How do my Bills seem?

peachyprice

Hi there, I'm looking for some input from all you switched on folks (excuse the pun)

What do you think of our energy consumption, I don't know whether it's good or bad:o .

We're in an end of terrace 3 bed house, myself OH, 2 teenage boys and 1 8yo. So multiple lappies, Xbox, TV, american f/freezer, tumble dryer used maybe once a week, electric hob & oven used daily, diswasher used daily, power shower used 3-4 times a day + 1 bath, gas central heating & water.

From 29th August to 3 March

Gas
1130 units - 12615 kWh
£459

Electricity
2803 units
£390

Sorry if I sound a bit dim, but I wouldn't know a good or bad bill if it slapped me in the face.

TIA

Magentasue

Six months so about the same as us. Six of us in three bed house:

Elec: 4980 kwh in the last year
Gas: 30070 kwh per year

So we're better than you for electricity - great efforts made here, but not as good on gas. Gas is harder for us as we like it warm, and live in a poorly insulated Victorian house with a very cold extension.

itsalldrivingmemad

I just had my gas bill for 3 bed semi - gas is for heating and water nothing else

for 29 dec - 11 mar (72 days)

its 379 units + 4263.38kWh

59.21 per day

I was wondering the same as you and came accross your post

yours is 186 days 87.82 per day...

whether this is good or bad thou I don't know someone will surely come along and advise

A_fiend_for_life

Quite close to average consumption, whatever that means, but you can almost certainly make savings.

You can make savings by switching supplier, insulating and changing behaviour. Most people can make savings quite easily.

For switching afaik this site is impartial though it is best to try more than one site and use annual consumption figures.

http://www.energyhelpline.com/

You might be eligible for grants for insulation:

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/

Behaviour takes a little more persistance, and diplomacy but there are a few carbon calculators about too:

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/calculator/calculate

Generally reducing water and space heating have the greatest impact. Eg reducing the temperature and / or duration of showers, washing clothes at 30C, turning the thermostat down a degree or two and boiling only the water you need.

Lots of tips here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=980757

Keeping an energy use diary, is a good strategy. Daily or weekly.

peachyprice

Thanks for your replies, it's good to know we're about average, but below average would be even better

Fiend, I'll be working through those links today to see if we can get it down a bit.

:beer:

itzmee

We are very similar to you in that we have 3 bed terrace for 4 of us, all electric cooking, games consoles and computers/laptops blaring away all day long, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and only gas for the water and heating. Our last 3 monthly bill for elec was £192 so pretty much the same as your bill but our gas was only £129, half the amount you were billed.

I have looked into switching and found that I can save money but it would mean paying a standing charge which I don't currently pay, so I don't think it will save me much in the long term as my summer gas usage is usually very low. Also my current tariff is quite good so I think I'll stay with it for a bit longer.

Magentasue

itzmee wrote: »

I have looked into switching and found that I can save money but it would mean paying a standing charge which I don't currently pay, so I don't think it will save me much in the long term as my summer gas usage is usually very low. Also my current tariff is quite good so I think I'll stay with it for a bit longer.

If you don't pay a daily standing charge, you will be paying more for the first x kwh you use every quarter before you pay a lower price for the remainder. The difference, between tier 1 and tier 2 units, is essentially a standing charge. A lot of tariffs give you the choice between standing charge and no standing charge and, for medium/high use households, there won't be a lot of difference in what they pay in total.