New Start...... on my own!

appleandy82

evening all,

i have recently become addicted to this site following a relationship breakup and having to start again on my own.

I was just wondering, in a 3 bedroom semi, how much should i be expecting to pay for gas / electric / water?

its a brand new house, well insulated and i work 5 days and generally only home at the weekend.

Any help on this would be hugely appreciated.

appleandy82

apologies if this kind of topic was meant to go somewhere else too...

whoops!

im new!

Hominu

It really does depend.

It costs me about £80/month combined, but I work 5 days a week and have the heating on 20c for 5 hours a night (including weekends)

I know next door spends about £120/month, but they have the heating on something like 25c (or at least feels like that when I go round), no idea of the timing.

appleandy82

thanks for that.... 80 quid sounds a lot...

i wont even be in the house much if at all during monday to friday.... am i ambitious if i expect it to be less than 80?

SailorSam

This is a thread that was on earlier today, someone asking the same question.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4476935

Ecodave

A newly built house will have very good insulation, an efficient boiler, and hopefully a usable set of heating controls (programmable timer, room stats + trvs). Get to know how to use these controls so that your system is on only for as long as it is needed. Ensure that you are on the best tariff available for your needs. If like me, you expect that energy companies will find it necessary to keep putting the charges up, then consider fixing the tariff for as long as possible.

All said and done I would be expecting to pay about £70 a month for the scenario you have presented. The average amount that people pay in a 3 bed semi for gas and electricity is well over £100 a month.

sniggings

£80 a month is only £20 a week, standing charges if you are on that kind of tariff will be a couple of quid per supplier, so your not really spending that much on heating etc, to reduce it much farther would take some doing and do you really want to have to wear 5 jumpers around the house and wash in cold water, if as you say your house is nice and modern, not much more you can really do without going daft.



trouble is the more we make savings the more they will put up prices :rotfl:

Fire_Fox

appleandy82 wrote: »

thanks for that.... 80 quid sounds a lot...

i wont even be in the house much if at all during monday to friday.... am i ambitious if i expect it to be less than 80?

It's not how much you are at home, it's how much energy you use and how well insulated/ energy efficient the property is. Do you need to live alone in a three bedroom house, could you take in a lodger to share the bills?

Energy guzzlers are heating, hot water, power showers, laundry at high temperatures and tumble dryers. What are you willing to be frugal on and what would impact on your quality of life? Options for saving include
- laundry at low temps (but run a service wash regularly)
- only laundering stuff that is dirty, not after a day of use
- dehumidifier/ air dry laundry outdoors instead of tumble dryer
- turn shower off whilst you are soaping up, just on for wet and rinse
- use leave on conditioner instead of wash out
- strip wash sometimes instead of shower every time
- shower at the gym if you have a membership
- heat only the main living area(s) not all rooms
- electric underblanket on bed and overblanket on sofa
- turn thermostat to 18C, wear an extra layer
- turn heating on very late in the autumn and off very early in the spring.

Most households are willing to do few of these and then whinge about lack of disposable income, nothing daft about if if you'd rather spend the money on something FUN and tangible instead of boring utility bills. I don't really see how having a slightly shorter shower or wearing a fleece instead of a t-shirt is that much of a hardship, and the savings really do add up.

Read the meter weekly initially if you are serious about being frugal, it concentrates the mind and lets you know exactly when you were using power (eg. week off work, very cold snap).

macman

Average dual fuel bill is now in excess of £1250, £80pm is not a realistic figure unless you are very frugal indeed.

MillicentBystander

You all keep mentioning 'average consumption' but it really isn't helpful in this instance! A 3 bed house fully occupied by a family will generally consume more energy than that same 3 bed house occupied by one person who is out at work 5 days a week. There are definitely ways of consuming way less than 'average' consumption when you live alone and, I'm assuming, occupy just the one bedroom. Plus that 'average' consumption figure includes approx 70% of households still getting ripped off paying standard tariffs.

lee111s

I'm in the same position, moving into my 3bed semi on my own in about 3 weeks. It's only 3 years old so insulation/boiler etc will be very efficient. I reckon 60-70 a month tops is all I'll be using.

"Average" 3 bed homes are typically full of a family like you say, who require more food cooking, more baths/showers, more clothes/bedding washed, more vaccuming, more rooms heated and more things like TV's in bedrooms.

I think I'm going to go for one of the tariffs that has a set charge per kWh rather than they type that has x amount of pence up to 2200kWh and then y amount of pence after. I THINK that's the best tariff for what I think will be a low user.