Would £20 be enough for Gas and Electric for a week?

Roxy07

Looking to move into my own place soon and was just trying to get estimates on bills for 1 single person

How much would £20 give me? like a rough estimate at how much gas and electric I could use for £20 would be grateful.

staringattft

i would say yes, its enough for 1 single person for gas and electric

depends on the size of the place, heating source, meter type, and how long you stay at home.

lee111s

Depends on what you use in the house, how efficient the boiler is, what kind of insulation there is, how often you're at home etc.

WestonDave

A one person bedsit should be OK on £20 per week - I pay around that for a very efficient 3 bed house so its hard to see how a careful person in a reasonable property would need to spend much more than that.

However the question is a bit like saying you've just bought a car and will £20 be enough for petrol per week - we don't know if you are going to use it once a week to go to an evening class down the road, or every day to commute 100 miles and back. To be fair until you find the property you can't really give us more information either.

Gas is cheaper for heating than electricity so watch for that. If you have to have electric heating, night storage is cheaper but less flexible if you want more or less heat. Prepay meters are generally more expensive than credit meters where you can get discounted rates and further discounts for direct debits. Obviously try to find somewhere which is well insulated and has modern heating systems (thermostats, controls, newish boiler etc) - but to some extent you will be playing a trade off - a place which is cheaper to run because its up to date and well insulated will cost more to rent. You can to some extent use less energy (by going to friends places or public places) but you can't lower the rent.

tiger_eyes

My studio flat costs £36 a month in dual fuel bills, and I work from home so use the heating more than most people. £20 a week sounds like tons.

macman

The average dual fuel tariff is around £1,250, so £104pm is a more realistic figure. This assumes gas CH and DHW- an all-electric property will cost much more. It totally depends on the size of the property, how it's heated and hot watered, and how many hours a day it's occupied.
It always rather puzzles me why people ask this question on a forum. Assuming that they're currently living at home with mum and dad, why not ask them what they pay? They'll be more than happy to remind you, and maybe increase your contribution!

GotToChange

macman wrote: »

The average dual fuel tariff is around £1,250, so £104pm is a more realistic figure. This assumes gas CH and DHW- an all-electric property will cost much more. It totally depends on the size of the property, how it's heated and hot watered, and how many hours a day it's occupied.
It always rather puzzles me why people ask this question on a forum. Assuming that they're currently living at home with mum and dad, why not ask them what they pay? They'll be more than happy to remind you, and maybe increase your contribution!

Never assume...
You don't know what the circumstances are (leaving care or something similar).

OP - as others have said, it is hard to know without knowing the detials
of your potential usage and more inofoabout the property blah blah.

Having had occasion to try out three different - and widely differing - properties in recent months, I have ended up in a two bed. semi (built 2007) with poor construction, insulating and draughtproofing (even though double glazed and so on). I also don't really trust the boiler as it kicks in every 6 minutes for a minute at a time, which means it is coming on and off 192 times over the course of the 16 hours I have the heating on. The room thermostat is rubbish and the radiator thermostats switch the radiators off if turned lower than III (which is very hot). Having said all of that -
- even through the very cold days and weeks recently (but, bearing in mind, I do not have heat on through the night), I did not use more than £20 per week - and I was able to track this because I also inherited prepayment meters (now changed but no cheaper).

It may be enough for you - indeed it should be (until prices rise again)... but you would be wise to track your usage (in units/kWhs) at some point so you know what's going on. Knowing only how many £££'s you use is not really a good system.

Fire_Fox

Loads of threads on this across various boards if you run an advanced search. Utility bills can vary hugely depending on many factors. WestonDave is spot on, it's like asking about petrol whilst knowing nothing about the car and journeys. You cost in £££ includes your usage and the standing charge, this varies from supplier to supplier and with the tariff.

Will you definitely be in a property with both gas and electric and not electric only (much more expensive for heating and hot water) as many flats are? Do you know the size and how well insulated it is? Are you frugal or do you enjoy long showers and walking around in a t-shirt with the heating on? Will you be home a lot or at work/ socialising long hours with the heating only on when you are home? Will you be heating your main living area or the bedroom and hall also?

The best thing to do is choose a well insulated property and then read your meters every two weeks to every month without fail and give those readings to your supplier. Also consider an online direct debit tariff if you think that will help you budget (they can also be slightly cheaper). You will then know roughly what you are spending and can adjust your use accordingly - if it's a shock have shorter showers and turn the heating down/ off.

A single person doesn't generally use much less in either £££ or KWH than a couple, so if you want cheaper bills consider a shared house or flat. That means you can share costs like the TV license, internet connection and water bills and energy standing charge, all the small savings do really add up and it can be a much 'softer' introduction to living independently.