How much for gas & electric pcm?!

[Shleepymummy]

Maybe I’m just blind to the rising costs but my energy company want to increase our monthly payments from £188 to £191 pcm to cover bills and a further £59 pcm to help reduce debt so we aren’t too deep in the negative next winter. I need to do a meter read in the hope that will help a bit butttt I doubt it.
So- are we using a stupid amount of energy?! 4 bed house, standard size I’d say, built 1991. Heating on in winter but on a timer so not all time. Summer obvs not on. 2 adult showers a day, one bath for kids but try and keep it shallow. Don’t have lights on really cos of day light. Yes we watch tv and use internet but no one working from home. dishwasher once a day, washing machine once a day sometimes twice, tumble dryer used but not every day.
We’ve obviously got some debt hence the £59 payment but £191 a month, is that right?!

what the hell happened!!

Renewable energy charges gave caused the prices to go through the roof. Coupled with war in Ukraine, and general cost of living since the Trussterfuck. It's mainly the increases due to renewable energy though.

Ours is set at £180 per month which covers us easily in the summer months - but yes - last summer we were paying the same and saving some credit, it seems that its even more expensive this year (electricity)

Most likely as other half has an EV, so I guess there are savings on petrol.

Live in a 1930s 4 bedroom semi.

I don't go with the building up of credit energy companies holding on yo your cash for months on end as prefer to get a little interest on our cash, and pay the extra needed each month as and when.

My DD is £110 a month, but I currently only use £70 a month, so I'm building up credit for the winter. I'm fine with that, although if I build up a ridiculous amount I'll change my DD.

Just me and my cat in a two bedroom house. Gas heating and hot water, gas hob, electric oven. Out at the office three days a week.

Good lord! We have solar too but it essentially means we don’t pay for anything except car charging from April to end of September. Have you got batteries and/or a feed in tariff?

We pay £175 per month for both gas and electric combined, and about half of that is credit building for winter. It’s a 5 bed house with one person WFH.

4 bed large detached. £230pm. We're on a fixed tariff and it will lower to £180 once we change. This includes maybe £20pm on the EV charger. I wfh so use electricity all day every day.

It sounds like you aren't actually on top of this , you haven't done meter readings and you aren't aware that prices have reduced now

It's a waste of time comparing ££ with randoms, send in regular meter readings and then you'll know you're paying the correct amount.

When you say fixed tariff you do know that doesnt mean you pay the same regardless of how much you use?

£330 PCM for a 4 bed detached in the south east. Only have heating on for 2 hours a day in winter max, off completely from march-october and no other excessive energy requirements. House is insulated and 1950s build.

Have checked and our tariff is the cheapest available for our usage.

It sucks, two years ago we were paying £150. It went up and never came down.

Agreed.
And it’s knowing your standing charges and £/kwh that counts. Plus any credit / debt.
A simple spreadsheet updated monthly with 2mins worth of meter readings is all you need to be all over it.

It's not the price per month that's fixed but the underlying cost per kwh and standing charge. If you are in a lot if credit on £230 per month then you could reduce that amount right now.

I have a 3 bed terrace and I am with Octopus for gas & elec.

My bills are about £45 in total in the summer and vary from £90 to £120 in total in the winter. I work from home and my cooker uses gas to give you an idea of use.

I don't allow them to set up the direct debit amount and I pay for what I use only...Everything is metered.

I think utility companies are fleecing many consumers by setting high DD that don't reflect actual use.

Maybe do a comparison search for the what the best supplier could be for you.

£269 per month - recently reduced from £369.

1970s three bed terrace, 3 adults and one teenager, plus often a friend of older DC staying. DH partially runs his business from home and so in the winter has electric heaters on in the conservatory. I use the tumble drier when necessary but dry washing in the garden whenever I can.

We've recently had the loft re-insulated and replaced the double-glazing, so hope that helps reduce the bill this winter.

Also in a 4 bed, similar usage to you, and our DD was just reduced from £390/pcm to £154pcm because we have built up £1,600+ in credit. We are more energy efficient than the prior occupants and their energy usage was what our DD was based on when we moved in.

Your energy usage doesn’t sound unusually high. It is important to note that energy prices vary by county in the U.K. with some counties paying higher rates than others.

£160 per month in an older 4 bedroom semi. I'm cold in the winter tbh and would like to put the central heating on more, but we can't afford to pay any more than that. Not in debt and building up some surplus for the winter, though not as much as usual, as have been putting the heating on for an hour or so occasionally. Yes, in July, this weather is a joke,

Your energy bill doesn’t sound wildly high for the property you have. If you want to reduce your spend and pay off the debt faster you need to look at

what can you cut elsewhere to pay off the debt faster and build credit for next winter

look at all appliances and see where you can cut. Do you leave the tv on standby? Run a drinks fridge as well as the food fridge? Use the oven a lot? Leave phone charges plugged in and on? And see what you can edit to reduce your bill, every little helps

check you are on the cheapest tariff for your needs

do regular meter readings as you don’t sound on top of that

I'm surprised you're surprised. That seems a reasonable amount to pay given you have debt. We pay £100 a month for 3 bed house, 2 adults who WFH. I prefer not to build up credit with the energy companies as this is only making them more profit, I'd rather put extra in our own savings so we benefit from the interest.

There is a thread on here which I can't find about how much things cost to run.

The killer with electricity is things that need heat, so the tumble drier and the washing machine use way more than things like the TV , lights and the internet.

You say you need to do a meter reading, just do it, it takes a few seconds and you will know where you stand.

Standing charges have more or less doubled, if we use no energy at all we still spend 80p a day, does my nut in.

We are in a 2 bed semi and pay 95 quid a month, well in credit.

We have a 4 bed, 2 of us, 1 child - £250 per month. Covers winter and Summer. Summer as low as £90 a month and winter can reach upwards of £350/400.

Do t know what your room layout is, but it makes a BIG difference... I'm in a small 3 bed detached... all in our cul-de-sac have the same footprint. We have walls downstairs ... so 2 rooms + kitchen and our bills are £70 cheaper than our neighbour (on the same tariff) who went open plan. And we are home all day, they are not.
Open plan living uses more power to keep things light and warm.

Mine's the same...and again, I don't understand why 2/3 of this is the electricity! I'm out of the house all day and live on my own. Washer only on twice a week and I rarely use the cooker (maybe once a month, if that!) I do use the gas hob and obviously the gas boiler works the hot water/heating. So I just don't understand why the electricity is so bloody expensive in comparison 🤷‍♀️

I work for an energy company-OP (and anyone else) make sure if you don't have smart meters that you are submitting a monthly reading (don't stress too much about it always being on the same date, but aim for around once a month) so that your usage is up to date. Otherwise your bills may be too high or too low and cause either a large credit which is money you'd rather have in your bank, or a large bill in the future when you do provide a reading

There's a lot of stuff that just uses electric in the background. Freezer is a big one... and fridge. Then there is the router, any game system, TV and TV boxes, landline phones, burglar alarm, smoke detector, alarm clock, dehumidifier, standby appliances like cooker, microwave . That's all aside from when things are in use - and then shower, washing machine, dishwasher, tumble drier, toaster, kettle, airfryer, hoover, fan, chargers, hairdryers etc.
(We even have an electric recliner sofa.... 😳)

I'm surprised my electric bill is so low looking at my own list.

I think our shower is responsible for a lot of our electricity bill. 4 people who also exercise and may have more than 1 shower a day. Then the washing machine for all the gym wear. Also have an electric oven and dh likes to cook.

Our gas usage is much smaller with heating not being used much just now and the hot water only on for 1 hour per day. We have a gas hob but that's used less than the oven.

£130 a month electric, gas probably £100-150 a month (we have a tank) old large house and outbuildings.

We have an EV and solar panels. Combined usage last month (actual) £60 electricity and £30 gas. We swapped the Tesla for a new one and fucked up the scheduling to only charge during the cheap overnight rate though. Month before electric bill was £40 of which £18 was standing charge. Hope that helps anyone who’s thinking of Ev/solar