energy costs?!

jennysmooks

hi, i would just like some advice really, i am going to be moving to a new 1 bed flat soon, and have no idea what prices to expect for gas and electricity! per month, how much approx should i expect? there will just be me living there, i work 6 days a week so im not got to be there a lot. any advice greatly apprieciated!!!

Fire_Fox

Welcome to MSE!

I am afraid that is a how long is piece of string question! You will be home more than you think - evenings, weekends and overnight adds up. Depends how aware you aware of your usage: the things that kill your bills are heating, hot water and tumble dryers. Leaving things on standby and lighting really don't use that much. Are you even sure the flat will have gas? Most don't for safety reasons. If you run a search on the boards you will find your question has been asked and answered many times.

Premier_2

You could try asking the former occupants what their bills were.

jennysmooks

they have gone back to poland and the landlord doesnt know either!!! p.s. it gas central heating. ahh well, find out the hard way i suppose!!!

spinningsheep

I was the same when I first moved out of home and unfortunately I grossly underestimated how much it costs to run a modern house! I was with NPower and as I had no previous history etc they set my DD payments in accordence with their "averages" and this was nowhere near enough to cover the consumption. So I ended up getting a huge debit balance which took ages to pay off. If you are on credit meters ie pay a bill rather than prepay for your energy, maybe ask the supplier to look at the previous usage when the polish tenants lived there and go from that, better than a shot in the dark, or, just pick a figure that you can afford as a max and set the DD at that rate, then ask them to reassess this in 3 months time and then you can see whether you are in credit or have a debit balance with them.

Also, if you are prepayment meters, which is quite likely in a rented flat I have seen on here, make 100% sure that you are not paying off any debt owed by the previous tenants, otherwise you may see a chunk of any money you top up get eaten up to pay a debt that is nothing to do with you at all. Also, daft as it sounds, always pop a bit extra to one side, that way if you do get stung by a big bill, or you run out of gas/electricity on a prepay meter, you have a reserve to dip into! Oh, and if you get a bill even though you are on prepay meters (seen threads on here loads about that, seems the utility company do not update the meter every time their prices go up, so you end up being UNDERCHARGED by them, and when they do update it, you get hit with a bill for the difference for what you SHOULD have paid!!) you can use that extra to pay it! Hope this helps, like Fire Fox said, you can be amazed at what small things make a difference. Just be smart and unplug things when not in use, turn lights off when not in use, turn the thermostat down a few degrees, set the heating to come on and go off earlier, these little things all add up. Its sad but in this modern age, gas and electric are a bigger expenditure than any of our parents and grandparents would have had when they were younger, so it has to be a priority payment. If you have a roof over your head, heat,light and food in the cupboards, anything else can wait!