£700 GAS

[pavillion1]

We've just our First quarterly Gas bill through since moving into our new home in December. £700 absolutely obscene . I knew it might be high as we have just been setting in , getting used to the house . We've not yet bought a new smart meter so couldn't really keep track . I'm stunned.

Ours is similar. We've had a few milder days but now forecast to be -4 again next week! It takes my house a long time to warm up when it gets that cold so no chance of a smaller March bill 😖

What kind of house is it and how do you have your heating set?

Is it an estimate?

Ours has gone to £450 a month....we were paying 120 a month for gas and electricity last year (4 bed Victorian semi, family of 6)....it's horrendous!!

(Wish there was an edit button)- we only have the heating on for 4 hours a day - 2 in the morning, 2 in the evening. All our lights are LEDs; I am draconian about turning stuff off - but we do have a lot washing, and I do use the tumble dryer if I can't dry stuff outside. The standing charges are horrendous - my brother is in the SW, and has just been moved to Octopus - he's paying 50p a day on his gas standing charge alone!

You don't buy a SM, just ask your supplier to have one installed (although there may be a delay).
Could you not have taken your own readings to keep track of what you were using?

£233 a month ouch. You don't need to pay for a smart meter they'll install one for free. I really recommend asking for one.

This is what happens to the people who in the summer were insisting that they would 'pay for what they use' instead of being 'ripped off with direct debits'.

If you choose to pay for all your gas in winter when you use a lot more of it, it costs a lot more.

You could do your own calculations until you have the smart meter installed. I’ve been using this online calculator until recently, after seeing it posted by someone on here. I’ve found it to be very accurate.

www.energy-calculator.co.uk/

I have the thermostat set to not go below 17 in the day and 14.5 overnight, but the thermostat is in the hall so the rest of the house is actually warmer than that. I found it cheaper to do that, as when I tried doing a couple of hours a couple of times per day we used more gas just trying to get the rooms up to temperature. Now the boiler kicks in much less. Our February to March bill was £139. (We also have a gas hob). We’re in cold damp Scotland in a 3 bed mid terrace (double glazed and insulated).

That sounds about right for the average price capped bill of £2,500. I use 40% of my annual gas kWh between December and February.
Have you included the government £400 in that bill?

For a quarter and over winter that’s not a bad current cost. It sucks but I doubt having a smart meter would have helped you to do much better iyswim.

I think that's normal like someone said based on the average household energy bill of £2500. Most of your usage will be in the colder months between October and April, and especially the months of Dec - Feb. I remember all those here claiming they are paying too much in summer. They aren't because most of our gas are used in the 3 or 4 colder months.

To be fair, it costs the same amount, it just whacks you with enormous one-off bills in the Spring rather than spreading it predictably.
I assume the OP didn't have much choice, as she moved in in December, I don't think the energy providers let you run up big deficits if you start your contract in midwinter.

I find this link so you can compare yourself to what's the average, this time adjusted to house size. www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/blog/utilities/how-much-is-the-average-gas-and-electricity-bill-per-month

And remember the monthly here is based on those paying direct debit and averaging throughout the year.

They do. I moved to my house in October and I was allowed to set up a direct debit. They do an estimate based on your house size.

I don't think that's too bad tbh. We had that wretchedly cold weather in December remember. I assume you had the windows and doors open more often when moving in and cleaning too.

According to loop if we were on the current price cap tariff our gas would have been £478 in Jan and electric £185. Thankfully we are still on a cheap fix until April next year and really hoping prices come down by then.

Obviously it depends on the size and age of your house, but that sounds OK really for current prices.

We paid £400 in December for gas alone. But our house is large and needed work to make it warmer. Hopefully the new windows will have helped and the next cold snap won't cost as much.

Sounds average, or below average for a winter quarter considering the average yearly bill is £2500. Unless this is a drip feed and you are a one bed flat? Mine has totalled £300 for the last three months for very low usage. I track my own usage by checking my meter.

Hopefully you took meter readings when you moved in, maybe double check those against the current bill

Next time check the meter regularly to avoid being stunned.

It's about £1.10 per m3 on the standard tariff.

Our gas for 6 months (Aug-Jan) was about £950, that was for about 4 months really though as we hardly used any for August and September

It sounds ok over winter

We spent about £200pm Dec,Jan , Feb on gas. Our gas smart meter doesnt work so I just give montly meter readings. Is your bill estimated or based on actual readings?.
It doesnt sound that bad TBH, unless by new house, you mean Brand new house... in which case thats very high.