Outrageously high gas & electricity bills

[ToRecordOnlyWater]

Anyone else noticing their bills skyrocket in the past 6 months?
Switched from ScottishPower as the bills were getting really high, now with Octopus in the hopes of reducing them a bit. Just input my first set of readings since switching and my account is now -£382!

I am on maternity leave so in the house a lot, I’ve been trying to do things like switch off lights, heating off as much as possible but the house is naturally very cold. Tried shutting doors, draught excluder by the front door so can’t get my head around it getting higher!

Just hoping I’m not alone in this, feeling quite sick at how high it is. Resenting the fact that I’m having to look at going back to work earlier than planned to ensure we have extra money to do things like a little day out a month.

What do you guys find to be the biggest drain on your gas and electricity? I don’t have a smart meter so not sure why the harder I try to keep the cost down, the more it goes up! Property is a terrace built in the 60s. Is this just what energy costs are now? Makes me want to cry that half my maternity pay goes on this one big bill every month 😭😭

Anyone In a similar boat would be amazing as feels like I’m the only person paying this much that I’ve spoken to, and any advice on good ways to save energy would be appreciated. Run the washing machine probably once every 2 days, water heater only turned on when we need it, dishwasher runs once a day but would struggle to cut this down. Thanks in advance x

[Theraffarian]

Did you have a zero balance on switching , did you provide accurate readings to the old company on switch over and also to octopus to start your new energy account ? Also how long have you been with Octopus, is just a months reading ? What type of property are you in ? How long is the heating on for each day , and what temperature do you set your thermostat to . Not trying to grill you , but hard to know if your bill is unreasonable otherwise , let alone where you reduce costs.

[husbandcallsmepickle]

Are your meter readings up to date? This will ensure you're only paying for what you use. I pay just under £100 per month (gas and electricity combined) for a 4 bed semi.

[Augustus40]

Not me. Utility Warehouse is paying me £207 credit for gas and the monthly gas bill is going down to £40 fixed.

I work from home and am never cold. Semi detached house 2 bed.

They are a bit slow paying it mind! 10 days all in including chasing it today.

[Residentevil]

We are using approx £270 per month currently. Washing machine is on every day, dryer most days. Heating is on a timer to come on for two hours per day.

[Opohat]

It’s worth getting a smart meter as you can access the cheapest rates with Octopus. We programme the dishwasher and washing machine to run at night when the electricity import rate is the cheapest. We also opt into saving sessions. We’re on a tracker rate for gas which is currently about half the price we were paying last winter. Our electric and gas this winter is about half what it was last winter.

[ToRecordOnlyWater]

@Theraffarian Hi! I appreciate you for replying! I provided an accurate reading to octopus, switched last month. Gave Scottish Power their closing reading (had been going off estimates since September as with a baby I kept forgetting to submit the meter reading)- I owe them £550 so am paying that back a tiny bit at a time. Property is a 3-bed 60s terrace, not the best insulated. You can feel the draft by the doors so have put excluders in and try to close the door as much as I can to the lounge. Heating only clicks on at like 21 degrees I think? It’s an old style spinny thermostat but any lower and the radiators don’t seem to come on. I try to not have it on at all in the day (maybe 2 hours tops?) but we do have it on sometimes at night, especially weekends as when stepdaughter stays my husband sleeps downstairs as the night wake ups with baby mean it’s hard for him to get any sleep and it’s best for one of us at least to rest 😁). I’m guessing maybe having heat on late maybe does it? We all have different patterns and husband sometimes works nights so sometimes comes home and watches TV in the early hours. Sorry for overload of info!

[ToRecordOnlyWater]

@Opohat Oooo, that’s interesting about the saving sessions! Do I do that on my account? A lot of stuff like dishwasher tends to run at night, so I could see this helping. I’ve never had a smart meter as always been told by friends that they end up paying more, and I was also put off by ScottishPower’s constant bombarding me to get one (they called three times in one day once!)

[Theraffarian]

I would think a lot of it is your heating then . I’ve a 1950’s semi detached , and drafty as anything , so I feel your pain there . Mid terrace should in theory be warmer though as your sandwiched between the other houses . Our bills are coming out at around £150 a month at the moment . Washing machine and tumble drier on every day . Water heated up for half hour in morning for showers etc and half hour in evening for washing dishes . Then on for a few hours at the weekend for long baths 🤦🏻‍♀️ . We also don’t have a smart meter ( installation appointments aren’t easy to come by and I’m not super bothered ) . You can buy a electric device to ,on it or how much electric devices are using for about £10 , just in case you have a rogue appliance . Also just checking you aren’t on an economy seven plan , as they often work out more expensive.

The heating at 21 is a bit of a killer I would think , may be better to get your system looked at if the radiators aren’t coming on unless you put it up that high . We have ours closer to 18 , and like you only on for a couple of hours a day at the moment . Overnight though ours is always off , so that seems the biggest difference we have .

[ToRecordOnlyWater]

@Theraffarian I’m going to test it this afternoon and see if the radiators come on at 18, if they do then I’ll feel silly for always turning it to the ‘click’ on the dial. I imagine if it does come on then that will make a difference if I’ve been overheating the house every day! Same with overnight. I’ve been putting it off about 3am when baby wakes as it gets super hot upstairs but doesn’t warm downstairs up very much. Feel your pain on the older house being cold, you can feel the cold by the windows and we have to open the bathroom window for a bit after showers and baths which can’t help (landlord won’t pay for an extractor fan and we get mold on the ceiling). Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, it’s made me a bit less panicky about things. Heating it is! Just gone round the house and we don’t have much stuff on really, bottle steriliser dishwasher and a speaker in the lounge and one light. Heating currently off so I can let the rads cool down and test if it comes on at all at a lower temp!

[Opohat]

@ToRecordOnlyWater

@Opohat Oooo, that’s interesting about the saving sessions! Do I do that on my account? A lot of stuff like dishwasher tends to run at night, so I could see this helping. I’ve never had a smart meter as always been told by friends that they end up paying more, and I was also put off by ScottishPower’s constant bombarding me to get one (they called three times in one day once!)

I’m not sure why people have told you it costs more with a smart meter as that really isn’t true. If you speak to Octopus they’re really helpful at telling you what the best rate for you is. Ask them what your rate would be with a smart meter and then you can work out if it’s worth it. We’re on a tracker has tariff so it can go up and down but so far this winter it’s been about half the price per KWH it was last winter for gas. You can only access the saver sessions with a smart meter. I also think a smart meter would benefit you as you don’t need to send meter readings so you don’t even need to think about it.

[Mrsttcno1]

It may be worth looking at which of your appliances might be using large amounts of energy, do you have any older appliances like oven, tv etc that are not very energy efficient? For context we live in a 3 bed semi, one of us works from home every day of the week, we have our washing machine and dryer on daily, TV on most of the day and night, and on an average month our bill is max £130. Granted ours is a newbuild so it will be more energy efficient but your bill does seem very high x

[Ilovemyshed]

OP, what your balance is at is irrelevant.

What you need to get a handle on is how much you are using, what uses the energy most and how to bring that down if needed.

Take a meter reading at the same time every day for one month. As a minimum, take a meter reading then every month same day of the month.

Once you know what you generally use, then you can do the sums including standing charge and VAT and will know if your DD is correct or not and you can keep it at about or just over the cost of your annual usage / 12.

You can also track what draws power most by switching things off and on in turn, but in general terms, anything that creates heat (oven, iron, hairdryer, heaters, water heater, tumble dryer) ) or cooling (fridge /freezer) is more expensive to run.

[Differentfromtherest]

How often are you submitting meter readings?

Do you pay by direct debit or when the bill comes in? I pay a set amount every month. By the winter I have built up a sizeable credit which carries me through the winter months.

Your invoices will tell you how much of your cost is gas and how much electricity. I would imagine you are spending a lot on gas if your thermostat is set to 21 and you leave the heating on at night.

[Dogskidsdogs]

Having the heating set at 21 is your issue I think. My heat is at 18 and I'm WFH alot of the time. 4 bed semi with washer and dryer on Daily was £242 for both electric and gas last month

[ohskedaddle]

I can't offer any advice on your bills as ours has actually gone down (I think they put us on too high monthly payments)

I would recommend getting a heated mat - I bought one for my dd as she wfh and she's found it great, she no longer has her heating on in the day when she's on her own at home and it was only about £15 off Amazon.

[shellyleppard]

Octopus saving sessions are fantastic. They use your smart meter readings though. You can get draught excluder tape quite cheap. I've done that with my council house and its made a difference. If you get a smart meter installed you can get better idea of how much energy you are using. Good luck 🍀

[makeupme]

I'm actually realising how much more I'm paying than everyone on here and have no idea why. 3 bed semi, I live alone in week and one other at weekends. I never use my tumble, do 2 machine washes a week. Use oven and stove once a day. Boil kettle about 5 times a day with just enough water for the cup. Dishwasher broke months ago and can't afford to replace. Sit in my room most of the day with curtains open until light goes then have bedside lamp on. Have one fridge and freezer, never use TV until weekends. Have laptop plugged in all day for work (WFH) and heating is at 15 degrees and comes on twice, once in morning for 2hrs and once at 5pm for 2 hrs.
My bills for a year for gas and electric together are £460. I have a smart meter and it says I am using ust under 6kWh a couple of days a month and usually 4kWh or under for the rest of the days. How am I paying so much? Fridge is a new Samsung, oven is 2 yrs old an A rating...?

[makeupme]

Sorry I meant that for a year my monthly bills are £460

[Pootle40]

In my experience from watching the smart meter the biggest users of electricity is an oven, washing machine and tumble drier. Air fryer or slow cooker cheaper. I always extra spin my clothes before I use the drier to use that as little as possible.

I pay my exact bill monthly and don't do direct debit. We pay £130-£150 a month during summer when no heating and £350-£400 in coldest months. Large 4 bedroom detached house but modern.

[dimllaishebiaith]

@ToRecordOnlyWater

@Opohat Oooo, that’s interesting about the saving sessions! Do I do that on my account? A lot of stuff like dishwasher tends to run at night, so I could see this helping. I’ve never had a smart meter as always been told by friends that they end up paying more, and I was also put off by ScottishPower’s constant bombarding me to get one (they called three times in one day once!)

Its smart water meters people sometimes find they end up paying more with not smart electric meters, I wonder if someones got confused there?

[Pootle40]

@makeupme

Sorry I meant that for a year my monthly bills are £460

Every month? We are paying £420 this month because heating was on 4 hours a day on the cold days but tv is on a lot, as is PS5 and washing machine is on daily, as is dishwasher. Tumble drier on a few times a week too. So what you describe doesn't sound right.

[makeupme]

@Pootle40

Every month? We are paying £420 this month because heating was on 4 hours a day on the cold days but tv is on a lot, as is PS5 and washing machine is on daily, as is dishwasher. Tumble drier on a few times a week too. So what you describe doesn't sound right.

Yes, every month! Whatever it is must be something that is constantly on because we were away for 2 weeks in December at the usage for the empty house with heating/hot water off was 229.1kh. The same as it was in January when we were home and back in June.

[makeupme]

Looking again April and July are noticeably lower at 104.9kWh and 162.6kWh respectively. So it can't be something just on all the time? I'm so confused!

[Opohat]

@makeupme

Looking again April and July are noticeably lower at 104.9kWh and 162.6kWh respectively. So it can't be something just on all the time? I'm so confused!

Are you quoting gas or electricity usage. It’s very low so not sure why you are paying so much. What tariff are you on?

[RiceRiceMaybe]

How is everyone managing so cheaply?!

Mine us £310 combined. 3 bed detached. New ish (under 8 years) double glazing & heating system. I don’t use TD, short showers and our heating isn’t set above 18, mostly it’s lower.
Poor DM left after a quick visit today because she was cold!