How much electricity do you use per month?

[confusedlots]

This year I am taking a real deep dive into our finances. I’m finding out what I have in pensions, trying to reduce our spending and invest for the future. I’ve already made some small changes such as using sites like Everup to get cashback on our grocery bill, and am already seeing the benefits and wondering why I didn’t look into some of these things earlier.

Today I’m looking at our electricity bill. We have a relatively large house and are a family of 4. The house is new and well insulated so we shouldn’t be spending a lot to heat it. We haven’t had a tumble drier for about a year as it broke and I haven’t got round to replacing it as other things have taken priority. I do use our heated clothes drier a bit but only really if I have stuff I need to get dried quickly or I’m doing lots of washing in one day. Otherwise clothes dry quite quickly in our house as it’s usually quite warm.

I do use the washing machine a lot. Dishwasher isn’t always on every day, maybe around 5 days a week on average.

We are spending £150 a month on electricity. It’s around 500kwh a month. Is that normal for a family of 4? I want to get a new tumble drier and although I wouldn’t use it lots (mainly for sheets and towels etc), that’s only going to put out usage up even further!

AI tells me to use the washing machine less so definitely going to try to make sure I’m only doing full loads. But does anyone else use this amount? Or have any tips on reducing it?

Your electric usage feels high. We are a bigger household and home a lot. Have a tumble drier used daily. 2 loads of washing a day. Dishwasher once a daily. Airfryer preferred over oven.

We have solar panels and Decembers was 312kwh. Feb 245kwh.

Showers and cooking are the biggest usage.

231kw a month for last month so £75

so literally half of yours

washing machine on 2-3 times a week

dw 3/4 times a week

no tumble drier or heated drier

1 adult. I tween

so usually 2 tv’s on or iPad /charging

2 phones

many things on standby by

We use between 10 and 20kwh per day - but our house is all electric (heat pump, 2 EVs) run the dishwasher most days, and probably 4 loads of washing a week - but usually always on eco cycle
what makes a difference is over 90% of our electricity is off peak - so we charge cars overnight, run dishwasher etc but also charge batteries (we have 15kwh storage)
so this means our electricity bill is £100 a month

I have no idea. But we use what we consider we need, so knowing wouldn't make any difference.

We are a family of 4 - 2 adults, a 5 yo and a 6 month old. I'm at home full time and my partner works from twice a week

We use 300-350kW /£110 a month. We run the washing machine and tumble dryer 2-4 times a week. We are doing full time cloth wipes and part time cloth nappies so once a week then washing machine is on for a long 4h cycle for the nappy wash.
Dishwasher is on every day, twice a day if we have my in-laws visiting which is 3-4 days a month on average.
We make our own bread so the bread machine in on 3-4 times a week.

All light bulbs are led so minimal costs even if the lights are left on.

We don't use the oven that often which I think is our biggest saving. When the oven is on we cook as much as possible at once. We buy large joints of meat and then use it for several days. If possible we use the slow cooker.

Use the eco setting on your dishwasher and washing machine, this has made a difference to us. We have cheap over night electricity so I put it all on a delay and run the washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher for 40p in total.

We are 5 pretty much adults and in Jan spent £162 on electric (including charging the car) and £208 on gas (it was vvv cold). This will come down massively over the summer.

If you don't have a smart meter then do, we got one in November and it has really helped us be more mindful and spend less!

4 people in a 5 bed house.

From the grid We use between 500-660kW per month over the winter, and 160-350kW per month in the summer (we have solar).

Jan cost us £166 including charging the car. It was not a good month for energy costs.

it's irrelevant how much people are paying as they'll be on different rates and tarriffs. You need to look at your kw usage and also shop around to find the best rates on offer if you're not locked into a contract. I saved about £20 (single person usage) by switching supplier and got a £25 referral bonus from a friend.

I’m with octopus - I’ve attached pics of what I pay

I think they are one of the lowest

code where we both get £50

https://share.octopus.energy/ashen-tapir-863Use this referral link to sign up to Octopus Energy

We have am app with our solar setup so can see immediately when something pushes up energy consumption. Basically there's a "background" usage level of 0.3-0.4kwh which is your "always on" appliances - fridge etc, then other things spike it.

Its all your big white goods. Dishwasher, washing machine, oven, hoover. Anything that heats or cools - kettle, toaster, hair dryer, air fryer. Anything with big moving parts

You can have every bulb in the house going and it makes sod all difference!

We've realised stuff like meals that take 4 pans going at once, & roasts in the oven for hours, are expensive in energy terms, as are big baked desserts.

818.4 kWh last month, but 370 kWh of that was EV charging. £176.80 total including VAT and standing charge.

Family of 5, 2 EVs, dual rate electricity with dishwasher/washing machine/tumble dryer set on delay for night use.

£225 a month combined electric and gas. Big 4-bed Victorian single glazed house. Family of 4.

I could cry when the electricity bill comes in, looks like a telephone number

This past quarter was £485, three adults , no gas, oil for heating and hot water

Next door, smaller house, 2 adults - her bill was £473 so I dont think we are excessive with use, just here in NI, electricity is expensive, we dont have enough suppliers for competition so they keep the prices high

All electricity here in NI comes from renewables - wind farms

We have just gone to ECC 7 , so electricity is 18p between 1am and 7am. Car is charged, I set the dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer when I get up for work at 5am

Heating oil is our major cost - especially now. I turned the heating off last week as we cant afford to buy a fill and we have only a few hours left . I put the immersion on for 30 mins so we get a shower , other then that, cold water and we are wearing fleeces and thermals in the house - as its still ruddy cold here

Cant remember the last time I used the oven, cook 99% of meals with an air fryer, slow cooker and microwave , might need one saucepan or wok or something on the hob