, go down the stairs and walk down the hallway to turn it back on then have to wait for the house to warm up just to get showered and dressed in comfort. Ugh! Would be like living in the 50,'s,/60's again! ☹️ Surely, if the weather was really freezing overnight you would be back to icy windows on the inside? 😱 I would rather pay a bit extra than go back to those days. ☹️

EdHelpPls · 03/01/2023 09:09

£300 gas for mid sep - mid Dec for largeish house and "granny annexe". 2 people home all the time, one needs to stay warm. On a few times in Oct and early Nov but since mid November heating set to 19c 24/7 in the half of the house plus annexe that has underfloor heating and radiator supplied part varies day 18 (boosted to 20 for bathtime) and 16 at night. I was expecting much higher tbh as still getting used to underfloor heating. I'm in NI and we haven't got the money off yet - getting a lump sum at some stage this month. Had allowed a fair amount of credit to build with supplier as I was worried, but I think I'll ask for at least half of it back now and the rest back after next quarterly bill.

Bunnycat101 · 03/01/2023 09:31

I think ours was about £250 but my parents (elderly in a large house liking it warm) was closer to £500. I would say though that they have had quite a lot of top-ups re fuel allowance (probably £650 plus the money put into each household) so they are probably in a better position than working age families.

NewYearNewSeeds · 03/01/2023 13:54

It's mad.

Ours was about £350 for g+e in Dec. That was about £2 under what I had expected and budgeted for so on one hand, I find myself being chuffed...

And then I remember, we'd have paid about £150 for that same energy a couple of years back and next year I expect our bills to average out at £280 per month.

It's a horrendous amount on energy, imo. Sad

NewYearNewSeeds · 03/01/2023 13:55

Oh, and I've basically been living in 3+ layers for weeks now - and still been cold very often! So I'm not even getting an especially warm house for that money. 😱

Tropics4 · 03/01/2023 16:48

Ours was £383 for December gas and electric, 3 bed detached, 3 adults and 2 children at the moment, use tumble dryer maybe twice a week, heating on at 16.5 degrees overnight and 19 during the day.
We have good double glazing and loft insulation.
In previous years I liked to have thermostat at 22! Last year I coped with 21 and this year 19, I guess we are acclimatising to cooler temperatures..sadly.
I don't think this is too bad, considering the amount of showers and wash loads.

BMW6 · 04/01/2023 08:24

Just viewed our December bills. Not as much as I expected!

British Gas, standard rates, variable DD

Gas £174.44 Electric nil (after Govnt credit £67)

We are in a 2 bed terrace and have our CH on 7am to 11pm at 19, down to 15 overnight.

oiltrader · 04/01/2023 08:33

JadeSeahorse · 02/01/2023 17:19

Just had our December bill today!

We are on Eco 7 flexible with Octopus. November bill £258 - we were away for the last 9 days of the month - December bill £388 despite still being away until 6 December.☹️(4 bedroom, well insulated, 35 year old detached.)

We have hugely reduced usage with both fuels. Hardly use tumble dryer now as bought a Meaco dehumidifier and use this with airing cupboard. Have a Tower air fryer and a Ninja foodie 15 in 1 plus microwave so range cooker virtually an ornament these days. Heating is on 24 hours per day - both DH and I retired - but had the whole system and gas fire overhauled, power flushed etc. in the summer so heating only set to 13/14 and gas fire used on lowest setting for around 9 hours per day which combined keeps us comfortably warm.

Can't really cut down any more than we have as dishwasher and washing machine always used overnight. Am considering swapping to 1 rate instead of Eco 7 but otherwise just have to be grateful we can afford it. How on earth single parents, low paid, disabled, low - to many middle earners etc. are coping with these prices God only knows but I find it incredibly worrying. Won't be voting bloody Tory next time that's for sure.

Rishi claims he understands how people are finding things really tough but feels extremely confident about 2023. Well so would I if I had £800 million plus sat in the bank. 🤬 Smug git!

a gas fire is a great way to send money up the chimney

JadeSeahorse · 04/01/2023 09:02

@Oiltrader ours definitely doesn't!
When we only used the gas fire in October, the bill was fine!

Managed to swap the electricity over to 1 rate yesterday but otherwise we will just have to live with the prices as they are.🤬
Can't cut down any more and live comfortably.

BMW6 · 04/01/2023 09:17

Jadeseahorse how many kWh did you use in Gas and Electricity in December to get such a big bill, and what's the rate charged per kwh?

We have the CH on all day at a comfortable 19 and used 1581kwh gas in December so trying to figure the difference between our costs and yours.

Notcontent · 04/01/2023 10:12

Mine was £215 for gas for December, which does not sound to bad - BUT we were away for a few days and we were very careful with our usage. So house (small 3 bedroom terrace) was not that warm. We really could not have used less.

Notcontent · 04/01/2023 10:23

@BMW6 that’s really not a lot. Is your house quite small and well insulated?

CriticalAlert · 04/01/2023 14:33

I'm on a fixed tariff until end of February. Gas and electric £160 for December So not too bad after the fuel discount is subtracted - around £95. But I have a tiny one bed basement flat - Victorian. It gets very cold. I'm seriously concerned what the costs will be when my tariff ends, the fuel price increase and no more government assistance. Quite terrified TBH. I'm a pensioner and did get a fuel payment which I'll use when the tariff changes. But I'm pretty scared about the cost coming up. It's not going to get any better. How Sunak says that he understands when he's a multimillionaire is beyond me.

BMW6 · 04/01/2023 20:56

Notcontent · 04/01/2023 10:23

@BMW6 that’s really not a lot. Is your house quite small and well insulated?

2 bed Victorian terrace. Double glazed but poor loft insulation which we're going to tackle in summer.

Being mid terrace must make a big difference.

Notcontent · 04/01/2023 21:32

Thanks @BMW6 I am mid terrace too, with new double glazed windows, but house is still quite draughty. And maybe not getting enough heat from neighbours! 🤣

BMW6 · 04/01/2023 22:06

Do you know where the drafts are coming from?

BMW6 · 04/01/2023 22:10

Think our neighbours must have cold blood cos they have their front door wide open all day 😮