How much should the average monthly direct debit be for gas?

Lou67

An average sized three bed semi detached house, 3 adults, gas cooker, no gas fire, usually have the thermostat at 17 to 18 C. (we have gas central heating obviously.)

There is someone in some of the time in the day (as well as people being in at night,) as I work part time, and my daughter is in some of the time when not at college and my husband works nights so is in some of the time in the day too. So we aren't a family where there is nobody in all day. But still, this has been the situation for at least 10 years, so nothing has changed.

So what would you say should be the monthly gas bill for this?

I'll tell you what it is when people have given some suggestions.

And also, what do you think the electric should/would be?

Thanks in advance.

rogerblack

It could easily vary by a factor of 5 or more, depending on the house age, and insulation properties.

Trying to guess what it is without telling us the precise dimensions, insulation of the property, is pretty meaningless, and a generally useless exercise.

Working out the direct debit is even more divorced from reality, as that's not really simply related to the insulation of your property, but depends on your balance.

Lou67

Ok then. There is loft insulation but no cavity wall insulation, and it's an average sized 3 bed semi.. dining room, lounge, small kitchen, average hall, average landing, small bathroom and smallish bedrooms (about 12 x 10, 10 x 10 and 8 x 10 feet.) The house was built in 1951.

I am just asking what other people pay or what they think the average is? I just would like someone to help if that is possible. Even if to just say what they pay if their home is similar.

withabix

Lou67 wrote: »

I'll tell you what it is when people have given some suggestions.

Just tell us what it is then we might give some suggestions!


I would guess from your house description that you might use 20,000Kwh of gas per year.

So your average bill might be for 1700Kwh per month.

This will vary depending on how long the heating is on for, how much hot water you use, how efficient your boiler is, if you leave windows open when the heating is on, what dates you start and stop using your heating, when your boiler was serviced, if your house is exposed to prevailing winds and/or the sun....etc

rogerblack

As above.
With uninsulated walls, expect bills to be quite high.

Lou67

OK I guess I may as well have said to begin with LOL.

Our monthly DD is £85! JUST for the gas.

It was £65 up to springtime of this year (and had been for about 2 years, it was £45 to £50 before that up to about summer 2009.)

Then in August, they told me to put it up to £75 as I had £188 DEBIT. Then I rang them today with my meter readings and it turns out raising it by a tenner month, has only brought the debt down to £182 debit! Only £6 down! So the higher amount has barely even covered my gas: even in summer when it was hardly on!!!

I mean, I would have expected that debt to have reduced by at LEAST fifty quid, as we didn't use that much gas during the summer. How the hell has this happened? I was told I have to raise it to £85 now! It's really high! And the electric is £65 but is breaking even, so that is staying as that amount.

Does anyone else think £85 is a lot per month? I do! I just wanted an idea of how much other peoples bills were...

Thing is, although we have 'uninsulated walls,' we still only have the thermostat at about 18 and don't have it on any more often than we did 3 years ago, when the bill was £50 a month.

So does this sound high to you?

Edited to say: I read somewhere on a link I got off here, that the average gas bill is £740 and the average electric bill is £450. Ours is WAY higher.

new_owner

Lou67 wrote: »

Our monthly DD is £85! JUST for the gas.

Thats more than our gas and elec per month (only just though).

1890's house, uninsulated walls and average gas usage is about 450Wh per month from beginning of march end of november so about £31 per month. But we do cook with gas. I do also have a £180 wood bill per year for winter.

+ We only have a two bed house.

Lou67

new_owner wrote: »

Thats more than our gas and elec per month (only just though).

1890's house, uninsulated walls and average gas usage is about 450Wh per month from beginning of march end of november so about £31 per month. But we do cook with gas. I do also have a £180 wood bill per year for winter.

+ We only have a two bed house.

So £85 a month for gas IS high then? Thanks N.O.

jalexa

Lou67 wrote: »

I am just asking what other people ... think the average is?

Well the "technical" answer is that 3,300kWhrs electric and 16,500kWhrs gas is "official average". You can work out for yourself what that should cost for the particular tariff you are on.

If you have been a customer of your current supplier for 12 months or longer then you should should have received an annual statement giving your consumption over the previous 12 months and a cost projection for the next 12 months.

TBH "average" is irrelevant, what you actually use in kWhrs is what counts. The monthly DD in isolation is not a good measure.

paulwellerfan

i have a 3 bedroomed.
there are jst two of us there though
i pay 120 a month for gas/electric.
which is 80 and 40 gas.
and its going up.....