Please help me/ any tips to reduce energy bills £600!? A month

[Starryeyed2021]

Hi all
could anyone give me any guidance, I am struggling with my energy bills which are for example month of January £600 for both elec and gas,
to put in context I do have 5 bedroom house, two small kids perhaps house is 200sqm so I guess on the larger side but I really don’t think price should be this high! It seems too much? Almost £20 a day!
I have this app for usuage but it doesn’t really help me in seeing how I can reduce or what to change.
we have hive on my phone and I usually just “boost “ when it’s cold sort of drops below 20degrees , possibly three times a day As it does max boost for 6 hours.

any tips? Or is this how much should cost?! I find it hard to believe people pay and can pay this much for just energy per month

200 in summer months. That’s insane Mine is £40/50

nov to March is usually 250 a month. Oct&april a bit cheaper but then May to Sept is low but pay same all year round so credit builds up over summer for winter

Yes keeping it at a level 17/18 all day is cheaper then heating up house and from cold

my heating is on all the time. I hate being cold and this winter I’ve been freezing after losing 7s - my blubber has gone lol

i have heating on at night as again hate being cold. It’s set to 14/15 an click on if chilly and keeps house warm

mini blondes also likes a warm uniform so rads on in am

but tbh thy are on most often day but on low so house is never chilly

My house isn’t as big as yours so bills are £100/month, but I used to have a bigger detached one of 230sqm until recently. Bills were about £200-250/month. I kept my heating on 24/7 November to end or March set at 18, and used a dryer. I also had dogs so back door was often open, even in winter. So there must be something going on - are you sure you don’t have a leak?
I don’t know why people tell you to turn it off overnight - it will only come on if it dips below a certain temp and there’s little difference in keeping a house at a steady temp to trying to heat a colder house up to that temp every morning.

I think that there are two significant things which you can do that will make a big difference:

Work out how you can get the heating turned off at night (or set very low so it only comes on on the very coldest nights). I’d say look at thermal curtains for windows, thicker duvets, warm pyjamas for you all, hot water bottles or electric blanket etc.

Get some solar panels, a battery, and a smart charger for the cars which prioritises using the solar energy for charging.

I have a decent sized, detached, 4 bed house and I spend around £100 a month on gas and electric. But my heating is off overnight and I have solar panels.

Are you on a crazy expensive tariff? How much do you actually use for gas and electric?

We are a 3 bed, 4 person family and only spend £110 per month. I'm home all day with a toddler and we wrap up warm. House is rarely over 18C unless we cook a roast. Only use heating 2hrs a day max, keep doors shut in rooms no one is using and avoid large screens (eg TV).

In January we used 1118.4 kWh gas and 187.7 kWh electricity.

Check for drafts as well. That's crazy high.

Our old one was serviced yearly too. But defo smaller bills since changed. We now have hive so wonder if that is also playing a role...

2hrs a day ? No wonder your bill is much less

Turn your heating off at night. No need for it then.

Hi OP,
I think the answers are skewed by the fact that a lot of us pay for our energy the same amount every month, then are comparing to your usage in only the coldest months.

I pay £200 combined monthly (3 bed semi) which seems a big difference compared to £600 (with your 5 bed) but then factor in that your bill can be £200 in the summer (so perhaps averages £350 over the year), then also factor in that you are charging electric vehicles- when we pay probably £200 per month in fuel for our vehicles and things look a lot more reasonable.

Why not just change to monthly direct debit and smooth your payments over the year. £350 for a large house including running your cars is not so bad.