Just got my bill for December for Gas and Electric

[Jenasaurus]

It was 216 normally about 140 but we have all been unwell so had the heating on more and used the tumble dryer too. I am currently still in credit but will be making some cut backs this month. I pay 200 a month not sure if I should increase it.

I don't think you'd need to increase it if your bills are normally less than your dd.

Sounds fine to me. You pay more than your usage in the lower use months to subsidise the high use months, which December is. Not got my bill yet for December, but expecting it to be significantly higher than November due to the cold snap and being home more over Christmas, so it will eat into the credit on my account - which is exactly what it is there for.

If you're paying £200 a month you don't need to increase. Don't forget you get the £66 payment from the Government as well.

I’ve just got mine £495 for the month. It’s now like a second mortgage. Ridiculous!

Just gas so far - £405. I expect the electric will be another £200 as we got a new EV at the beginning of December. Our heating was on 24/7 during the really cold snap in the SE as our log burner was being repaired and my DCs bedrooms are at the top of the house and ridiculously cold at night.

Luckily I have enough credit to sustain that level for Jan/Feb but it had better warm up by March!

I always think January and February are the coldest months. It will even out over the summer.

Mine was £254 on a monthly dd of £150. I'm still in credit.

I'm assuming Jan & Feb will be roughly the same and then I'll use less gas from March onwards so it will even out.

I'd leave your dd as it is.

We were £186 electricity and

Ffs this website is so irritating

And £209 gas

We pay £220 direct debit and then get the £67 added on too

That actually sounds reasonable and not too bad all things considered.

What's your point?

£200 a month will be plenty. My online account is recommending £80 a month (£13 with the £67 payment) and my December bill was £110 (£43 with the £67 payment).

My bill has estimated costs for the year, if yours does then divide by 12, if it just has usage then there is a Martin Lewis calculator to check your dd is right. This is based on current rates until April, but you can always change your dd when the rates change.

As it stands the Energy Support Scheme, which was originally for two years, now ends at the end of March. So it may not currently be prudent to rely on lower bills in the summer to bring the overall debt down. Even with lower usage, it’s quite possible that they could remain the same or go up.

God had mine too £241 gas and £216 electric! We had over £600 in credit which has been hit hard then the £67 to come off
Dreading when the government help stops. God only knows what we will be paying this time next year. Checked last December's bill and amounts used were similar (we have used more gas this Dec) but combined bill was less than £200 last year

The energy price guarantee is being extended for a year, but at an average of £3000 a year instead of £2500.

The energy support scheme is the £400 (£67 a month) paid into the electric account. I think that was only ever for this winter. There is going to be £900 targeted support next year.

I read the other day that European gas prices have come back to pre Ukraine war levels so hopefully energy prices might not continue to rise too much.

I read this too. However, considering the price of oil dropped right back but I'm still paying £1.77 a litre for diesel, I'm not confident our bills will see the benefits.

we moved last year and got fixed £160 from ovo, initially they said £390 and I said there’s no way for a 2 bed flat we’re paying that

mind you I bought an electric oven because it was the cheapest from curry’s, cheaper to run then gas too (I much prefer gas but hey it cooks food! 😄)

in the summer we pay the full amount and let the credit build up for the winter

i believe majority of things are electric in our flat which is handy, our most expensive day recently because it’s snowed has been £9 but that’s including gas. Over the summer I believe we were spending like £0.16 in gas I don’t know the electric but was definitely under £100 which was a world away from our gas eating previous house

Also the thermostat stays at 18, we have two and generally I either put the bedroom and hallway on for an hour or the kitchen living room/ close the blinds as the sun sets to keep heat in

im a stay at home mum so using a bit more, but plugs get turned off and we don’t have a dryer - sounds quite Victorian saying it out loud 😂