What is your average monthly household payment?

Ced21

I have just had my new monthly household energy bill from British Gas, it is now £416 per month by direct debit. I live alone (apart from 3 dogs who do not have extra energy usage) in an old 3 bed end of terrace cottage, my bill before the recent extraordinary rises was about £88 per month, I was careful with usage but used the heating more if I was cold. I only have a shower run on gas, which is not used excessively, no tumble dryer, the dishwasher (approx 9 years old) and washing machine (approx 4 years old) are used as needed but not every day, and at night with Economy7, I wear clothes more than twice except undies. I use my electric oven about 3 times a week max and batch cook, I have an induction hob, I didn't/don't cook much or for long periods. 

Since the present energy difficulties began I have not run the heating in the mornings, and turned it to come on for 4 hours in the evening set at 18 degrees, to save energy, I do not feel my usage is more than just adequate for a 71 year old disabled person, so what adds up to an annual £4992 seems colossal even despite all the advice given by experts and I did expect it to double.

I do tend to leave my laptop on standby, not aware that it has a massive appetite but will stop this, the TV and Sky box are usually turned off at the wall at night but are in use all day most days. I turn all lights off until needed. I have 2 small freezers usually fairly full, 4 slice toaster used once a day, a water heater which heats and dispenses enough hot water for what is needed (drinks etc) at the time rather than a kettle, used half a dozen times a day. Electric blanket used for about 2 hours a night. LED security light outside comes on upon detection of heat/movement and goes off a few minutes after, not used heavily. This is my usage and I hope it gives enough info to lead to as fair an answer as practical, giving the official quantities used and stated by experts mean nothing to me.

I feel my consumption is reasonable for one person, so was a bit dismayed by the bill forecast, it is half my income, is my instinct reasonable or not in your estimation? I would like some considered opinions before battling with British Gas, who really don't seem to be able to give me answers to any of my queries, just hopeless, service users are probably far more savvy.

TIA

markin

E7 may be a poor choice now if you have gas heating, we need the readings and rates from all the bills for the last year.

Is it a gas combi boiler or a strange gas heated shower? Why would only the shower be gas?

MikeJXE

You might get more info if you quoted kWh instead of £££

I live alone in a one bed flat dual fuel 

I have my heating on most of the day to keep at 18+ 

My usage is approx 850kWh electric and 6,000kWh gas

Annually about £1,100

Robin9

Have your meters been changed recently?

When did you last give BG your meter readings ?

MattMattMattUK

Ced21 said:

I have just had my new monthly household energy bill from British Gas, it is now £416 per month by direct debit. I live alone (apart from 3 dogs who do not have extra energy usage) in an old 3 bed end of terrace cottage, my bill before the recent extraordinary rises was about £88 per month, I was careful with usage but used the heating more if I was cold. I only have a shower run on gas, which is not used excessively, no tumble dryer, the dishwasher (approx 9 years old) and washing machine (approx 4 years old) are used as needed but not every day, and at night with Economy7, I wear clothes more than twice except undies. I use my electric oven about 3 times a week max and batch cook, I have an induction hob, I didn't/don't cook much or for long periods. 

Since the present energy difficulties began I have not run the heating in the mornings, and turned it to come on for 4 hours in the evening set at 18 degrees, to save energy, I do not feel my usage is more than just adequate for a 71 year old disabled person, so what adds up to an annual £4992 seems colossal even despite all the advice given by experts and I did expect it to double.

I do tend to leave my laptop on standby, not aware that it has a massive appetite but will stop this, the TV and Sky box are usually turned off at the wall at night but are in use all day most days. I turn all lights off until needed. I have 2 small freezers usually fairly full, 4 slice toaster used once a day, a water heater which heats and dispenses enough hot water for what is needed (drinks etc) at the time rather than a kettle, used half a dozen times a day. Electric blanket used for about 2 hours a night. LED security light outside comes on upon detection of heat/movement and goes off a few minutes after, not used heavily. This is my usage and I hope it gives enough info to lead to as fair an answer as practical, giving the official quantities used and stated by experts mean nothing to me.

I feel my consumption is reasonable for one person, so was a bit dismayed by the bill forecast, it is half my income, is my instinct reasonable or not in your estimation? I would like some considered opinions before battling with British Gas, who really don't seem to be able to give me answers to any of my queries, just hopeless, service users are probably far more savvy.

TIA

I suspect that your issue is that you were paying £88pcm which was not adequate to cover your existing usage and so you have built up a debt on top. 

What is your annual usage in kWh? That will be on your bill. 

maisie_cat

It will depend on usage, we live in an old cottage and use 12000 kWh for heating/hw and 3100 kWh electric. We have no gas but use biomass for heat, shower is electric at present.

pochase

Do you submit regular readings to BG or is your usage based on estimates?

cnetwork

As mentioned above, it entirely depends on a couple of factors but I would say its either 3 reasons:

1) Your direct debits were too low - it's pushed your bills into debt and now they've been increased significantly to offset the debt + to settle the upcoming months

2) Some or all of your your meter readings are estimates or not actual readings - it's common that some energy users just rely on giving minimal readings so they're being billed based on estimates and your bill is trying to catch up only when you give actual readings - this can be going on for years sometimes

3) Your usage may be that high... - The Energy Bills Support Scheme ended so  you'll feel that extra £66 back on. For some users like myself - usage is way higher than most households, but when I compare it to neighbours in my area with similar house types, on average my bill isn't more than what someone next door is paying on our road. Typically in our area bills range from £300-£600 per month so £416 doesn't sound bad to me - but it depends on too many factors - house type, number of bedrooms, any wall insulation (ours has none - solid brick), boiler type - some running back boilers still, floor area, extra outbuildings/conservatories... these can make big changes to your bill

Best way to help is if you can give us the two figures from your bill - the annual electricity usage and gas usage if any.

As long as you have two actual meter readings around a year apart and could even provide those - it gives a good indication of your actual annual usage then you can work out your typical annual bill - then check the monthly payments what they should have been/what yours are... Too little, explains why the jump in payment or if payments were just right, could be higher usage.

Fiveboy

We are with BG for Gas and Electric and our D/D is currently £160 for both.

Gas for Heating, Water. Gas Hob

But we have:

£400 Credit for Gas last Bill Feb 23 £230 (6 months)
£435 Credit for Electric Last Bill Feb 23 £766 (6months)

Last 12 months we paid out £400 for gas and £1150 for electric

We have cut back as much as we could, but live in a New Build, so not much heating used and none for awhile.

Alnat1

Haven't paid anything for gas and electricity for 12 months as solar export payments and the government £400 have covered all costs. Account is £114 in credit after bill on 21st April.

Spoonie_Turtle

I see OP hasn't returned yet, but as an additional datum point, on the EPG with c.9500kWh electricity usage (no gas, and electric shower contributes a frustrating chunk of that) our DD would be just under £290.  That's for four adults in a 1940s 3-bed semi-detached house, fairly exposed on a hill in central England.