Best guess on energy £'s for a first time renter

Ant555

I am assisting someone that has never had their own energy bills before with a spreadsheet to guess what their energy bills could be over the next 6-12 months.

I realise that there are lots of assumptions and guess work here but the person is moving in to a rented 2 bed flat in 2 weeks so has no annual usage history nor monthly usage stats at this point.

A search shows average for 2 bed flat might be gas 9000kWh, Elec 2000 kWh so although the gas seems a bit high to me, in the absence of anything else, we have started there.
I have current cap rates for gas/elec for the area so I can easily work out a level estimate per month (£1478yr/£123mo)

As part of the guesswork for the rest of the year, do we simply multiply my estimated monthly price by 80% as a 'guide' to what it might be when the new cap comes in October (£2690/£224), then add another estimated 10% from Jan 2023?

Many thanks

DeeQS

If you find the property (assuming there is one they're thinking of moving to) and enter the postcode into USWitch energy, it'll show you what the Gas/Electric company think the annual usage of the property has been.

dunstonh

There isnt much you can do at this stage other than go by the average.    However, encourage the person to take monthly meter readings and check their own use and adjust the direct debit if they are not paying enough.

Unfortunately, they will not have many months to build summer credit.  So its likely the heating element of their bill is going to result in higher payments as they play catch up.

If they use the same supplier as the previous tenant, then the supplier can suggest a figure based on the previous one.

Ant555

DeeQS said:

If you find the property (assuming there is one they're thinking of moving to) and enter the postcode into USWitch energy, it'll show you what the Gas/Electric company think the annual usage of the property has been.

Thats great, ill ask what the post code is and see what usage they suggest.

EDIT: - I just put my own post code in and it does indeed give a very accurate guide to my actual usage.

With regards to working out a guess as to the monthly cost based on average usage come October - is it a simple multiply whatever it would be today by 80% assuming on standard tariff?

Alnat1

Do you know if the flat has a combi boiler, or heat only & tank? Also if there's a shower, is it electric or uses the gas heated water?

Mstty

That uSwitch info is goo it got ours exactly right so just go with that.

Everyone else will have a different theory as to how much it will cost you.

sienew

Ant555 said:

DeeQS said:

If you find the property (assuming there is one they're thinking of moving to) and enter the postcode into USWitch energy, it'll show you what the Gas/Electric company think the annual usage of the property has been.

Thats great, ill ask what the post code is and see what usage they suggest.

EDIT: - I just put my own post code in and it does indeed give a very accurate guide to my actual usage.

With regards to working out a guess as to the monthly cost based on average usage come October - is it a simple multiply whatever it would be today by 80% assuming on standard tariff?

This website is predicting the price rise over the next 12 months will average at 94% more than todays price. So the calculation you want to do is:

Todays estimated cost in £ x 1.96.

That'll give you a good estimate for the next 12 months. It's best to work the price out over a year rather than October, then January, then April ect as if they get a yearly price they should be able to smooth the price rises over the 12 months.

And as always... the cheapest energy is the energy they don't use. Be careful and  they will be able to use far below average, if they are wasteful they could spend double the average which will be a shock.

Ant555

Thanks to all - USWITCH recognised Octopus as existing supplier and has suggested gas 3509kWh and Elec 1900kWh as usage figures.

This info, coupled with the estimated current £ x 1.96 has given us a great place from which to start guessing at a likely £170/month from October.

Good advice about being very careful and if there is no smart meter then I will probably get them one of the Minim Geo electricity energy monitors to use as a guide.

All the best.

macman

If the flat has gas CH and DHW, then an estimate of 3,509kWh is ludicrously low for a 2 b/r flat. Your first estimate of 9,000kWh would be nearer the mark, unless this is a newish build and has very high levels of insulation.

Alnat1

Might be the previous user was out at work all day, out often in the evening/weekends and used very little heating.

Might also be a very well insulated flat and the people downstairs have their heating set at 21C and it works like free underfloor heating.

A good point, Octopus are a decent supplier and easy to contact.

wild666

If it's their first time with their own place and paying bills then I think a supplier might use the 2900/12,000 electric/ gas as the estimates for their annual usage if they don't choose a fixed rate deal. This would mean a monthly DD of £164.25 and they might increase the DD come October or they could factor in the October rise into the DD before October which could be around £292 per month if the October increase is £3500.