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Original poster

British gas have just told me that my £270 pm bill is average!!!

86 replies

cameleon · 28/12/2007 16:52

..and I should start using my dishwasher and washing machine every other day to reduce the bill!
He also told me that if the average family(two adults and two children) used their appliances everyday like I do then their bills would be this high.
Please can you prove him wrong? How much is your electicity bill per month and how often do you run your washing machine/dishwasher/tumble dryer?
We have asked them to come and test our meter, but they are charging us £39 if it is working correctly.

OP posts:

WendyWeber · 29/12/2007 12:18

If you have electric heating though, esp if not night storage heaters, then it will be a lot higher than if it was gas.

(But as the BG bloke didn't mention cutting down on heating I'm guessing you don't?)

lljkk · 29/12/2007 12:18

£30/month here. We have heating on oil and don't have a t-drier, for instance. I think that compares to an average for a household of 5 about £70 (or £840/yr). £240/month....wow!! This website suggests 5480 kWh/yr is average for a family of 4, which translates to about £548/yr at current prices.

WendyWeber · 29/12/2007 12:21

Oh, missed your earlier post about having gas central heating!

Is the underfloor heating electric?

PaulaYatesbiggestfan · 29/12/2007 12:30

£300 a month for both last month!!!! shocking but 5 kids 2 adults old 6 bed house

the shocking part is that we rarely have it on and freeze .....

did not dare submit readings as payments will increase

redadmiral · 29/12/2007 12:40

That seems too high. What is the breakdown for gas and electricity? Were the bills based on estimates or meter readings? We pay much less than that. £100 a quarter for gas and the same for electricity. We are in a 2 bed flat with 4 people; heating and HW from ancient combi boiler, lots of computers, gas oven and hob...

You can monitor your meters daily to get an idea of your consumption, and you can buy a unit which displays your electric consumption where you can see it so you can see how much is saved by switching things off. It's about £70, but is supposed to reduce your bill considerably.

redadmiral · 29/12/2007 12:41

Oh, and switch to a cheaper supplier. British Gas were very expensive last time I looked.

paddingtonbear1 · 29/12/2007 23:01

Just seen this,and thought I would add - sorry if it's been said already..
your bill seems vv high, doesn't sound right. Ours is under 100 pm for gas and elec.
Watch the underfloor heating, its vv expensive to run. We had it in the bathroom and ended up switching it off (we didn't install it), and using 2 bathmats instead!
We had spotlights everywhere (again not our choice) which were also using a lot of leccy. We largely ignore them now and use lamps with energy saving bulbs.
We do have a dishwasher and use the WM regularly. No tumble dryer though, it broke and we didn't replace to save on bills - a pain in winter though!
I'd do what WW says, this is what we did - switch everything off and see if the meter still goes round. If hardly at all (fridge etc), try switching stuff back on a thing at a time to see what the main culprit is.

Sidge · 29/12/2007 23:17

Blardy hellfire that's a lot!

We have a 4 bed semi, 9 radiators, gas central heating and cooker. Heating is on at least 4-5 hours a day at the mo.

We have the laptop on about 12-15 hours daily, TV similar, washer at least once a day, tumbler the same, dishwasher nightly, but don't leave things on standby and don't leave many lights on.

We pay £56 for electricity and £49 for gas monthly. We are currently slightly in credit.

I would definitely get yours checked, it is worth doing as I am sure it can't be right. If they say it is, then get an independent gas engineer to check it and then appeal.

Scramble · 29/12/2007 23:32

I was paying Per Month

Electricity £85
Gas £27

Was using this much when exH was here and I used the dryer once for every load of washing. Washing machine, dishwasher and microwave always on standy by.

Now I have switched to Scottish Power as I am now using half as much as I was paying for and they only reduced it by a very small amount. Gave S Power my actual usage for the past quarter and I will be paying about £54 per month combined .

Now I switch off all appliances, limit shower time and try not to tumble dry, plus exH not here taking hours in the shower so he can shave .

Scramble · 29/12/2007 23:33

Oh sorry 3 bed ex council semi was 2 adult 2 kid now 1 adult 2 kids.

Linnet · 30/12/2007 00:48

Have they actually read the meter or have they estimated your bill?

I find with my gas bill that they always estimate the reading and then they send me whopping big statements saying I owe them £300, so I always check the meter then work it out myself and phone them to tell them that they actually owe me money! happens every time.

My electric is a card meter and I just put £25 in at the start of the month and that does. We don't have a dishwasher or a tumble drier and the washing machine gets used about 3 or 4 times a week. We also leave a light on in the hall during the night incase the dd's get up and it has an energy saving bulb in it.

Twinklemegan · 30/12/2007 00:56

With two adults and a newborn we used to pay £20 for gas and £25 for electricity each month. We had a washing machine, tumble drier and electric cooker (no dishwasher though).

We've moved now and we're all electric with ancient storage heaters and subzero temperatures outside (and inside too it feel like) so I am dreading our bill here.

I can't believe £270pm is average! That would bankrupt us!

ELF1981 · 30/12/2007 01:01

We went to bills with BG from being on prepay and we were shocked with our gas and electric bill. Took us a year to fight them, but esp on the gas, they were totally out. ie what they were charging us as an estimate each day, we weren't using in a week.

On the electric, ours is low as I'm totally anal on electric. I switch the microwave, cooker, kettle, toaster, televisions, lamps, computer etc etc off by the mains when they are not in use. Not to save the electric / world or anything but because it freaks me out to leave plugs switched on! We only have a smallish two bed house, we only have electric heating on in summer for the water, in the winter we use gas for the heating, and that is all the gas we use.

I dont pay a quarter the amount you have stated!

ELF1981 · 30/12/2007 01:03

just checked with DH, and we pay approx £400 per year for gas and £400 a year for electric.

maggymay · 30/12/2007 12:40

that seems a lot, we live in an end of terrace drafty old house and with the 7 of us here using the disherwasher three times a day and the washing machine and dryer more our gas and electric combined is only £130 per month.

Helennn · 30/12/2007 12:52

My MIL has underfloor heating in her large kitchen. She turned it on for a few days and noticed she used 27 units of electric per day rather than the usual 9! So, like others have said, electric underfloor heating may be the culprit!

I know you can buy monitor things that go on each plug, (you move it around), that tell you how much each appliance is using, (not suitable for underfloor heating/ovens I shouldn't think as they don't have a socket). May pay for itself quite soon.

Fizzylemonade · 30/12/2007 22:33

Cameleon - I used to work for an electricity company and my advice is this, read your meter NOW and then read it again 24 hours later and again 24 hours after that. This will give you your daily rate if you subtract the first reading from the second to see how many units you are using per day. A quarter is 91 days. Your tarif will be on your bill so it will say something like 6.2pence per unit.

Reason being I dealt with a new build where the meter had been fitted and the new owners had moved in. We stung them for a huge bill because the bloody builders had been using that house as their own little tea room, boiling kettles, running electric fan heaters, portable tv etc and no-one knew about it. Therefore the original reading on installation was used and then the meter was read and this poor couple had their bill

Once you can provide the electricity company with your daily usage then they can assess why the original bill is so high. Meters rarely fail it is either reading the wrong meter, the wrong number of zeroes in front of the reading or the installation reading is wrong.

If your original reading seems way out then they can apportion your bill based on your current daily rate. But ask your neighbours if the builders did use it!!!! Suggest that to the electricity company, it may get you an amended bill.

I'll keep track of this to see what you come back with - I hope my advice helps.

Bubbaloo · 31/12/2007 20:11

Haven't read the whole thread but it seems an awful lot to pay each month.
Our Electic bill is approx £160 a quarter which we thought was alot.
Washing machine is on daily,as is the tumble dryer.Don't have a dish washer

beautifulsnowydays · 31/12/2007 20:25

our electric bill is £20 a month, we live in a 3 bedf semi with 2 adults and 2 children. don't have a dishwasher or tumble dryer tho. use the washing machine every day tho. that sound like an awful lot, i would query it.

although i nearly had a heart attack when i realised our water bitt was £170 a month

WendyWeber · 31/12/2007 20:32

Water £170 a month? I hope that's a typo!

beautifulsnowydays · 31/12/2007 20:33

nope!

LIZS · 31/12/2007 20:35

is that metered or rates ?

eandh · 31/12/2007 20:35

We pay £50 a month electric and £40 per month gas (2 adults, i 3 yr old, 1 almost 1 yr old) am home most of the week, tv on most days, laptop runs of mains, washing.tumble dryer most days and heating on low constant setting (apparently more economical than high bursts) we did get a huge electric bill last year and paid £70 a month to clear it but it was from a plug in air heater that we used to have in the conservatory but we dont have anymore

beautifulsnowydays · 31/12/2007 20:50

rates. we moved 2 yrs ago from a 3 bed house to another 3 bed house and water went up by 150%! apparently they charge you on the rate-able value of your house rather than how much you actually use
can't get a meter cos the house is rented

WendyWeber · 31/12/2007 21:17

£170 a month? That must be an error on their part unless it's a mansion with a swimming pool and a golf course?

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