As long as a piece of string!!

Sandieflowers

I know this question is as long as a piece of string but just want to be given a rough guide.
My son has been looking at a two bedroomed flat, the current supplier is Scottish Power but the landlady seems reluctant to give an estimate of the electric bill.
Electric convector heaters in three rooms, power shower, washing/tumble dryer, microwave, dishwasher, fridge and freezer.
He is not into cooking doesn't drink tea or coffee so unlikely to use cooker or kettle. He would possibly use a air conditioning unit during the summer months as one bedroom on a top floor.
Any estimates from anyone ???

aelitaman

I am a single person and I use about £8.50 of elecy a week with no electric heating so I would assume your son would be about the same unless he plays xbox all day.

The problem is the electric it is very expensive compared to gas. Take the weather at the moment he may have the electic heating on from the moment he gets up to when he goes to bed. Electric heaters are usually about 3Kwh and usually have a 1/2 way setting at 1.5Kwh.

So if he only heats one room and the heater can do this at half setting then say on from 8 in the morning to 10pm that is 14hours at 1.5kw so 21kwh used. Elecy is about 10p per kilowatt so that will be £2.10 per day per room.

He should also ask is the flat well insulated, how many external walls, is it an old flat with high ceilings and draughts or modern is it on the ground floor or top floor (heat loss through roof).

A flat with only one external wall that is well insulated and can leech heat of the other flats surrounding it can require very little energy to keep warm. Wheras a top floor flat with draughty sash windows, no insulation in roof and three external walls can use a lot more.

Edit: but what you really need is somebody that has a 2 bed flat heated by electric to tell your their costs.

Sandieflowers

Thank you for your reply and detailed explanation. I understand that it is difficult to calculate someone's electricity bill but you have given us an excellent starting point to work from.