Gas and Electric Bills

[kitty1976]

I was wondering if I’m paying too much for gas and electric. I pay by DD monthly £225 for gas and £210 for electric. We are on a fixed tariff and it seems to be fairly competitive when I have looked at switching etc. What do others pay?

We pay £50 a month for both in a 4 bed detached house

Something is wrong there surely, that's like a mortgage payment!

Quite large and old 4 bed house and we pay £220 pm for gas and electric together. I've never found anyone who pays more!

My bill gives annual consumption as
GAS - 14904
ELECTRIC - 5560

What figures do you have?

Heating on as little as possible, not started putting it on yet. Hot water on 5 hours a day. Tank not combi. When heating is on in the winter it is just a couple of hours in the morning and from 3 to 10pm

Have your bills always been that high?

Gas central heating? Do you use a tumble dryer?

Need your usage figures

I live in a newish (9yr old) 5 bed detached 3300sq ft house well insulated. Lots of windows ((25!) and I pay c£160 per mth electric only (+Calor gas job there are 4 of us our most days . Hope that helps. I think you are paying too much

We're in a similar sounding old 5 bed detached house - high ceilings, made of granite so no cavity wall etc. There are 6 of us, we have gas CH and a water tank for 1 shower and all sinks plus an electric shower (which is probably used more). Thermostat is set at 18-19C year round and left on so it comes on if the house is cold enough. Plenty of tech running (DC2 is a gamer) and 4DC who don't understand about switching off lights!

We've just changed supplier as I thought ours was dear but we were paying approx £250 pcm for a bundle that included gas, electricity, 1 mobile phone, landline and broadband.

Have you carried forward a debt from a previous bill?

Electricity is 14,000 kWh per year, I will look up gas, not sure.

Wouldn't you have to be using around 6000 units of gas at 4p to make £240p/m? And around 1300kw for elec? Every month? You must be in credit with your supplier?

still need the meter readings.

Are you sure that's for electric? It is extremely high and we are a high usage household. What uses electricity in your house?

www.ukpower.co.uk/home_energy/average-household-gas-and-electricity-usage

Electricity is 14,000 kWh per year, I will look up gas, not sure.

Thanks. Depending on your tariff, electricity is around 14p per kWh, so that would be 14,000 x 14p = £1960 p.a.
or £163 per month.

Plus standing charge, around 18p per day, £66/year or £5.50/month

Oh yes you could be paying off previous debt. Be careful you're not paying off debt that previous tenant owed if you didnt have debt!

That electricity consumption is 3 times what the link says a high usage would be if not on an economy 7 tariff

14,000 p.a. is around three times as much as a typical UK house would use, so I deduce that you are using electric heaters and/or air conditioners, or have a swimming pool.

How big is your house?

It would be extremely helpful if you would get an up-to-date reading. If you don't have a recent one, you can take it again in a few days time and we can get a view of your current daily use. If you have one a month or so old we can do that straight away. It is usual for winter usage to be higher than summer.

Have you got a hot-water cylinder? What colour?

Have you got electric showers? How many hours a day are they used?

Just to check, is there a cannabis plantation in your loft or shed? Or does your neighbour have one, with a cable through the wall?

Or have they cocked up the smart meter installation?

That is a HUMUNGOUS amount.
I live in a Victorian, 4 storey house - high ceilings etc.
I use a tumble drier a lot.
I have teens and young adults who are all always plugged into more than one device at a time.
I live with people who seem incapable of turning things off.

But I am paying £122 a month - and every time I switch the companies ask if I've got the consumption right as my electricity seems high.
Yet you are paying 3.5 x that amount

If you aren't paying off a large debt, that just can't be right.

14,000 is a curiously round number.

Did you round it? Or is it the actual difference between actual meter readings 12 months apart?