Does this sound correct? Very high bill!

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi Guys

I have just had an email from ScottishPower for quarterly meter readings which my OH read and I supplied onto my online account. The bill has come back at:

£199 for Electric:eek: :eek:
£315 for Gas:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

So £514 for a quarter bill. We have a 2 bed semi. We have 5 rads throughout but not in the kitchen and the only gas we use is hot water (3 times a day for 1 hr), GCH (maintained at 22-23c) & hob (used once daily).

I am disabled (feel the cold severely) and at home 24/7 and there are 3 of us. All normal electrical stuff and have been using the TD 2-3 times a week.

My current DD is already set at £108pm and this will now go up again I assume

Does this sound right and is it just where we have had such cold weather?

It just seem alot!

I am on a fixed rate till Oct 09.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks so much.

PP
xx

KimYeovil

Doesn't sound that much. Your debit does not have to go up unless you also had high consumption over summer - a regular quarterly £324 should cover a £514 winter quarter. If anything your debit may be coming down in spring.

KimYeovil

PS. I liked the 'only' before the description of all the gas you use. Was that deliberate humour?

jimexbox

Nothing excessive for a winter quarter TBH. If I read your post right and the GCH is on 24hrs a day with the thermostat at 22/23, I would say your gas bill is excellent.

Rikki

Sounds about right. You also had your heating on a lot too and high.

My gas bill was a lot higher this year.

Remember we've had high price increases and colder temperatures than last year

mum2one

the other thing to take into consideration, that this was an accurate reading, u gave the figures, were the other or last bill an estimate.

My 1st thought was oh heck, but then if u have ur thermost 22-23 that means ur using gas 24/7, so really that may be fair, sorry, weve cut our thermostat down to 16.
x

Penny-Pincher!!

Thanks everyone!

Yes the GCH is on 24/7 at 22-23c. Obviously when it warms up this will be turned down or off.

My last reading was accurate too.

PP
xx

Magentasue

Do you have TRVs on your radiators. You use such a lot of gas for heating, I'm sure this would save you money if you were able to 'turn down' the heating in some rooms.

Do you need all that hot water? We used two thirds of that for six of us! Your electricity also looks high - what could that be down to?

Penny-Pincher!!

Magentasue wrote: »

Do you have TRVs on your radiators. You use such a lot of gas for heating, I'm sure this would save you money if you were able to 'turn down' the heating in some rooms.

Do you need all that hot water? We used two thirds of that for six of us! Your electricity also looks high - what could that be down to?

The rads are quite old and just have on or off basically. Is 3 hrs alot of hot water per day? I will cut to 2 hrs per day. We don't have a bath, just showers which is electric as its a walk disabled adpated one.

I would freeze if it was colder-I wear layers and thermals etc. Last year it was set to 25c through the winter, so we have turned it down a little.

TBH, I think the electric is quite fair. Like I said, we are at home 24/7 with heating on 24/7 too.

PP
xx

andyfuk

I'd say if your heating is on that high for that period of time you are extremely lucky to have a bill for only £315. In fact I'm surprised it isn't higher! I've just switched from standard gas to a better tariff, but befiore my cost is about the same as yours but I don't run my heating anywhere near as high (18-19 when the girlfriend is here at weekends and 17 when she isn't) and its set to 14 degrees when I am out of the house. I would LOVE to have a bill like that to keep the heating on that high 24/7!

Do you really need it that high? What do you do in summer? The house is unlikely to get anywhere near as warm as that in the summer.

If you want to save money, do as Magentasue says, perhaps turn heating down in the rooms you don't use, and only turn it up when you need it, so if it was a bedroom, turn it up an hour or two before bed.
Have you tried more than one duvet? During extremely cold weather I usually use a summer and winter weight together.

The only other thing is is you thermostat correct? As I said, I'm amazed your fuel bill isn't higher, it might be reading 22/23, but it could be switching on and off lower than that.

Magentasue

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

The rads are quite old and just have on or off basically. Is 3 hrs alot of hot water per day? I will cut to 2 hrs per day. We don't have a bath, just showers which is electric as its a walk disabled adpated one.

I would freeze if it was colder-I wear layers and thermals etc. Last year it was set to 25c through the winter, so we have turned it down a little.

TBH, I think the electric is quite fair. Like I said, we are at home 24/7 with heating on 24/7 too.

PP
xx

Well, if you have an electric shower, you could probably get away with an hour or less for hot water. As for the electricity, we are a family of six with someone home most of the time and pay £600 per year - £200 for a quarter sounds a lot as we run dishwasher and washing machine every day and have four [STRIKE]carbon fiends[/STRIKE] teens/adult children with TV and xbox on for hours plus enough gadgets charging to make the bedroom look like a small branch of Currys.