Is this about normal and how would people suggest reducing our energy costs

walby1993

Hi all,

I live in a one bed house with my DH and we pay our gas and electric by DD. Our electric is £23 a month and our gas is £58 per month. Is this about average or are we overspending?

And any suggestions to help bring this down? We don't use our tumble dryer but we do do most of our cooking on the gas hob. We used to pay quarterly and after getting a £400 bill for Nov-Jan a year ago I have been a lot stricter with the heating (used to just have it on 25c all the time then limited myself to 23c,put it on timer and try to warm up with layers first)

Thanks in advance for any help

Walby

Bufger

Your heating temperature still seems high to me but its all down to individuals. I personally have mine at 19c on a timer (5-7am and 8-11pm) and use layers. I also have carpet in alot of the rooms and have a nice big rug and a fireplace if im just staying in the living room.

Are there any drafts in your house? larger door gaps can be sorted with a draft stop. Are the windows single paned or double glazing? Good loft insulation can also improve the efficiency of your home and keep in warmth. Simple things like ensuring you close the internal doors also help.

Some people just feel the cold more than others and unfortunately all of these steps only help a small bit. Combined they can make a difference!

As for cooking on the gas hob we are the same, there isnt any saving to have there except for maybe having multiple things in the same pan (ie rather than cooking mushrooms in one and the steak in the other chuck them in the same pan!). Thats a pretty minimal save unless you're a frequent multipan person

walby1993

Hi Bufger,

Its only at 23c in the coldest part of winter. When I do feel it is cold indoors I try to increase heating by just 1c, if 30mins later I feel like its cold I increase by another 1c but my absolute limit is 23c. We have our heating on slightly longer than you, about 5:30am-7:30am then 4:30pm - 11pm. We are in a new build flat so have no loft but do have double glazing and good wall insulation. We have a draft from our front door but we put an old blanket in front of it in the winter.

In terms of cooking we rarely multi-pan cook and when we do we couldn't really combine e.g. pasta boiling in water and pasta sauce cooking in saucepan.

Does heating water cost a lot in terms of gas? We have GCH and I tend to have large, hot baths during winter months to stay warm and was wondering if this could be adding a fair bit to the gas bill? I just feel that the gas bill is too high and want to bring it down. Maybe I need to limit myself to 22c!:rotfl:

Bufger

Baths are wasteful on heating and water so if you can reduce them into being a weekend treat you will certainly save yourself some money there. - i dont mean walk around smelly, have a shower instead :rotfl:. You may also enjoy them more if they become a less frequent treat (plus turn the light off and burn some candles - save on lighting and generate some candle heat, how MSE am I!!!)

Sounds like you're taking all the correct measures. In winter you can always ask guests to wait outside until there are enough of them to warrant opening the door! :T

walby1993

Thanks for your help Bufger! Will definately start cutting down on baths! During the summer, I think it doesn't really matter because I tend to have really shallow baths at quite a cool temperature but during the winter they are very full and very hot! Will start decreasing the baths now - I literally have a bath every day and hardly ever shower so will start off by having two showers a week instead of a bath and then try to increase it until baths are a weekend treat.

DH is pretty good and tends to have showers but I nag him because he turns the shower for it to "warm up", which is fine. However, shower takes about 1 minute to warm up and he leaves it running for 5-10 minutes before he gets in (poor thing gets easily distracted by the likes of the iphone, tv and books!)

Haha, I like the idea of leaving guests outside, particularly if they are not ones you are looking forward to seeing :rotfl:

wileycat

Try and make one change and measure the difference in consumption, some things don't affect it as much as you think. Same as an electric monitor, try different things and you get whats right for you!

I keep my gas down by just giving it a burst in the evening and then sticking it on if necessary so its more a its off unless I can be bothered to turn it on. Have played with settings on the thermostat on the hot water tank to see whats best as well (old system!)

hareng

That gas consumption seems very high.
3 bed detached gas central heating and hot water, over the winter is no more than £40 p/m total £200 pa.
On the other hand our electric usage we spend more than that a week.

Just had a look at our thermostat 19. You wont notice a couple of degrees, wear a jumper.

walby1993

Wileycat, measuring the change in consumption with various changes sounds like a very good idea! I have an electricity monitor that I got free from our energy suppliers so will sort out getting that fitted and work out where we could make a difference there. Gas will have to be measured by taking gas readings. I am thinking the baths are a big culprit but will use this idea to double check.

Hareng, compared to you definately sounds like we are over paying (or should I say, over using) our gas. However, at the moment our thermostat is down at 15c (the lowest it will go).

gazjoneswales

walby1993 wrote: »

Wileycat, measuring the change in consumption with various changes sounds like a very good idea! I have an electricity monitor that I got free from our energy suppliers so will sort out getting that fitted and work out where we could make a difference there. Gas will have to be measured by taking gas readings. I am thinking the baths are a big culprit but will use this idea to double check.

Hareng, compared to you definately sounds like we are over paying (or should I say, over using) our gas. However, at the moment our thermostat is down at 15c (the lowest it will go).

Is it necassary for you to be using the heating at this time of the year? I havent had heating on since the end of february and am only using gas for hot water at the moment and use no more than £10 per month (i love baths too)

The main thing that uses excessive electricity is anything with a heating element in them i.e. tumble dryer,microwave,hair dryer, kettle, straighteners etc. If you can reduce on the usage of these, plus make little savings as mentioned before then you will see a reduction

walby1993

I am not using the heating - its a thermostat that has a lowest setting of 15c (which it is currently on), meaning the heating only comes on when the temperature drops below 15c (which it hasn't).

I am not so worried about the electricity as its only £23 a month (and a little of this is to cover bill recieved just as we changed to DD) but the gas is too high in my opinion, at £58 a month.

gazjoneswales

walby1993 wrote: »

I am not using the heating - its a thermostat that has a lowest setting of 15c (which it is currently on), meaning the heating only comes on when the temperature drops below 15c (which it hasn't).

I am not so worried about the electricity as its only £23 a month (and a little of this is to cover bill recieved just as we changed to DD) but the gas is too high in my opinion, at £58 a month.

i pay £50 pm for gas in a 3 bedroom house with 2 of us. (it gets really cold during the winter with a very inefficient boiler)

Are you on the best tariff for your usage? You could save a good deal by beaing on the best deal possible.