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Been reading and seeing a lot in the news about how high our fuel bills are (and a comparison yesterday showing how much cheaper elec and gas is in the UK compared to the rest of europe).
I've seen coments from people talking about bills of £200 per month, which doesn't really compute for me.
Perhaps I have a super efficient house, but my combined bill varies between £60/month in the winter to £80/month in the summer (I know this seems bizare to me too - it's just that Scottish power cant work out how to average useage across the year properly and put it up in spring and down in winter)
So I'm interested to know what others pay.
To put this in context, I live in a 1980s built-on-the-cheap 2 double bed house, with all mod-cons (dishwasher, big tv, 2 computers on a lot, washing machine etc) with mains Gas Central heating and water
I've seen coments from people talking about bills of £200 per month, which doesn't really compute for me.
Perhaps I have a super efficient house, but my combined bill varies between £60/month in the winter to £80/month in the summer (I know this seems bizare to me too - it's just that Scottish power cant work out how to average useage across the year properly and put it up in spring and down in winter)
So I'm interested to know what others pay.
To put this in context, I live in a 1980s built-on-the-cheap 2 double bed house, with all mod-cons (dishwasher, big tv, 2 computers on a lot, washing machine etc) with mains Gas Central heating and water
In reply to balmybaldwin:
£70 a month year round, large 3 bed pre-war semi, old boiler, but plenty insulation. I do ration the heating, as I don't like hot houses and I am tight.
£70 a month year round, large 3 bed pre-war semi, old boiler, but plenty insulation. I do ration the heating, as I don't like hot houses and I am tight.
In reply to balmybaldwin:
About £90 a month currently being in Winter. £30 electric, £60 gas. Not a particularly old house but not new either.
£200 seems like a lot!
About £90 a month currently being in Winter. £30 electric, £60 gas. Not a particularly old house but not new either.
£200 seems like a lot!
In reply to balmybaldwin:
my house is around £200 if we actually use the heating, but what we do instead of that is use the wood burner in the lounge which heats the kids room above that and our room above theirs as the floo runs through them.
the problem is the house is quite big and you end up heating rooms that dont need it etc and whilst we've had new windows and such put in the house still for some ungodly reason remains cold whilst pumping the heating out (the heating system is new too) so we put underfloor in in the kitchen, the wood burner in the lounge and I bought the wife some thermals......
my house is around £200 if we actually use the heating, but what we do instead of that is use the wood burner in the lounge which heats the kids room above that and our room above theirs as the floo runs through them.
the problem is the house is quite big and you end up heating rooms that dont need it etc and whilst we've had new windows and such put in the house still for some ungodly reason remains cold whilst pumping the heating out (the heating system is new too) so we put underfloor in in the kitchen, the wood burner in the lounge and I bought the wife some thermals......
In reply to balmybaldwin:
Since moving house a year ago my bills (gas & electric) have reduced from £250/month to £53/month as British Gas got to grips with my actual usage rather than "estimated average for the area". Now that I have a whole year of usage I'll be shopping around for a better deal.
Should add, new build, 2.5 bedroom mid terrace, just me living there.
Since moving house a year ago my bills (gas & electric) have reduced from £250/month to £53/month as British Gas got to grips with my actual usage rather than "estimated average for the area". Now that I have a whole year of usage I'll be shopping around for a better deal.
Should add, new build, 2.5 bedroom mid terrace, just me living there.
Post edited at 13:49
In reply to balmybaldwin:
I live in a very badly insulated house in the French Alps. Its very big but we only heat about half the building. Me and the wife both work from home maybe 75% of the time so we're each running a home office most days and the house has to be warm and comfortable throughout the day.
We've done the maths and paying to properly re-insulate would never pay itself back with reduced fuel bills over a realistic period of time.
We pay about €800 per year for electricity - we have electric cylinder heating for our hot water (there's only two of us most of the time).
About a month ago I took delivery of 4 tonnes of wood pellets for our central heating boiler. This was much more expensive than normal because of our remote location and our local supplier was unable to get their act together.
The pellets cost about €1600 (including €300 for delivery). They should heat us through until March/April (we're running the boiler almost constantly - we're lucky if it gets above freezing outside this time of year and we've had snow on the ground for 3 weeks. I'll probably have to buy a few more bags of pellets to see us through the spring so I would say all in our yearly energy bills come to around €2600.
Average all that out and we're probably paying around £180 per month.
I live in a very badly insulated house in the French Alps. Its very big but we only heat about half the building. Me and the wife both work from home maybe 75% of the time so we're each running a home office most days and the house has to be warm and comfortable throughout the day.
We've done the maths and paying to properly re-insulate would never pay itself back with reduced fuel bills over a realistic period of time.
We pay about €800 per year for electricity - we have electric cylinder heating for our hot water (there's only two of us most of the time).
About a month ago I took delivery of 4 tonnes of wood pellets for our central heating boiler. This was much more expensive than normal because of our remote location and our local supplier was unable to get their act together.
The pellets cost about €1600 (including €300 for delivery). They should heat us through until March/April (we're running the boiler almost constantly - we're lucky if it gets above freezing outside this time of year and we've had snow on the ground for 3 weeks. I'll probably have to buy a few more bags of pellets to see us through the spring so I would say all in our yearly energy bills come to around €2600.
Average all that out and we're probably paying around £180 per month.
Post edited at 13:59
In reply to yorkshireman:
Sounds about right, down in beautiful Bavaria I used €1800 worth of wood last year and maybe €1,200 electricity. The big difference is to the UK is the winters are endless and ones idea of a large house is different, I heat 2800sq ft.
Sounds about right, down in beautiful Bavaria I used €1800 worth of wood last year and maybe €1,200 electricity. The big difference is to the UK is the winters are endless and ones idea of a large house is different, I heat 2800sq ft.
In reply to balmybaldwin:
My combined bill is £52 a month, no idea of the split. This is for a 1902 stone terrace with 2 big bedrooms and high ceilings with moderately good insulation and a brand new boiler. Also, the house is empty in the day and unheated. I know people paying ~£150 a month but they live in big old houses or they have the place far too warm.
My combined bill is £52 a month, no idea of the split. This is for a 1902 stone terrace with 2 big bedrooms and high ceilings with moderately good insulation and a brand new boiler. Also, the house is empty in the day and unheated. I know people paying ~£150 a month but they live in big old houses or they have the place far too warm.
In reply to balmybaldwin:
For Gas and Electic our standing order is £10 a month.
We usually get a rebate - get yerself a flat!!
Chris
For Gas and Electic our standing order is £10 a month.
We usually get a rebate - get yerself a flat!!
Chris
In reply to Chris Craggs:
Not a flat with leccy heating, though. It's expensive and crap.
I never fully understood why we didn't in the UK follow the approach of Europe in having a centralised heating system for the whole block. Far more efficient.
Mine varies as I pay monthly direct debit on actual usage, rather than a payment plan. Gas varies massively depending how cold that month is and how often I work from home - so looking over the last year I have anything from £4.10 (June) to £65.65 (January). Electricity seems to be somewhere around the £18-£25 a month range again depending on how often I'm at home.
This is in a 3 bed (smallish) 1970s terraced Barratts box. Double glazed but some gaps in the insulation, e.g. the loft insulation is very thin and there's no door onto the porch at the moment until I fit one.
Neil
Not a flat with leccy heating, though. It's expensive and crap.
I never fully understood why we didn't in the UK follow the approach of Europe in having a centralised heating system for the whole block. Far more efficient.
Mine varies as I pay monthly direct debit on actual usage, rather than a payment plan. Gas varies massively depending how cold that month is and how often I work from home - so looking over the last year I have anything from £4.10 (June) to £65.65 (January). Electricity seems to be somewhere around the £18-£25 a month range again depending on how often I'm at home.
This is in a 3 bed (smallish) 1970s terraced Barratts box. Double glazed but some gaps in the insulation, e.g. the loft insulation is very thin and there's no door onto the porch at the moment until I fit one.
Neil
In reply to balmybaldwin:
Gas bill for 3 months was £50, will be more for winter if it ever gets properly cold.
Gas bill for 3 months was £50, will be more for winter if it ever gets properly cold.
In reply to jimtitt:
Pah... I raise you a 3200 sq ft house in Finland, built in the 50's so the insulation is not quite up to modern standards (mainly sawdust). About 3500-4000€ in heating oil per year plus the electricity at about 600€ year.
> Sounds about right, down in beautiful Bavaria I used €1800 worth of wood last year and maybe €1,200 electricity. The big difference is to the UK is the winters are endless and ones idea of a large house is different, I heat 2800sq ft.
Pah... I raise you a 3200 sq ft house in Finland, built in the 50's so the insulation is not quite up to modern standards (mainly sawdust). About 3500-4000€ in heating oil per year plus the electricity at about 600€ year.
In reply to balmybaldwin:
Large 3 bedroom detatched bungalow, part old pig barn, part 1980s extension, insulated as well as it can be without risking cavity wall insulation on the new bit.
About £45 a month electric, (hopefully dropping witn leds replacing the host of 50w halogens festooning the place), around £1200 a year on oil, say £200 a year on wood/coal for the stove, £100 tops on bottled lpg for the cooker. That's pushing £170 a month.
However, Mrs Ridge is one of these reptillian space aliens that David Icke warned us about, so the living room has to be kept at around 90 degrees at all times, and the garden has to be heated by leaving the f*cking back door open when she's gardening..
Large 3 bedroom detatched bungalow, part old pig barn, part 1980s extension, insulated as well as it can be without risking cavity wall insulation on the new bit.
About £45 a month electric, (hopefully dropping witn leds replacing the host of 50w halogens festooning the place), around £1200 a year on oil, say £200 a year on wood/coal for the stove, £100 tops on bottled lpg for the cooker. That's pushing £170 a month.
However, Mrs Ridge is one of these reptillian space aliens that David Icke warned us about, so the living room has to be kept at around 90 degrees at all times, and the garden has to be heated by leaving the f*cking back door open when she's gardening..
In reply to balmybaldwin:
£28 a month combined over a year.
This is good if you consider both me and my partner work from home a lot.
But maybe bad considering I live in a 2 bed flat, (middle floor of 3) made of straw bales with triple glazing and a 1kw solar panel thing on the roof.
Andy
£28 a month combined over a year.
This is good if you consider both me and my partner work from home a lot.
But maybe bad considering I live in a 2 bed flat, (middle floor of 3) made of straw bales with triple glazing and a 1kw solar panel thing on the roof.
Andy
In reply to Chris Craggs:
Yeah but you are always climbing away abroad from home you lucky ******* person
Yeah but you are always climbing away abroad from home you lucky ******* person
In reply to balmybaldwin:
£77 a month combined based on frequently updated estimates (updated by me providing real meter readings).
Living alone in a weird and poorly insulated house built some time around 1810. Basement kitchen can open onto canal towpath. I have a loft conversion which is the main bedroom so the loft does not fulfil any inherent insulating function. Some windows double glaze, some not.
There's not much I could to do improve the insulation. I knew what I was getting into when I bought the place, so although the bills are higher than they might be in a modern studio flat, it's OK
£77 a month combined based on frequently updated estimates (updated by me providing real meter readings).
Living alone in a weird and poorly insulated house built some time around 1810. Basement kitchen can open onto canal towpath. I have a loft conversion which is the main bedroom so the loft does not fulfil any inherent insulating function. Some windows double glaze, some not.
There's not much I could to do improve the insulation. I knew what I was getting into when I bought the place, so although the bills are higher than they might be in a modern studio flat, it's OK
In reply to All: You're all bloody lucky £180/month for oil £120/month for electric about £15 for gas (only used for cooking)
Guernsey is an expensive place to live!
Guernsey is an expensive place to live!
In reply to SteveD:
Crikey that's pricey!
Thinking about mine, the £4.something one is probably caused by the fact that I live on my own, have a combi boiler and use a dishwasher, so the only gas burnt in summer is 10 minutes' worth each morning (if that) for a shower and a minute or two for a wash of an evening.
I would imagine that saves a packet over heating a cylinder-full and keeping it warm, whatever fuel is used.
As for leccy, all my lighting is LED GU10s (the expensive ones so they don't flicker and annoy me). I imagine the heaviest usage comes from the cooker/dishwasher.
Neil
Crikey that's pricey!
Thinking about mine, the £4.something one is probably caused by the fact that I live on my own, have a combi boiler and use a dishwasher, so the only gas burnt in summer is 10 minutes' worth each morning (if that) for a shower and a minute or two for a wash of an evening.
I would imagine that saves a packet over heating a cylinder-full and keeping it warm, whatever fuel is used.
As for leccy, all my lighting is LED GU10s (the expensive ones so they don't flicker and annoy me). I imagine the heaviest usage comes from the cooker/dishwasher.
Neil
Post edited at 23:52
In reply to balmybaldwin:
Two bedroom flat mid 80s, £25 per month average electricity (no gas)
I live in the middle of the block, so benefit from downstairs' heating and upstairs' insulation. It also faces south which is a big bonus, and I live on my own.
I have economy 7 which for me works fine if I remember to put the heaters on the day before I get cold! The vast bulk of the bill goes on heating in the winter. In the summer, it's probably less than £10 a month.
It's between 2.5MWHr and 3MWHr over the year.
Two bedroom flat mid 80s, £25 per month average electricity (no gas)
I live in the middle of the block, so benefit from downstairs' heating and upstairs' insulation. It also faces south which is a big bonus, and I live on my own.
I have economy 7 which for me works fine if I remember to put the heaters on the day before I get cold! The vast bulk of the bill goes on heating in the winter. In the summer, it's probably less than £10 a month.
It's between 2.5MWHr and 3MWHr over the year.
In reply to balmybaldwin:
Wow, this is making me think we need to do some investigation into our bills! 2bed detached, all electric, mix of storage heaters (E7)& underfloor (we know!), usual appliances & we getting stuffed for £170 per month.
Wow, this is making me think we need to do some investigation into our bills! 2bed detached, all electric, mix of storage heaters (E7)& underfloor (we know!), usual appliances & we getting stuffed for £170 per month.
In reply to Chris Craggs:
Just how often are you actually there, Chris?!
> For Gas and Electic our standing order is £10 a month.
Just how often are you actually there, Chris?!
In reply to jon:
Well in the past year - probably about 4-5 months on and off, though admittedly that is unusual.
We never heat the flat even in the middle of winter (south facing double glazed windows) which must have a fair effect, and we don't have a washing machine (we are not scruffy, there is a communal one for the flats) - I guess if we were here all year the bills would run at about £200 (ballpark figure).
Chris
> Just how often are you actually there, Chris?!
Well in the past year - probably about 4-5 months on and off, though admittedly that is unusual.
We never heat the flat even in the middle of winter (south facing double glazed windows) which must have a fair effect, and we don't have a washing machine (we are not scruffy, there is a communal one for the flats) - I guess if we were here all year the bills would run at about £200 (ballpark figure).
Chris
Post edited at 10:15
In reply to balmybaldwin:
Our 12 month rolling average is £56.37/month gas and electricity. 1900 solid walls mid-terrace 2 up, 2 down with a big downstairs extension. 2 adults. Old double glazing, minimal loft insulation, fridge/freezer, washer, condensing dryer, big plasma TV, games consoles, computers, laptops. We don't scrimp on anything. I do only heat rooms we are using at the time, turn everything not being used off at the wall, and set the thermostat to a pleasantly warm 16oC. The last point involved buying a jumper for the lady. Heating is by a modern condensing boiler and gas fire. Location is northern England.
Our 12 month rolling average is £56.37/month gas and electricity. 1900 solid walls mid-terrace 2 up, 2 down with a big downstairs extension. 2 adults. Old double glazing, minimal loft insulation, fridge/freezer, washer, condensing dryer, big plasma TV, games consoles, computers, laptops. We don't scrimp on anything. I do only heat rooms we are using at the time, turn everything not being used off at the wall, and set the thermostat to a pleasantly warm 16oC. The last point involved buying a jumper for the lady. Heating is by a modern condensing boiler and gas fire. Location is northern England.
In reply to balmybaldwin:
With some recent changes, I'm down to £140/month combined with EON.
I bought a little smart meter thingy to educate the rest of the household just how much the electricity they were using cost me. The average KWH/day dropped from 19 to 14 over a week of nagging. Mind you, I'm working abroad now so they will have the lights/heating/TVs/computers on all day now to make sure the dog doesn't feel lonely!
PS - the house is a well-insulated 4-bed semi, but the boiler is over 20 years old and might be replaced next summer. We have a log burner in the lounge and have managed to avoid buying wood since we got it - it meant the central heating didn't go on until mid-November.
With some recent changes, I'm down to £140/month combined with EON.
I bought a little smart meter thingy to educate the rest of the household just how much the electricity they were using cost me. The average KWH/day dropped from 19 to 14 over a week of nagging. Mind you, I'm working abroad now so they will have the lights/heating/TVs/computers on all day now to make sure the dog doesn't feel lonely!
PS - the house is a well-insulated 4-bed semi, but the boiler is over 20 years old and might be replaced next summer. We have a log burner in the lounge and have managed to avoid buying wood since we got it - it meant the central heating didn't go on until mid-November.
Post edited at 11:46
In reply to balmybaldwin:
I live in a badly insulated large Victorian flat in scotland, and I pay on average 40£/month gas and around 40£/month electricity. Admittedly I don't use the heating too much and I am fine with a temperature of around 14C inside the flat.
I live in a badly insulated large Victorian flat in scotland, and I pay on average 40£/month gas and around 40£/month electricity. Admittedly I don't use the heating too much and I am fine with a temperature of around 14C inside the flat.
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