The cost to run a 4 bed detached house!

shelovestobuystuff

I live in a big victorian semi and have managed to get our quarterly gas and elec down to about £500.get used to wearing cardis and socks in bed if you live in a big or old house.

ceebeeby

OP - Roughly working it out, you're about a third higher than us in a similar sized house (14 radiators) when we've got rads on, although, because we're not in, we save about 4.5 hours a day on heating over your use, so your bill sounds about right (we're also Scottish Power). The only thing we are good at is putting on / turning off heating (our rads only went on end of Nov and will go off end of Jan), but then you do have to chase the kids around the house to keep warm!!!

shirlgirl2004

Our monthly DD is £175 for gas and electric. We live in a large 4 bed detached. We have the heating on for about 2 hours in the morning and then about 3 in the evening. We do have a coal burner though and that heats the family room and kitchen during the day as I have a young child. I'd say your bill is pretty good TBH. Our thermostat is never above 20 degrees and often at 18. When it gets really cold I turn it up so that it takes longer to cool down. We have adult sons too so have the PCs on a lot but no longer 24 hours as they used to. They often sit in their bedrooms with their duvets around them.

kezibell

I've just had my energy usage for the quarter broken down into:

10/10/08 to 06/01/09

elec - daily average 25 kWh
gas - daily average 124 KWh

December was cold!!

However, I am in the process of switching supplier and based on the readings I gave my new supplier, they are quoting me £120 per month for gas and £70 for electric. I'm happier with that, just short of £200 per quarter cheaper!

Magentasue

kezibell wrote: »

However, I am in the process of switching supplier and based on the readings I gave my new supplier, they are quoting me £120 per month for gas and £70 for electric. I'm happier with that, just short of £200 per quarter cheaper!

That's great ... so long as the reduction is due to lower kwh prices rather than them setting a lower DD as you switch and then whacking it up if your usage fails to create sufficient credit over the summer to see you through the winter.

You need to keep on top of this - your annual bill should be less than £190 x 12 for it to work.

abbecer

I too live in 4 bed detatched. My monthly DD for gas and electric is £104. I recieved my bill this morning and my charges were £148.60 and £80.44 from 29/10/08 till 12/01/09. I am in credit by £65. There is someone at home everyday and we are a family of four. We have heating on when we need it cos my children are small. We do have energy saving bulbs everywhere and try to switch things off etc. My appliances are all A or AA rated. I think your bill is exceptionally high and would definitely question it.

Rebecca x

kezibell

Just did a tot-up, and we have 17 radiators in our house, with under floor heating in the kitchen, so I suppose this could be classed as a large 4 bed detached.

happymumto2

I have a 3 bed detached, 10 rooms 8 radiators, I am out of the house Mon-Fri 9-5, don't have heating on the mornings, usually it's on 5pm-9pm at night. I have prepayment meters and was putting £70 a week in the gas meter and £30-£35 in the electric meter, which works out at around £840 for gas and £420 for electric a quarter! There is no debt on the electric meter and the gas meter takes £3 a week for debt.
They have been out and said the meters are correct and working properly, but I can't see how I am using such large amounts when the house is empty most of the time. I have energy saving bulbs everywhere, leave nothing on standby etc. I know prepayment tariffs are more expensive, but I am an adult with two children so don't see its possible to be spending so much on utilities!

Fire_Fox

happymumto2 wrote: »

I have a 3 bed detached, 10 rooms 8 radiators, I am out of the house Mon-Fri 9-5, don't have heating on the mornings, usually it's on 5pm-9pm at night. I have prepayment meters and was putting £70 a week in the gas meter and £30-£35 in the electric meter, which works out at around £840 for gas and £420 for electric a quarter! There is no debt on the electric meter and the gas meter takes £3 a week for debt.
They have been out and said the meters are correct and working properly, but I can't see how I am using such large amounts when the house is empty most of the time. I have energy saving bulbs everywhere, leave nothing on standby etc. I know prepayment tariffs are more expensive, but I am an adult with two children so don't see its possible to be spending so much on utilities!

Are your utilities expensive all year round? Do you know what your KWH usage is? Is your house well insulated (windows, walls, roof)? You don't mention hot water or tumble dryer?

usignuolo

I live in a 4 bedroom Victorian house. It is semi detached and the way it is built all the rooms have two outside walls. We have the roof well insulated but no double glazing and there is also an unheated cellar. It has the usual draughts and faces north.

We have gas central heating with a combination boiler which is 2 years old. I work from home and I feel the cold so I have the ch set to come on at 21 degrees at 7.30am and go off at around 11.30am. I work in a home office with a lot of IT equipment which generates quite a lot of heat output and that generally keeps me warm most of the day. The heating comes back on at 21 degrees at around 4.30pm - I am talking about the winter months here and goes off at 11.30pm. Most of my radiators do not have thermostats, only the newer ones.

I keep the doors to the conservatory shut when it is cold, although it is heated, as the glass lets out a lot of heat. I light an open fire in the main living room when it is very cold and then I also turn the heating up to 22 degrees and may even have it on during the day.

One improvement we made was to add an extra radiator on the top landing below the roof space which has a large glass fanlight and this has made quite a difference to the overall heat on the first floor.

I have 15 radiators and I cook on gas. My average gas bill for the winter quarter is £600-£700.