Is £160 a month normal for gas and electric?

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

i pay £94 a month for gas and leccy through n power for a 2 bed terraced with converted attic. 2 adults, 1 infant (although our gas is never on, hardly use cooker as OH eats out and i eat at 'rents) so only really use it for hot water etc

Magentasue

mjoyeux wrote: »

We have a water tank which heats the hot water constantly, the central heating is turned off at the moment (think the thermostat is turned right down).

We'll not be turning the heating on until as late a possible this year, try to keep the bills down. Grrr...

As for the electric, my PC is left on most of the time as it's used as a remote server. I don't think there is anything else which is on all the time. Any ideas for things which might be hidden sappers of leccy?

You say £160 a month for gas and electric but you need to know what you're paying for each. Your elec consumption may be OK. I would suggest daily meter readings noting what is on or buying a plug in energy monitor. I've become a bit obsessive about this lately (family of six paying £130 a month) and have learned quite a lot. For example:

* PS3s are energy guzzlers, Wiis aren't ( http://www.sust-it.net/energy_saving.php?electricity=14&id=71 )
* plasma TVs also big energy users
* laptop good, PC bad
* some people are on Econ7 meters when they shouldn't be
* washing machines and dishwashers cost more on higher temps even on quick washes

mjoyeux

On a much more humorous note, I had an error message on my meter (err004) which when I ran up they said that my meter had broken and I was getting "free electric"...

Naturally they were quick out to change it, but I had three weeks worth of free electric apparently... ;-)

mjoyeux

We have the dishwasher on at least once a day, hmmm that might be an area to cut back on...

The PC was build to be low energy by myself, because it's on all the time... my laptop I charge at work and that's normally enough to get me through my evenings surfing... ;-)

Going to try knocking the water down to a couple of hours a day, my housemate is french, I wonder what's the french phrase for "turn the hot water back on!"

Magentasue

Do you heat your water with a gas boiler or electric immersion?

exel1966

£160pm !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for two !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When do you have the dishwasher/washing machine on ? Put it on late at night before you go to bed, it's 50% cheaper and lower it to 30 degress.
Two people shouldn't require the water on for more than 30mins morning and eve if you only use the shower.
Turn all electricals off at the plug switch when not using them.
Use Energy saving lightbulbs and turn lights off when not in the room.

It all adds up quite quickly.

1carminestocky

Here's an incentive: I genuinely believe you could easily HALVE your fuel costs without any real impact on your quality of life. That would equate to almost £500 extra in each of your pockets each year.

jackieb

Before I moved house I was £101 for my electric and £57 a month for gas. We had 3 bedrooms, but only radiators in 2 of them - and I never used the radiator in the livingroom as the leather settee had to be right up against it. The house was well-insulated and wasn't cold. We didn't have the most energy efficient boiler (13yo back boiler).

I had 3 children at home, and they are wasteful. The boys room was up in the loft bedroom, and they'd leave stuff on all night - lights, tv's pc, games console - the lot! We have a large plasma, which used to be on quite a bit too. I have a tumble dryer but try not to use it much - the washer's on plenty though. Never used the immersion though.

I've since moved into a bigger house, and for 4 weeks my electric has came to £81, and the gas at £31. I've not used the dryer since I moved as it's now in the garage and not as handy as it was when it was in the house! The boys room is now next to mine - and their computer is in a room downstairs - so I can check now that they're not leaving stuff on all night. And the boiler is newish and more efficient.

I've tried the energy bulbs but can't be doing with them. They're okay for bedside lamps I suppose, but anywhere else and they're depressing.

mjoyeux

We've got a boiler and it heats the water and stores it in a tank, no idea what type of boiler that is...

Our house is mainly lit by spot lights in the traffic areas, I'm going to price up some bulbs for our fittings...

We'll have to see how the water situation plays out over the next week, I wonder if the housemate will notice I've changed it. We're both quite sporty and get through a couple of showers a day easily...

Magentasue

With six of us having numerous baths and showers, washing up (we do have a dishwasher) etc. we only had our hot water on for about 40mins morning and 40 mins evening. That's gas rather than electric - unless you heat the water in the tank by switching on the immersion (if you have it) rather than using gas.

Have you worked out monthly/annual cost of gas and elec separately yet?