How do I estimate what I'm likely to use?

kittykitten

I'm hoping someone who knows about these things can offer me some advice.

Basically I'm a first time buyer and I've had an offer accepted on a huse (yay!) Now I don't want to get too excited as I'm well aware that it could all go horribly wrong yet (waiting on survey at present) but I'm trying to be organised about this as vendors want to complete ASAP, so have been looking into what I need to do, among other things looking at gas & electric. I've got no idea how this will work for me, as I don't have a supply to switch! (Currently living with parents.)

I'm aware that I need to find out who the company(ies) are that supply G&E to the house before I move in, and take meter readings day I move in, etc etc, but what I don't know is how do I choose who my suppliers are going to be? When I started looking into it all comparison websites want estimates, if not accurate readings from current supply, as determining who will be the best supplier for me seems largely to depend on how much G&E I'll be using. Problem being, I just don't know!

It's a 2 bed semi I'm (hopefully) buying, there'll just be me living in it, gas central heating, conventional boiler (I think, it's not a combi anyway as it has a tank), house won't need heating through the day as I work full time so on weekdays am only at home in evenings, and as far as I'm aware don't do anything out of the ordinary that uses vast amounts of energy.

From this info would anyone like to have a stab in the dark at what is a decent estimate of G&E usage? I'll be really grateful for any advice.

Cardew

Initially you have to go with whoever is supplying the house - you are on a legally binding 'deemed contract' with that firm(s). It takes about 6 to 8 weeks to change supplier.

There are many factors that will decide your consumption in the house - mainly the insulation standard and the efficiency of the gas boiler.

I would enter 4,000kWh electricity and 15,000kWh gas. Even if those figures are way out - it still won't have a great effect on the pecking order of the firms.

kittykitten

Thanks for that. As I understand it from the info I have the boiler is fairly efficient, and insulation is good - house has energy efficiency rating of 62 and potential on sales info of 71. House was built in 1997 so is new enough to have decent bolier and insulation.

RuthnJasper

Hi,

Congratulations on your house news! I had to do similar estimates when I moved from my childhood home into my rented property (Housing Association), as I was (and am) subject to an IVA agreement and had to put my estimated bills on my application for a reduction in my IVA monthly repayments.

I went to a few suppliers (having the dual fuel option as my heating is gas and everything else is electric) online. Most sites these days have a "what would it cost me if..."-type facility, which you can use to just obtain a general idea. As a guideline, I just looked at the Southern Electric (my 'local' supplier - I'm actually with British Gas dual fuel myself) site and this is the link I used to get a relevant idea of costs: http://www.southern-electric.co.uk/OurPrices/. I think water suppliers also have the same tool on their sites.

My own costs are high as, until my IVA is finished (next year, yayy!), I'm stuck with key meters. But I save where I can by not leaving lights on, turning appliances off at the wall when not in use, wearing a jumper instead of having the heating too high, using candles instead of lighting sometimes, etc.

Hope this is helpful. I sincerely wish you the very best of luck as you begin this exciting new chapter in your life. xxx

james2012_2

Could you not ask the present owners what they are using?

I am in the process of trying to sell my house and one of my viewers asked me what I was using.

kittykitten

james2012 wrote: »

Could you not ask the present owners what they are using?

Good idea, but unfortunately probably not. I'm not sure exactly what the situation is, but there's something funny about the owners of this house! The house is empty at the moment, I viewed it both times in the company of the estate agent's viewer, who didn't know where the owners were or what the situation was, but when I spoke to the estate agent's manager the day I put the offer in he said it was the daughters of the owner that were selling the property, which made it even more complicated as we were looking for the agreement of not one but two people on if they would or wouldn't accpet my offer. I've never seen or spoken to anyone actually connected with the house, and I get the impression from the estate agent that they've only reluctantly accepted my offer (2k under asking price, and this EA was the lower asking price of the two eas it's on the market with) so I'm not anticipating it'll be easy to get any sort of info out of them. It's part of the reason why I'm so paranoid about being gazumped!

james2012_2

I would err on the high side and budget for £70 a month if paying by DD.

My DD will shortly be increasing to £100 per month for 2 people living in a 3 bed highly insulated semi.

Temp outside is 11.4 C and inside 22 C and the heating hasn't been on for 3 weeks. I wonder where the heat is coming from?

moonrakerz

Divide the present meter readings by the age of the house ???

kittykitten

moonrakerz wrote: »

Divide the present meter readings by the age of the house ???

That's not a bad idea! I like the simple options!