Gas Bill - surely this can't be right?!

[FaceLikeASlappedArse1985]

Just had my bill from Octopus Energy and they are wanting to charge me £235 for a month's worth of gas - I know prices have gone up but surely this can't be right?! (I was in a lot of credit up to now so I hadn't really noticed as my payments had still gone up so presumed by the right amount but it was just using up the credit)

I am a single person living in a 1920s 3-bedroom semi. I am at home all day 5/6 days a week (working from home) but honestly the central heating is on for a maximum of 4 hours on any day, washing up once a day, one bath a day (occasionally 2 but maybe twice a month - period pains!) and use the gas cooker maybe 3 times a week - I try and batch cook and re-heat in the microwave

I'm genuinely shocked and just can't see how this can be right! It has been based on an estimated bill but I've just done a meter reading and it's almost identical to the estimated one!

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Victoria house with high ceilings and this month will be around £400 and thats with temp set at 18.

getting house up to temp uses most energy. Once it is you use relatively little. Ie having on 2 hours in morning and 2 evening may use 100kwh. Having it on for 8 hours non stop might use 150

Ours last month was £233 for 2571kwh of gas. We heat our house to 16c during the day and 13c at night because we have stone walls and once they lose heat it takes hours to get the house warm again.

Unfortunately heating makes a big difference. Our usual 1 hour am and 1 hour pm comes in around £5 a day so I can believe that 4 hours could be heading towards a £8 a day x 30 = £240 I'm afraid

My heating is off and. We pay 250-300 a month for gas and power…

2 bed flat, octopus energy - heating on 4-6 hours a day

Yes bill was £250 for month for gas (pretty much the same for electricity)

It was based on estimates but I’ve just given a true reading and it was almost identical to their estimate

Baths use a lot of energy, we’ve all but ditched them and I used to have one every night

but was the first reading also an estimated one?

Sorry just seen this.

How do you know that the first estimated reading was right though? It could have been well below?

If you’re using 4 hours of heating a day and also having a bath every day, then yes sounds about right.

Sorry, OP, but it sounds about right to me. Your 1 bath a day, sometimes 2, will be a big culprit. I’ve really cut down my bath to a luxury one a week thing. Showers are much cheaper as you can limit the water needed. And as gas is basically twice the price of last winter, if you’re used to 4 hours a day you can only get 2 hours for the same money this year. It all sucks but your bill sounds right to me.

My bill for January came out today... £230.
Sick and tired of this crappy way of living!

I’m with octopus who seem to have been good up to now

I was hoping the opinion would be that something was wrong but doesn’t seem to be 😪

My thermostat is set to 55 degrees (think that’s 13 when converted?) which is less than halfway up the dial. I am saving for a new boiler though as this one is insufficient for the size of the house (done on the cheap by previous owner) - could that be why?

Its not well insulated really either. Giving up baths wouldn’t be an option as I have chronic pain and it does help albeit only slightly

I guess I’ll just have to suck it up 😬 I can afford to pay but just means the credit card bills will have to take longer to pay off

Running a bath for me uses about 5kwh of gas, so about 50p at the moment.
I've got stupid taps that I can't fit a shower attachment onto, which is annoying.

Your use is about the same as mine and we have a smart meter and the heating and hob plus shower are costing £8 a day in similar house. So yup sounds right. 2 hours of heating in the morning is £3.

Its getting ridiculous

IN THE OP

It has been based on an estimated bill but I've just done a meter reading and it's almost identical to the estimated one!

I'm with Octopus and have a 4 bed semi, my bill was a similar price and we have the heating on for 4 hours a day. Sounds right to me!

I mean luxury as in price wise. It sucks and I feel for people that need heating on but the fact it is if you need 4 or 5 hours of heating a day you are looking at upwards of 250

I've got a lung condition that means a 21° daytime temp is a necessity, not a luxury.

It's a real shame that it isn't viewed this way by the government.

But sadly I think the poster is saying - and is right - that it shouldn't be considered a luxury and that's a disgrace.

Especially when it's disability. The scheme should have done more for those needing to use utilities for disability rather than a flat £150 payment.

My disability payment because my ds is disabled paid for an electric blanket for him because his is muscular and electric is cheaper. Won't help someone needing oxygen or warm house though

That sounds about right. 4 hrs of heating will crank up the cost!

Also with Octopus...my gas and electricity for last 2 months has been £500.00

OP, are they using the right conversion to kwh? Does it say the same, either ft3 or m3, on both your bill and your meter? If it's wrong then it can almost triple your bill.

Also on Octopus, we calculated with the new gas prices an hour of central heating is around £2.20 for us here this winter, so I can well believe that monthly bill with some hot water/gas cooking thrown in too sadly 😢