Energy bill for 4-bed house??

[CarrieTheTowel]

Moved to a new detached 4-bed about 7 months ago at the start of the cold weather. Was paying about £160 per month since we moved in but figured that would even out after we'd been here through the summer etc. Anyway they now tell me they didn't bill me properly and I'm in debt!

If you have a large house how much are your energy bills?

I thought £160 was probably about right - as well as 4 beds it has a few reception rooms/study etc so is quite a big house by most standards (not trying to brag). We've just replaced a lot of the windows so it should be snugger. DH works from home with a lot of computer equipment and with DC I'm doing laundry every other day but apart from that I can't work out what's costing so much. It's possible the heating hasn't been at its most efficient as we discovered some towel radiator things had been on at a low level even when the heating was off. We also have a dishwasher for the first time but I can't imagine that costs much.

Sorry but not looking for people to compete as to how low they get their bills, just wondering if something's clearly up and costing us more than it should.

Should clarify, the house isn't 'new' ie a new-build. But it's far less draughty than our old 3-story period house.

I have a 4 bed, but only 1 living room and I think we are £106 a month for gas and electric.

I am in a four bed with three bathroom, two living rooms and a big kitchen. Lots of sash windows but double glazed. 10ft high ceilings, built in 2004.

I moved here last year, have been paying £116 a month for gas and electricity combined but have just moved supplier via uswitch and reduced it to £87 a month.

We are always warm. I cook a lot, oven always on. Washing machine and dishwasher on daily.

We have a 4/5 bed (playroom, dining room, garage conversion, living room) and we are £208 a month with npower. I think we are being overcharged though.

Mine is a semi, four beds two baths two reception rooms. £94 a month and we are in credit despite barely being out of winter.

Similar size house to you OP. Electricity just got down to £100 per month, from £140, by switching to Octopus. Then roughly £120 a month on oil for heating and hot water.

4 bed house with two reception rooms a large kitchen and an orangery - £116 per month for gas and electric. Dishwasher used every day, washing every other day, heated airers used to dry clothes. Lots of spotlights. Perhaps look at getting a smart meter to look at where your spend is going - it's certainly helped us to identify which appliances costs the most up run - the double oven is a big culprit

I'm in a 4/5bed and we pay £120 a month for gas/electricity but use £93 at the moment with Bulb. It's been the cheapest by far for us

About £170 pcm here.

we have a 4 bed semi and pay about £170 a month for gas and electricity. We do have 4 teenagers though and the house is old and draughty.

Thanks everyone, that's interesting that it can vary so much.

thedocisin an orangery! That's dh's dream!
I don't know much about smart meters, are they a gadget or a whole meter system that needs installing?

Just remembered DH has a dehumidifier on in the garage nearly all the time! Only recently though and won't need it in the summer hopefully.

Ours is a new build, 4-bed semi with gas heating and Nest, and we pay just under £100 a month. DH also works from home on laptop and desktop computer. We're with Outfox the Market.

I think shop around for a new energy supplier. In addition to uswitch and Octopus, try www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity/ (it's updated daily).

4 bed ( over 3 floors), 3 bathrooms, 2 reception rooms, kitchen and utility. £1200 a year with Bulb

It's a piece of string question, it would be more surprising if people paid the same. There are way too many variables to make any kind of meaningful comparison.

Even if other people paid more than you it doesn't mean anything if you could switch to a cheaper tariff. You will get a definitive answer on uswitch and other comparison sites. Switch to the cheapest one you can get.

I pay £125 for my seriously energy inefficient 5 bed but I'm super mean with the heating

Would really recommend look after my bills - they switch every year for you so you always get the cheapest tariff. I am a cold person in a period property so our bills are always quite high.

Do you know the sq footage of your house? If it's 1500, then I'd say that's a little steep and I'd see if how energy efficient everything is. If it's 3000sq ft then that's not much to pay.

I'm in a 4 bed house, paying 96 per month and in credit. Your question got me wondering about how big the winter/summer difference is and it's huge - about three times as much in the cold months. So maybe worth seeing what a whole year looks like. Like others I change supplier most years to keep costs down.

@CarrieTheTowel most energy suppliers offer to install it for free. They send an engineer out who hanged over the meters and gives a little gadget to keep plugged in somewhere that tells you each hour of the day what you are spending. Doesn't take long to install - ours was about 2 hours in total

Do you have an electric shower? We had big electricity bills for a while. The electric shower turned out to be to blame.