First Time Buyer - Rough costs for energy please?

My_Own_Little_House

Hello all

I'm a single person and I'm moving into a 3 bed semi-detached new build home, which has been rated Energy Efficiency Band B, but I was wondering if anyone could give me a rough idea of what Gas, Elec and Water would be per month?  The house won't be finished until September but I'm trying to get a good idea of what my monthly expenses will be so I can budget properly.  Also, if anyone could please let me know what the Buildings, Contents and Income Protection insurance would be, then I'd be very grateful.  I know it will be dependant on a lot of factors but I'm just after a rough cost to put in my budget.  

Many Thanks      

user1977

Buildings/contents insurance you can do via the comparison sites discussed elsewhere on this site. For income protection you haven't given us any details about yourself or how much cover you want, so you'll need to do more research. I would expect gas/elec costs to be peanuts for newbuilds - I think the utility comparison sites can give you some likely figures.

FreeBear

user1977 said: I would expect gas/elec costs to be peanuts for newbuilds

I'd budget £150 per month to start with for gas & electricity and be happy if it turns out to be £75. The first 6-8 months will be more expensive as the heating will be on for much of the time. Come summer, gas should drop to a nominal amount.

Robin9

As you are single why do you want Income Protection ?

user1977

Robin9 said:

As you are single why do you want Income Protection ?

To cover pay if they're unable to work? Life insurance would be the (probably) unnecessary product to buy.

My_Own_Little_House

user1977 said:

Robin9 said:

As you are single why do you want Income Protection ?

To cover pay if they're unable to work? Life insurance would be the (probably) unnecessary product to buy.

Yes it's to cover my income should I not be able to work, thanks

dinosaur66

depends how much your are at home

i am single /retired albeit i have my mother live with me at xmas for 4 months which pushes up my bills

larger property than yours and property is now 30 years old but my costs are £130 month gas and electric  and £30 month water so yours should be cheaper than this.i am with octopus for energy and essex water

trees / nearness to water effects insurance / flood risk area etc etc

assuming none of these apply i pay £170 buildings insurance on a 600k property

i do not have contents insurance or income protection

My_Own_Little_House

user1977 said:

Buildings/contents insurance you can do via the comparison sites discussed elsewhere on this site. For income protection you haven't given us any details about yourself or how much cover you want, so you'll need to do more research. I would expect gas/elec costs to be peanuts for newbuilds - I think the utility comparison sites can give you some likely figures.

The thing about the utility comparison is that I have no idea what my usage would be.  I currently live with parents in a large house so I've got nothing to sense check it with.  I will post in a relevant Facebook group to see if someone can give me an idea of usage.  Thanks for your reply.     

My_Own_Little_House

dinosaur66 said:

depends how much your are at home

i am single /retired albeit i have my mother live with me at xmas for 4 months which pushes up my bills

larger property than yours and property is now 30 years old but my costs are £130 month gas and electric  and £30 month water so yours should be cheaper than this.i am with octopus for energy and essex water

trees / nearness to water effects insurance / flood risk area etc etc

assuming none of these apply i pay £170 buildings insurance on a 600k property

i do not have contents insurance or income protection

Thank you, that's extremely helpful!   Your figures are actually lower than I've budgeted for so hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised by the bills.  Thanks again

user1977

My_Own_Little_House said:

user1977 said:

Buildings/contents insurance you can do via the comparison sites discussed elsewhere on this site. For income protection you haven't given us any details about yourself or how much cover you want, so you'll need to do more research. I would expect gas/elec costs to be peanuts for newbuilds - I think the utility comparison sites can give you some likely figures.

The thing about the utility comparison is that I have no idea what my usage would be.  I currently live with parents in a large house so I've got nothing to sense check it with.  I will post in a relevant Facebook group to see if someone can give me an idea of usage.  Thanks for your reply.     

As I said you'll find calculators elsewhere, but it's going to vary a lot depending on local climate, how warm you like your house, how much you're at home, how often you wash (yourself and/or clothes) etc. New homes are very well insulated so I'd expect at the lower end of the scale.

BikingBud

My_Own_Little_House said:

Hello all

I'm a single person and I'm moving into a 3 bed semi-detached new build home, which has been rated Energy Efficiency Band B, but I was wondering if anyone could give me a rough idea of what Gas, Elec and Water would be per month?  The house won't be finished until September but I'm trying to get a good idea of what my monthly expenses will be so I can budget properly.  Also, if anyone could please let me know what the Buildings, Contents and Income Protection insurance would be, then I'd be very grateful.  I know it will be dependant on a lot of factors but I'm just after a rough cost to put in my budget.  

Many Thanks      

There are a lot of variables in there that includes the costs of the utilities per unit, try to think about and control the  units as the prices will vary. The DD that you pay does not necessarily cover your bills, think of it similar to paying your favourite supermarket a set figure every month, say £100, and then as you shop you actually get billed for what you consume so if you buy good for £165, then you owe them £65 but when you spend less ie only £70 you are £30 up. It should work out throughout the year

A 3 bed semi might consume approx 11,500kWh of gas per year to cover CH and domestic hot water. https://www.britishgas.co.uk/energy/guides/average-bill.html

On your own and likely to consume less HW than a family and possibly reducing heating in rooms that are not always used you should be able to cut back on that gas estimate and also unless you have many high power gadgets then you are likely to use less than 2,700kWh of electric.

Check what the rates are for your supplier and see if there are better deals via other suppliers.

You will be able to check with your water provider for similar estimates.

Once you get in make sure you take start readings, pictures of the meters as part of the handover process, agreed with the builder don't trust anyone else to do this, and then inform the provider to set up your account with an agreed DD.

The estimate might be high initially, keep an eye on it so you don't have too much credit, they don't pay interest if you have a large sum with them.