4 bedrooms but only 2 adults

antispam246

About to move into our future family home. I've noticed alot of tariffs, atleast when comparing ask you to stipulate the amount of bedrooms, obviously a key factor to working out costs. However, general usuage groups divide erngy users into a low, medium, high category with 2 people in low and 4 bedroom in high.

We're looking at the options now but, whether its via searching online (comparison/direct supplier website) or when we go to take a deal, will this be taken into consideration? Are we going to get billed, for example, on a fixed tariff for having a 4 bedroom house or for having 2 people. Essentially we'll be 2 people using 2 bedrooms. How does this work and what's the best method to finding the better deal for us?

lstar337

antispam246 wrote: »

Are we going to get billed, for example, on a fixed tariff for having a 4 bedroom house or for having 2 people.

You'll be billed for whatever you use. People and bedrooms don't really come into except for making some really rough assumptions about usage habits.

Just get on what you believe is a reasonable tariff and make sure you have the option to easily change the direct debit if the usage turns out to be higher or lower than expected.

When (after some time) you have a better idea of your usage you can use that to find the cheapest deal.

SailorSam

I've got 3 bedrooms even though i'm here by myself. You just close the doors and fotget the room is there.

CashStrapped

Just ensure you heat the house cleverly. Otherwise you will have the consumption of a house with more people. The obvious one is not to heat rooms you do not use. So turn those radiators off. Or put them on a low setting if you have TRV valves.

Also, as you are just moving in, ensure that the insulation in the loft (if unconverted) is up to a good standard.

If it is not a combi boiler, try to heat the water for the periods when you will use it most etc i.e morning and just before you get back from work (this only applies if you have a hot water tank).

Don't forget we are coming into the winter period, so it may cost more than you expect initially to keep the house warm. Don't assume however it will cost that much all the time (I know this sounds obvious, but many people panic when their bills are a bit larger than expected when moving into a new house in winter). It will take you a year before you have a good idea what everything averages out at.

So, for now, maybe use the UK average as a baseline for your usage.

For the UK - average gas use per year is 16500kwh
electric is 3300kwh

That at least gives you some estimated figures to use in comparison sites.

Low annual usage is considered to be around 11000kwh for Gas and 2100Kwh for electric.

macman

Don't use no. of bedrooms on a comp site. Use your annual estimated kWh usage if you want accurate results.
Your initial DD level is only a guide, as long as you give regular readings it can be adjusted to match your actual consumption.
What is important is the annual cost, not the level your DD is set at.