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Original poster

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

147 replies

FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 28/02/2023 18:47

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!

OP posts:
electricmoccasins · 01/03/2023 16:30

Our heating is on one-two hours a day, max. No baths. Cook on electric. Ours was £99 this month. Last year we had the heating on 4-5 hours a day and were paying £85 a month. Madness.

Original poster
FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 01/03/2023 17:30

Just a quick update - I randomly got an energy statement from Octopus today showing my consumption between 24-28th February. Gas worked out at £4 a day.... but £4 x 365 days divided by 12 months is still only £122 a month so where the £236 last month came from I'm still stumped!

Thanks for the ideas around insulation though guys - I've bought some silicone tape for the draught in the patio doors, a chimney balloon to block up the chimney and have arranged for someone to come and put a curtain pole up where the patio doors are so I can hang some thermal curtains

OP posts:
Babdoc · 01/03/2023 17:37

My annual combined gas/elec bill for a detached 4 bed in Scotland is approaching £4,000. Mid Jan to mid Feb was over £800 alone. Prices are just ridiculous now.

IneedanewTV · 01/03/2023 18:55

FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 01/03/2023 17:30

Just a quick update - I randomly got an energy statement from Octopus today showing my consumption between 24-28th February. Gas worked out at £4 a day.... but £4 x 365 days divided by 12 months is still only £122 a month so where the £236 last month came from I'm still stumped!

Thanks for the ideas around insulation though guys - I've bought some silicone tape for the draught in the patio doors, a chimney balloon to block up the chimney and have arranged for someone to come and put a curtain pole up where the patio doors are so I can hang some thermal curtains

Standing charge is horrendous

Pootle40 · 01/03/2023 19:55

FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 28/02/2023 18:47

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!

Our gas bill was c £300 for mid dec-mid Jan. similar heating on via hive roughly 4 hours a day. 19c

It could well be right.

Pootle40 · 01/03/2023 19:59

FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 01/03/2023 17:30

Just a quick update - I randomly got an energy statement from Octopus today showing my consumption between 24-28th February. Gas worked out at £4 a day.... but £4 x 365 days divided by 12 months is still only £122 a month so where the £236 last month came from I'm still stumped!

Thanks for the ideas around insulation though guys - I've bought some silicone tape for the draught in the patio doors, a chimney balloon to block up the chimney and have arranged for someone to come and put a curtain pole up where the patio doors are so I can hang some thermal curtains

That's an average though. Will be higher in the winter, lower in summer

Indigoshift · 01/03/2023 20:10

FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 01/03/2023 17:30

Just a quick update - I randomly got an energy statement from Octopus today showing my consumption between 24-28th February. Gas worked out at £4 a day.... but £4 x 365 days divided by 12 months is still only £122 a month so where the £236 last month came from I'm still stumped!

Thanks for the ideas around insulation though guys - I've bought some silicone tape for the draught in the patio doors, a chimney balloon to block up the chimney and have arranged for someone to come and put a curtain pole up where the patio doors are so I can hang some thermal curtains

The cold snap was worse in Jan than it os now. Hasn't been icy for a while.

Mine is less than it was when it is below freezing in the day.

Okunevo · 01/03/2023 20:11

Pootle40 · 01/03/2023 19:55

Our gas bill was c £300 for mid dec-mid Jan. similar heating on via hive roughly 4 hours a day. 19c

It could well be right.

Show quote history

The OP has heating set to only 13 and doesn't mention a hive or anything that would add up all the times the boiler comes on, so I assumed the maximum four hours was the time the heating was switched on but on the thermostat. So initial heating to 13, clicking off, clicking on as needed within a four hour period.

WednesdaysPlaits · 02/03/2023 03:51

I suspect the OP actually has her gauge on her boiler set to 55 ie her water heats to 55 degrees. That isn’t the same thing as her thermostat for central heating being set to 55 at all. 55 is normal for water temperature setting though.

55 degrees is 12.5 degrees. That’s seriously cold for a house temperature in the UK and is what you would expect when no heating has been on for days and it’s cold outside. The OP would have mentioned that her house is literally never warm. Instead she says she has her heating on for four hours a day.

OP do your radiators feel warm when they’re on?

Okunevo · 02/03/2023 06:06

It makes sense that it could be the water temperature instead. Maybe her boiler has no room thermostat, my family member has an old one that is just on and off and you set the radiators. It would explain the high bill if the boiler is running non stop for four hours.

12.5 if the heating has been off for days though? Mine can be single digits when I come down for breakfast, after 12 hours of the heating being off, so dropping five degrees overnight. That's in a well insulated new build.

Original poster
FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 02/03/2023 10:09

Okunevo · 02/03/2023 06:06

It makes sense that it could be the water temperature instead. Maybe her boiler has no room thermostat, my family member has an old one that is just on and off and you set the radiators. It would explain the high bill if the boiler is running non stop for four hours.

12.5 if the heating has been off for days though? Mine can be single digits when I come down for breakfast, after 12 hours of the heating being off, so dropping five degrees overnight. That's in a well insulated new build.

I feel a bit dim as I genuinely just looked on the boiler and water and radiators set at 55 degrees which I converted to 13 but no idea...

My heating has to be turned on and off manually because the boiler is faulty (see previous posts) but it's never been on a room thermostat as I don't have one so even when it worked properly it was just on or off, not clicking on and off as needed

OP posts:
Raindancer411 · 02/03/2023 10:42

@FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 Our new boiler here back in 2017 was just over £4k too. But we pay out for the monthly cover with BG and it's been serviced each year and had a few replacement rads on it too!

Talia99 · 02/03/2023 14:12

Okunevo · 02/03/2023 06:06

It makes sense that it could be the water temperature instead. Maybe her boiler has no room thermostat, my family member has an old one that is just on and off and you set the radiators. It would explain the high bill if the boiler is running non stop for four hours.

12.5 if the heating has been off for days though? Mine can be single digits when I come down for breakfast, after 12 hours of the heating being off, so dropping five degrees overnight. That's in a well insulated new build.

I went away in early December and it took roughly 3 to 4 days to drop to 12 (from 17). I watched it on my heating app on my phone. Of course, it wasn’t that cold then - the December minus temperatures came later on.

WednesdaysPlaits · 02/03/2023 14:19

FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 02/03/2023 10:09

I feel a bit dim as I genuinely just looked on the boiler and water and radiators set at 55 degrees which I converted to 13 but no idea...

My heating has to be turned on and off manually because the boiler is faulty (see previous posts) but it's never been on a room thermostat as I don't have one so even when it worked properly it was just on or off, not clicking on and off as needed

Show quote history

In that case then OP the 55 is the hot water temperature (ie the water that comes out of your hot tap). That's something completely different.

Your heating is being controlled by your radiator stats. The reason your bill is what it is is because you are heating your house for four hours a day, effectively on full throttle. This being the case your costs are fairly normal I'm afraid. Heating is expensive

dementedpixie · 02/03/2023 14:26

@FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 do you have TRVs on the radiators? If not then each room will get heated to maximum if you have no thermostat

Original poster
FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 02/03/2023 14:31

dementedpixie · 02/03/2023 14:26

@FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 do you have TRVs on the radiators? If not then each room will get heated to maximum if you have no thermostat

On most but not all... I don't have any of them turned up to max though

OP posts:
WednesdaysPlaits · 02/03/2023 16:27

So those without TRVs will just be heating up to max. The others might be on lower but if you’re just switching on the heating until it’s warm for four hours then that will be using lots of energy

Okunevo · 02/03/2023 16:44

If I had a boiler like that I'd put the heating on for an hour at a time to bring the temperature up.

Original poster
FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 02/03/2023 17:23

WednesdaysPlaits · 02/03/2023 16:27

So those without TRVs will just be heating up to max. The others might be on lower but if you’re just switching on the heating until it’s warm for four hours then that will be using lots of energy

Someone I work with had also recommended I get them fitted to the others and to have the radiators bled too so I'll look into that. In terms of the four hours it's usually 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening

OP posts:
DelilahBucket · 02/03/2023 19:36

Sadly it will be right. We paid £187 for ours in December, on an average of 3 hours per day. If you've got it on for 4 hours a day then your bill adds up.
Have you turned your boiler flow temperature down to 60? This makes a huge difference.

VanGoghsDog · 02/03/2023 23:45

FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 02/03/2023 10:09

I feel a bit dim as I genuinely just looked on the boiler and water and radiators set at 55 degrees which I converted to 13 but no idea...

My heating has to be turned on and off manually because the boiler is faulty (see previous posts) but it's never been on a room thermostat as I don't have one so even when it worked properly it was just on or off, not clicking on and off as needed

Show quote history

OK, it's just throwing out heat willy nilly when it's on then.

Mine also has to be turned on manually, I've got used to it now, but I can set the temperature.

How do you turn it on? At a mains fused switch? You should still be able to get a reasonably priced thermostat to link to it so you can turn the temp down. Also maybe get a stand alone room thermometer so you can check how warm it is. I heat to 17 degrees in the evening (I mostly leave it off during the day when I'm working at home), and it is usually about fourteen when I get up in the morning currently (heating off as I turn it on when I go downstairs). In the really cold spells it went down to ten overnight.

I think a new boiler will massively improve your life!

Talia99 · 03/03/2023 06:41

I agree with getting at least a stand alone thermometer. I have one and it has let me see that my living room is much, much colder than the rest of the flat when the door is shut (13.5 when the thermostat is at 17 in the hall) which has let me save energy by closing the door on that room and not using it during the week. You can’t make choices to save energy if you don’t know where the energy is going.

Original poster
FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 · 03/03/2023 07:24

VanGoghsDog · 02/03/2023 23:45

OK, it's just throwing out heat willy nilly when it's on then.

Mine also has to be turned on manually, I've got used to it now, but I can set the temperature.

How do you turn it on? At a mains fused switch? You should still be able to get a reasonably priced thermostat to link to it so you can turn the temp down. Also maybe get a stand alone room thermometer so you can check how warm it is. I heat to 17 degrees in the evening (I mostly leave it off during the day when I'm working at home), and it is usually about fourteen when I get up in the morning currently (heating off as I turn it on when I go downstairs). In the really cold spells it went down to ten overnight.

I think a new boiler will massively improve your life!

Show quote history

I switch the dial from hot water only to hot water plus heat to turn it on. I know I need a new boiler but right now I just can’t afford any extra expense so I’m just trying to ride it out and hope spring and summer are kinder to me!

in terms of heat loss I know a lot of mine is via the patio doors, I’m going to get thermal curtains put up (more expense but worth it long term I hope) but I have 3 cats so there’s no question of shutting inside doors regularly as they roam and their food/litter is in the kitchen diner. I do shut the living room off when I can

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 03/03/2023 07:35

@FaceLikeASlappedArse1985 does that mean your hot water is on all the time? Mine is only on for 1 hour per day. Having it on all the time will be adding lots to your bill too. Is your hot water cylinder well insulated?

uggmum · 03/03/2023 07:40

It sounds about right to be honest. I live in a 1930s house and it's impossible to keep it warm.

If I put the heating on for 4 hours it costs around £11 a day. I am also with octopus.