my gas and electric bill for the last quarter was almost £1000 so how come....

[PaulaYatesBiggestFan]

its absolutely BITTER on the top floor and the heat is barely ever on?

This cannot be right.....can it!

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Ours is about £1300 for the whole year - that's a medium sized leaky mid-terrace, with an ancient attic with ancient uninsulated roof (we're working on that )

However if yours is bigger, as I imagine it is, and not a terrace, ditto, I can imagine it would probably double for the year - so maybe £1000 for the coldest quarter would be about right.

Whats's your insulation like?

dp ran straight up to loft to check and its deep 4 inches!

we are end terrace but silly rooves and horrific windows....it just seems so high

We have 4 bed Edwardian house with solid walls and a cellar - we pay around £110 a month for gas and electric.

That sounds horrendous, and you've made me very worried about our own electricity bill when it comes as our house leaks heat like nobody's business.

"They" recommend 10 inches of insulation

we pay $180 a month normally but due to 960 bill we are 500+ in debt

gosh peaches that is a lot

Are your 'horrific windows' double glazed PYBF?

Our was £300 for a 2 bedroom.

We have cavity wall insulation, loft insulation (only half the lodft, and not 10"!)
Double glazing saves the most I think

Detached
2 beds, big rooms

Gas £25 a month, dd

Electric £16 dd

I think your windows being done would save you a fair whack.

We pay £600 a year for gas and elec. We're in a n old style 3 bed semi.

we are with atlantic btw

Cavity wall insulation is more cost effective than double glazing I believe (esp with a lot of outside walls) but old houses don't have the right kind of walls for it, sadly.

Paula, how old is your boiler, do you know? If it's a huge house and an old boiler a) it may not be powerful enough and b) it may be very inefficient.

Putting in a new boiler with enough ooomph could make a big difference, and put some more insulation down in the roof too. (Do you have attic rooms or not?)

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What was your usage compared with usage in previous quarters? Comparing costs is kind of irrelevant as there are such differences between companies/areas/house sizes/insulation/appliances/hot water comsumption/etc. You can find the numbers on the bill.

check your meters, i was overcharged by 5000units last year, they wanted £814 for the summer period

snorkle moat of winndows not double glazed but top floor had d/g units in old rattling sashes

sparklygoth sadly i know readings are right i took them!

That's really high, we are an end terrace with no double glazing or insulation, the heating is on for 7 hours a day and we have a gas oven AND tumble dryer and we pay about 85 a month for both, whihc is near a quarter what you pay.

I woudl query that TBH it can't be right

The readings may be right but the meter's may not be IYSWIM.

How old is yours though, cg? And how many floors?

Have you been living on estimated readings? Happened to my FIL many years ago because they didn't read the meter for like three years. He negotiated a payment schedule with them...

no it was up to date before this quarter

asked plumber today about it and he said although a lot - he was not surprised
hee suggested condenser boiler

he has fitted two more radiators so that should help.....double

Condensers are supposed to be much more efficient (and anyway you have to have one now if you replace).

As he has added radiators your existing boiler is even more likely to be under powered - does he know how old yours is?

You want a Vaillant, you do! (We've had one 25 years and it's been fab, but will have to be replaced soon as the parts are ceasing to be available.) Their website has a guide to which one suits which size house. They are more expensive than most but worth it.

2 floors, 3 bedrooms, 100 years old.
Boiler is very old and not very efficient, windows are rotten, drafts all over the place but the heating keeps it at around 22-23 degrees .