Wow! Our electricity bill is now £1000/yr!

Glaucus · 6 Apr 2009 at 12:38

But don't go with Npower. Over the year they may work out the cheapest. But after receiving my first bill. I have found out I pay most of my yearly bill over the 4 winter months, and the rest of the year will be dirt cheap. So avoid Npower.

knowlesy · 6 Apr 2009 at 12:39

£250 for 4 students here

inferno · 6 Apr 2009 at 12:39

In the UAE a 4 bed house costs around £6,000 a year!!!!!!!!!!

Andrew_McP · 6 Apr 2009 at 12:51

Just for a baseline reference, I'm on my own in a one bed, double glazed, electricity-only flat. I'm inclined to wear extra clothes rather than put the heating on when the cheap, overnight storage heater cools down, and heat as little water as possible (ie only what I need, when I need it).

My bill for the Nov-Feb quarter was £106, with over half that coming from cheap, off-peak use. I could double (probably more) that *very* easily indeed.

As for whether energy prices are excessive or not... well, I think it's amazing we can have energy 'on tap' so cheaply to be honest. Energy, like water, is something we tend to take for granted until it fails for some reason. Then you get chance to re-assess how important it is to absolutely everything we do.

Andrew McP

NeilF · 6 Apr 2009 at 12:52

jonno.co.uk said:
i'm with eon atm, paying £130pm but our washer/dryer is on on average once a day (c rating) and dishwasher (a rathing) 4 times a week also.

does this sound overly expensive? maybe i should switch?

Just done two different 'compare the market' thingies and both suggest our £1800 bill will drop to about £1500 by going to E-on (from Southern Electric)... So I suspect that's what we'll do... So we'll hopefull end up paying about what you are!

sid · 6 Apr 2009 at 12:55

inferno said:
In the UAE a 4 bed house costs around £6,000 a year!!!!!!!!!!

Presumably because you need the AC on all day

sid

Andrew_McP · 6 Apr 2009 at 12:56

inferno said:
In the UAE a 4 bed house costs around £6,000 a year!!!!!!!!!!

I believe it's generally more expensive to cool a house than heat it.

I was recently listening to something about air conditioning in the hotter US states. Apparently for a while it was common for aircon units to be put in lofts... which frequently get much hotter than the outside air temp! So you can imagine how hard they had to work to drain heat from the rest of the house. Electricity bills the size of small planets were common.

Andrew McP

Jimmeh · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:23

Andrew_McP said:
I believe it's generally more expensive to cool a house than heat it.

I was recently listening to something about air conditioning in the hotter US states. Apparently for a while it was common for aircon units to be put in lofts... which frequently get much hotter than the outside air temp! So you can imagine how hard they had to work to drain heat from the rest of the house. Electricity bills the size of small planets were common.

Andrew McP

All true although if this person is based in Dubai, DEWA (Dubai Electrcitiy & Water Authority) have somewhat of a monopoly so costs are extreme to say the least.

ic1male · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:26

I did the readings for my Mum, her bill on the ScottishPower website came to £650. I'm sure that was just for the quarter!

lozza23_uk · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:33

I think my latest bill was for October to March. 6 months. 177quid. 30 a month.

The Bill arrived on saturday, stating it had to be paid by friday. Stupid.

1 bed house. Winter months with electric heating (oil rads). Probably 1/2 that cost in the summer.

Strife212 · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:43

Got a 1KW PC on all the time? ;-;

Metalface Mark · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:46

I pay £220 a month combined for gas and electricity, one of the reasons im moving, i think my neighbours steal mine. At our new house we wont be having a dishwasher and probably no tumble drier as these seem to be the main culprets (along with 6 pc's).

Viper² · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:48

Electric shower maybe? That runs our bill up.

rsatd · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:48

AcidHell2 said:
I only spend £28ish a month on electricity. but then I'm only in a one bed flat. Sounds like a lot of electric to me. energy saving bulbs and switching things of.

Yeah same here, though switching supplier for allegedly cheaper as well

Bennie-Mac · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:53

For every 1 watt of electricity you cut back on you save £1.20 per year. So if you never turn things off standby mode you could be wasting about £50 a year. /helpful tip.

ste_bla · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:55

£1000

3 Bed semi with 2adults 3children, gas heating and cooking. On a PAYG meter works out £15 a week in winter and £8 in summer (roughly) so ~£600 a year.

KillBoY_UK · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:56

about £100 a month for my flat but theres no gas and its a ground floor flat in dundee with so washing line to dry stuff which meens a lot of tumble dryer usage as well , plus me and my flat mates PC's and laptops (4pc's + File server 3 laptops) and home cinema + console set up so all things considering its not to bad for us on the electric bill

jongeeone · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:56

£300 a quater for us.
It is a big house, with 4 of us in. However, that is still a fair bit.
Gas is also seperate

CocoPops · 6 Apr 2009 at 13:59

We pay £97/month for leccy and gas.
4bed semi, 3adults.
Currently £40 in credit after winter.

OLDPHART · 6 Apr 2009 at 14:03

Originally Posted by NeilFawcett
I need to look into our BT bill as well... That's £46 a month, and we hardly use it

We were with BT for our phone (had all the add on's to make bill cheaper) £66 a month (call's on top), switched to a Sky package TV = £27 + Sky Talk £5 all told £32 a month(calls on top but cheaper rate's then BT) bill never over £40 a month. Plus now switching to Sky broadband £10 16MB MAX unlimited so altogether £42 a month not bad eh