Average running costs of 3 bed house

hazoo

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suse*

Can you ask the estate agent if the seller could give you the last years usage?

It is pretty hard to answer as it all depends on the house as well as the supplier. If you can get the usage though you could play with some energy company comparison sites to get an idea of costs.

I have a 3 bed house with a converted garage and a conservatory. My gas / eletric bill is 80 a month on direct debit which averages out over the year. I also have economy 7, but my house might be different to the one you're looking at so that number might not help you.

suse*

Oh also I live alone but also work from home half the week. So will it just be you there? Do you make sure you turn the lights off in rooms you're not in. Will you use led or energy saving light bulbs. Do you work full time and not have the heating on in the day when you're not there?....

hazoo

Thanks suse*

I hadnt thought of asking for bills. Will ask my partner to get in touch as it is a private sale so hopefully we can get these!!

Thanks once again x

McKneff

And definitely change to a water meter.


Leccy and gas, at least £100 a month


Water metre around £20 a month.


Then contents and building insurance around £200 annually.

elsien

Don't forget to ask about water rates while you're at it.
It can be very subjective though. The people I bought off were happy to tell me how much they paid for gas and electric, but my bills ended up being a lot less. Gives you a starting point though.
3 bed poorly insulated Victorian terrace with combined gas and electric £65 a month. no tumble dryer, but I'm not one for sitting in blankets and thermals to keep costs down.

matelodave

You won't go far wrong if you budget £100-£120 month for gas & electricity and then make sure you keep an eye on your meters to make sure that your direct debit is covering your consumption.

Make sure you read your meters at least monthly and send the reading into your supplier. Check all bills carefully when they come in and make sure that any estimates are corrected to avoid nasty surprises. Keeping a check on your consumption will enable you to minimise it and keep your bills down - it's too late once you've used it as you'll have to pay for it

Water will either be based on the old rateable value of the house (not the council tax band) or you'll have a meter. Depending on where you live and how profligate you are with water you should be cheaper with a meter.

We on a meter and are with Anglian Water, we get away with £28 month because we are quite water savvy, however an average couple would spend nearer £36. If we were based on rateable value we'd be paying £55 or more so it's worthwhile investigating how your water company charges.

Budget about £200 a year for house insurance (buildings) and another £200 for contents. Don't be tempted to forgo insurance as it can be everso expensive if you have a problem.

Smiley_Dan

It should give you an idea on the EPC. Not an overly accurate one, but more accurate than the average of 3 bedtime properties. There should be a section with estimated space heating demand. Multiply that by your unit rate for electricity... Economy 7 probably if they are storage heaters.

hazoo

Thanks all, just got the bills through for the house and they are astronomical! Although this was for an elderly man who was on various medical machines 24/7.

Thanks again

snowscreamer

Hi hazoo, I live in a 3-bed semi, built 1897 but cavity wall insulated and roof insulated. 1200 sq ft floor area.

Our electricity comes out around 12-13 kWh / day - around £50/month. That includes dishwasher once a day, washing machine 3-4 times a week, tumble dryer 3-4 times a week, TV on for a couple of hours every night. We also have electric underfloor heating and heated towel rails in our bathroom and I have noticed the readings creeping up as it gets colder! I can isolate the reading for the underfloor heating as that has its own programmer which keeps a track of usage, so if you are interested I can remove that.

I assume you are on gas for your heating, we are on oil but it will work out the same in kWh just a different price per kWh! At the moment with our heating on 5 hours / day and hot water tank heated for 45 minutes once a day we are using around 40-45 kWh per day. I guess this will increase as it gets colder. For hot water tank heating but not central heating in the summer it was about 15 kWh per day. In gas prices that will work out around £55 for this month, £18 per month in the summer with heating off if you have an efficient boiler (for us on oil it's more like £70 / £23). You may need to heat the hot water twice a day if you have a bigger family, it's just me and my boyfriend in our house so once a day is enough for two showers with some left over for hand washing, etc.

Hope this is of some use?

hazoo

Wow snowscreamer, super helpful post, thank you!

You are so organised knowing all your uses. The house we are looking at has an old back boiler so we were hoping to replace this with a combi and relocate it.

Dont worry about taking off the underfloor heating cost though as at moment I do not think we are going to be able to go ahead with this house due to the budget being too tight at the moment.

Very much apprciate your help...for now I must continue to save, boooh!