Gas bill in biggish house

[googlenut]

We moved into a new house in May 2012 which is a biggish 4 bed detached - built in late 60s. Is insulated but is quite big so not sure what to expect in terms of bills. We have gas central heating and have just had our winter quarter bill in from British gas. It's for £580 just for gas, electric was 200. This seems excessive to me does anyone have a similar size house can give me an idea if this sounds right?

it does sound quite high but prices have increased and it would also depend how long you have your heating/hot water on for and what your thermostat is set to.

I pay approx £65 per month for gas (and about the same for electricity). The heating is on 6-10am and 5-10pm and off overnight - thermostat set to 19 degrees when it is on. The hot water is on for a 2-3 hours per day and then off the rest of the time.

We have a very draughty, 4 bed Victorian house and pay £160 a month for gas and electricity so that does sound about right ....however I have 4 children and my washing and tumble dryer on almost constantly! Stupid question perhaps but have you checked your meter readings against what they have billed you?

Thanks all. I have been quite conservative with the heating as worried about bigger bills. So heating was on say 3 hours in morning and then perhaps 4 hours in evening. 3 kids so probably a wash load every day. Still felt cold a lot of the time this winter so quite peed off bill is so high. Will phone them on Monday to check the bill.

big old house, £10 a day gas in winter, more if freezing

big modern house, £3.50 a day in winter.

Insulation is a wonderful thing.

Agree about checking the meters frequently and putting it in your diary or a document. You can also input them to your energy company online to avoid estimated bills (I do mine monthly).

The £pounds in a bill will vary by price changes and estimated readings as well as usage pattern, so are not much help.

A meter reading history records usage pattern, especially if you make a note of "warm" "cold" "very cold" "heating off" "ill at home, heating on 24hours" or whatever.

Your washer might use about 15p per wash so is not the culprit. Energy usage is almost all heating.

In summer, my gas is about half a cubic metre per day (about 25p) for hot water.

Tell us how many cubic metres of gas you have used since your last Actual (not estimated) meter reading.

p.s.

It is worth noting that after an unusually cold, early autumn, we have just had the coldest March in over a hundred years. My gas usage (not the same as the bill) is 50% higher than last winter, and the heating is still running daily.

In the 6 months between Accurate meter readings we've managed to use over £500 more than predicted through EDF. Our habits haven't changed. The rates we're charged have.
When I posted about this on FB yesterday another EDF customer also admitted after giving a meter reading this week she was about £500 in arrears too.
I think there are going to be lots of people in the next few weeks who will suddenly be aware just how much impact the price increases will have.
Just for comparison though, 3 bed mid terrace, with 3 occupants, will cost us £200 per month once arrears are cleared.

I switched to first utility and my bills are supposed to be 80 a month for both. This month they are taking 115 due to exceeding the predicted amount of gas. I'm happy with that as have the heating on all the time when we are here.

You do need to tell us the gas used per meter readings, not the £.

I just looked up the actual gas meter readings for a large, 5-bedroom, detached Edwardian house.

The highest usage I can see was at a rate of 289.6kWh per day in a very cold spell (at current prices, gas is about 5p per kWh, so that would be £14.50 per day.

My 4-bedroom modern house has never had a rate above 85kWh per day, which at current prices would be about £4.25, but in an average winter is less than that.

You do need to look at the actual meter readings and work out the kWh per day. Price rises will distort your view of energy used, and it's no good talking about what you pay, especially if it is averaged over four winter months and six summer months, and especially if that's a direct debit calculated from an estimate.