Is this a normal gas/electricity bill? (And some dumb questions...)

Jadedwords

Hello,

Sorry for the stupid questions but I'd be so grateful if someone looked over this for me - I'm just out of Uni and so lost!

My boyfriend and I moved into our first non-student house on 28th July. It's the first time electricity and gas haven't been included in our rent, so we know NOTHING about how much things should be costing. Yesterday I provided a meter reading online - we're with EDF energy, so they provided me with a bill for the 5 weeks-ish since we moved in (but we were on holiday for about a week, so it's roughly a month's useage).

I'd really like to know if this kind of monthly price is normal for the summer (and what to expect for the winter!) The electricity was as I expected, but the gas seemed high considering we haven't switched the heating on, and we've used the hob less than 5 times. We shower once a day each. I'm worried about how high the gas will go in the winter when we start using heating.

Electricity:
28 Jul 12 to 03 Sep 12 - 275 units at 12.35p £33.96
Standing Charge 38 days at 14p - £5.32
Total before VAT: £39.28

Gas:
28 Jul 12 to 03 Sep 12 - 20 units at 3.665p £23.53
Standing Charge 38 days at 22p - £8.36
Total before VAT: £31.89

I know they're not massively high bills but we're very short on money and I'm worried that the gas bill (when we've hardly used it) is £31, because I guess it more than doubles in winter? Or doesn't it...

Apparently we use 7.23kwh a day electricity and 16.89kwh a day gas. Is this a lot? (Especially the gas?)

Also, am I right in thinking that if I just give them a reading every month, and then pay what they tell me to, I won't get any of their 'quarterly standard payment' things? (They say mine should be £245.00). I'll just be up to date with payments, with what I've actually used, no estimates, and shouldn't get any surprise bills at the end of the year, or be in credit or anything?

Thanks SO much for anyone who replies!!

Bogof_Babe

Did you check the meter readings when you moved in?

How big is your house? Do you use a tumble dryer?

We currently pay £72 a month for gas and £28 for electricity for a three bed detached. In the winter they (British Gas) adjust our payments to anything around £95 gas and £48 electricity.

Wywth

Jadedwords wrote: »

Hello,

Sorry for the stupid questions but I'd be so grateful if someone looked over this for me - I'm just out of Uni and so lost!

My boyfriend and I moved into our first non-student house on 28th July. It's the first time electricity and gas haven't been included in our rent, so we know NOTHING about how much things should be costing. Yesterday I provided a meter reading online - we're with EDF energy, so they provided me with a bill for the 5 weeks-ish since we moved in (but we were on holiday for about a week, so it's roughly a month's useage).

I'd really like to know if this kind of monthly price is normal for the summer (and what to expect for the winter!) The electricity was as I expected, but the gas seemed high considering we haven't switched the heating on, and we've used the hob less than 5 times. We shower once a day each. I'm worried about how high the gas will go in the winter when we start using heating.

Electricity:
28 Jul 12 to 03 Sep 12 - 275 units at 12.35p £33.96
Standing Charge 38 days at 14p - £5.32
Total before VAT: £39.28

Gas:
28 Jul 12 to 03 Sep 12 - 20 units at 3.665p £23.53
Standing Charge 38 days at 22p - £8.36
Total before VAT: £31.89

I know they're not massively high bills but we're very short on money and I'm worried that the gas bill (when we've hardly used it) is £31, because I guess it more than doubles in winter? Or doesn't it...

Apparently we use 7.23kwh a day electricity and 16.89kwh a day gas. Is this a lot? (Especially the gas?)

Also, am I right in thinking that if I just give them a reading every month, and then pay what they tell me to, I won't get any of their 'quarterly standard payment' things? (They say mine should be £245.00). I'll just be up to date with payments, with what I've actually used, no estimates, and shouldn't get any surprise bills at the end of the year, or be in credit or anything?

Thanks SO much for anyone who replies!!

Electricity sounds about right.

You can now see the charging structure. Keep an eye on your meter and from the readings you will be able to simply calculate how much you owe at any time.

Gas is a little more complicated as the meter unit is not the kWh - but you can work out the multiple from the data you have.
(Note the gas supplier assumes you have an old imperial gas meter, not a new metric one. You should double check this is correct as I suspect it isn't, otherwise your gas consumption appears quite high for this time of year)

Heres some help on identifying what type of gas meter you have:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/latest_meters_pic.shtml

Jadedwords

Hi,

Yes we checked the readings when we moved in. No, we don't have a tumble dryer or a dish washer. We live in a two bedroom semi-detached with a conservatory.

Thanks for your help Wywth, do you not think the gas looks about right then?

Wywth

Jadedwords wrote: »

...
Thanks for your help Wywth, do you not think the gas looks about right then?

The price and calculation appears correct, but the consumption is high if it transpires you do actually have an imperial meter.

If you actually have a metric meter the usage cost will fall to about 1/3 the quoted price (but the standing charge will remain unchanged)

PollyOnAMission

I have been keeping a spreadsheet of regular meter readings over the past few months (readings every couple of weeks).

My house is a 2 bed semi with two people living there most of the time. Heating/hot water and hob/oven are gas; everything else is electric (including shower). We've not had the heating on and have only used very minimal hot water recently, so my gas figures should give you a rough idea of cost for very little usage.

Over August, my electricity cost me on average £1.26 per day (including standing charge) and gas cost on average £0.34 per day (again including standing charge). This equates to a monthly bill of roughly £38 for electricity and £10 for gas.

Based on this, if you are hardly using your gas, I'd say your gas bill does look high. Is your shower electric or does it use hot water? What type of boiler do you have? Before I switched to a modern combi, I had an old back boiler. Just the pilot light alone used loads of gas; once I realised this I put it out completely over the summer. The saving was huge but it did mean no hot water (no good unless you have an electric shower!).

PollyOnAMission

Just to add:

Regarding kWh per day, my recent figures for electric have averaged to about 10 kWh per day. Gas averages about 4.5 kWh per day (a little hot water and some cooking but no heating). Your figure of 16.89 for gas does seem very high if you've hardly used it! I would definitely follow up the metric/imperial thing as suggested by Wywth.

Stompa

Jadedwords wrote: »

Electricity:
28 Jul 12 to 03 Sep 12 - 275 units at 12.35p £33.96
Standing Charge 38 days at 14p - £5.32
Total before VAT: £39.28

Gas:
28 Jul 12 to 03 Sep 12 - 20 units at 3.665p £23.53
Standing Charge 38 days at 22p - £8.36
Total before VAT: £31.89

Those rates seem fairly high, have you considered switching? Even if you were to stick with EDF, their Blue Price Promise tariff appears to be about 9% cheaper than what you're currently paying.