New house first energy bill...big

ironman1

Hello all.

Moved to a new three bed house which is pretty big and before my energy supplier which I was in contract with came over I had to pay for the usage between this time to the current provider.

So I gave the meter readings on Jan 2nd and for the period of Dec 19th to Jan 1st have been sent a bill for £117.

This is for electric and gas. Gas made up £76 of this bill.

Is this normal? I am now worried that our monthly energy bill will top £200 a month which is not what I was expecting!

Haylescom

Do you know what the reading was when you moved in?

CashStrapped

Firstly, you have moved in to a new house in winter. That is your first clue as to the high bills.

You energy bills will not be this high all year round.

You need to check the following:

1. You actually gave the company meter readings when you moved in.
2. The tariff you were on with the old supplier for that period.
specifically the pence per KWH for gas and electric.
3. The type of boiler. Make/model.
4. Identify what controls you have for the boiler. Room thermostat? (what is it set at?) Boiler temperature controls? (what is it set at?) Radiator TRV valves? (What are they set at?)

£76 may or may not be high for usage for the last period. It all depends on the above as to whether you can cut your bills a lot more. It all depends on how efficiently you can run your system.

Answer the above questions and we can help you further.

As the temperature has now dropped further you may want to prepare for an even higher bill for this period.

[Deleted User]

Its important that you find your meter start reading when you moved in and compare it with the bills start reading. The supplier could be billing you for the last occupiers who may have not submitted an end reading.

fierystormcloud

ironman1 wrote: »

Hello all.

Moved to a new three bed house which is pretty big and before my energy supplier which I was in contract with came over I had to pay for the usage between this time to the current provider.

So I gave the meter readings on Jan 2nd and for the period of Dec 19th to Jan 1st have been sent a bill for £117.

This is for electric and gas. Gas made up £76 of this bill.

Is this normal? I am now worried that our monthly energy bill will top £200 a month which is not what I was expecting!

CashStrapped wrote: »

Firstly, you have moved in to a new house in winter. That is your first clue as to the high bills.

You energy bills will not be this high all year round.

You need to check the following:

1. You actually gave the company meter readings when you moved in.
2. The tariff you were on with the old supplier for that period.
specifically the pence per KWH for gas and electric.
3. The type of boiler. Make/model.
4. Identify what controls you have for the boiler. Room thermostat? (what is it set at?) Boiler temperature controls? (what is it set at?) Radiator TRV valves? (What are they set at?)

£76 may or may not be high for usage for the last period. It all depends on the above as to whether you can cut your bills a lot more. It all depends on how efficiently you can run your system.

Answer the above questions and we can help you further.

As the temperature has now dropped further you may want to prepare for an even higher bill for this period.

It may be winter, but not on any planet is £117 a normal bill for gas and electric for THIRTEEN DAYS. That would be like £9.00 a DAY! £280 for a month, and nearly £900 for a quarter. Our joint bill for gas and electric is only £720 for the YEAR, and we have a large-ish 3 bed house too!

Something is seriously wrong here. The OP needs to contact their energy supplier.

CashStrapped

fierystormcloud wrote: »

It may be winter, but not on any planet is £117 a normal bill for gas and electric for THIRTEEN DAYS. That would be like £9.00 a DAY! £280 for a month, and nearly £900 for a quarter. Our joint bill for gas and electric is only £720 for the YEAR, and we have a large-ish 3 bed house too!

Something is seriously wrong here. The OP needs to contact their energy supplier.

erm.....ok

Firstly we have no confirmation that the reading on the 19th of December is an actual reading. It could have been an estimate, which is why everyone has calmly asked if they took a meter reading when they moved in! Then we have two actual readings to compare.

So before jumping to conclusions that somthing is "seriously wrong" we have asked the OP to clarify a number of things.

Most importantly, did they take a meter reading when they moved in! If they did not and the 19th of December reading was an estimate, it could be throwing their calculations out!

Ringing their energy supplier will achieve nothing until they have clarified what they have used and how their their heating system operates and so on.

Once we have exhausted all those areas, then we can begin to think that somthign is "seriously wrong".

ironman1

Thanks for the replies.

I am pretty sure I gave my meter readings to the previous owners supplier around two days after moving in. It sounds ridiculous but with so much going on and Christmas time etc, I don't actually remember!

When we arrived the central heating which is controlled by thermostat, was set to timed. We recently changed this to manual. The house does get cold as it is a townhouse.

We use the tumble dryer and dishwasher every other day at the moment.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

are any of your meters the old dial type, easy to misread, and can be 100s or 1000s units out.

System

Are we talking about a new build property first occupied in Winter. If it is a new build, then basic physics comes into play. All new properties contain gallons of hidden water in the plaster, concrete floors and wood. This has to be dried out. The drying out process has a cooling effect which can lead to high energy usage in the first few months of ownership.

Ps Do not forget that ventilation is as important as heat: i appreciate that opening the windows in Winter is counter-intuitive.

Haylescom

Try and find out those original readings from the old supplier, check that they are readings not estimates. The previous owners should also have given a reading when they left for their final bill, assuming what they gave was accurate.

ironman1

Thanks,will check the readings.

I think the electric meter is pretty new but the gas one maybe old.

It is not a new build, is a three bed town house, garage, conservatory built in around 1960