gas/leccy survey
 

If you don't mind, would you share your average monthly or annual costs for gas and leccy.

E.ON reckon I use > £1800 of gas and leccy a year which I find astounding. For a house with 2 adults and a 3 year old that are out at work all day. That has been fully insulated in the last few years, with double glazing, no central heating on from May - end October(only 4 hours a day in winter with localised heating in rooms beyond that + odd day of gas fire at night if its cold when teh heatings off). All appliances are pretty new and mainly A rated for energy. Energy saving bulbs where possible, I even turn the sodding router off each night and ensure sky/TVs etc are all off or are in as lower power state as possible.

So how much do you spend each year?

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

i spend on average £50 a month on gas and £50 a month on electric


so thats £600 a year on each or £1200 on both (if my maths serves me correctly)


my hot water is on constantly

i have meters, which where in when i moved in, to be honest i have had them in for the 12 years i have lived here and i wouldnt be doing without them....dad was telling me earlier that his gas has gone up from £23 a month to £55 a month, i think he's with british gas

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How is your hot water heated - gas or electric?

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yep, I currently pay £50 a month on each and they want to raise it to over £80 a month each. considering our water is instant from a combi we don't have anything heating stuff unneccessarily. Our heating is on only when needed (old dear next door calls us teh eskimos :D ) and I try to be as energy concious as possible.

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£15 a week gas=£60 a month and my heating is only on for a few hours a day
£10 a week electric-£40 a month

but i am on a meter.........

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Gas Neil

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averaging £160 per month since october. bloody ridiculous.:(

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same as me then Ian, my heating only goes on when i need it , over the winter months i set it for an hour in the morning once or twice, but other than that i just flick it on when i need warming up :D Reece isnt a big one for heat, even when it was on he'd still use his fan at the side of his bed and turn the radiator off in his bedroom

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what I find most outrageous is that if people are genuinely paying £1800 a year you have to earn over 2K a year before tax to pay for it. For a lot of people ( pensioners and low income families of which Accy has more than its fair share in relation to the rest of the country) this in addition to sky high house prices and the obvious increase in mortgage costs must be absolutely crippling!

<fx: just re-read that and I'm beginning to sound like Cyfr.... :eek: :D >

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My heating is on 24/7, room thermostat controls it, so if it is warm, it doesnt come on, we pay £20 per month direct debit to gas, and around £30 per month electric. water is instantaneous from a combi, use the fire for an hour in winter at night.

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You'll have to cut back on your right foot then Ian when going down the bypass in a morning :D

you never know who might be following you and taking note of your speed ;)

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Centrica have just anounced an expected 30% increase again for this year.

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I pay £98 a month (£35 in credit so its not far out), looking into changing soon if anything better is available, currently with Scottish power on a duel fuel deal

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We pay £60 a month to British Gas. That covers the gas and electric.

We are also on a water meter which costs us £30 a month.

This is for 2 adults and 2 children who are out at work/school during the day Monday-Friday.

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At present I pay £80 a month to MANWEB Scottish Power and it covers both gas and electricity. I have a 3 bed semi-detached, double glazed and cavity wall insulated. Heating is with a gas combi boiler, which also supplies hot water, and is on for about 9 hours out of 24 in Winter - more if it's really cold - also a living flame gas fire in the sitting room.

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Ian!!! ya got her working already?? :D:D

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well it seems like paris n meself are paying the most:( good old N-Power.

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absolutely! she working hard at spending all my money!!!! :D

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Leave her alone!! it's a girls prerogative to spend all daddies money :D

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Although my one bedroom flat is smaller than most of your homes, I do have my heating and hot water on 24 hours a day - controlled by my thermostat set at 23C, sometimes 24C.
I noticed a big drop in costs when a condenser boiler was installed spring last year.
At current prices I will be spending £507.99 a year.
Scottish Power Online Energy 3 tariff with dual fuel and Online discounts.
All my lightbulbs are energy savers. I have good insulation.
I check with the switching sites often, and have switched 5 times in 6 years.
The way to get the best deal at switching is to enter your KWH per year usage in the calculation on the switching site.

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Get back to Spain pal.........I like Margeret pay 10 pound a week with no gas........got to spell the pound bit out....no pound sign.
Not boasting Margeret...Fact.

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I pay £115 per month to scottish power dual fuel with direct debit discounts. In 3 bed 3 floor terraced property, combi boiler (which is really knackered!!!!) and is on constantly as the water won't work without heating being on with heating turned down (said it was knackered) have prob half n half energy saving light bulbs

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cheers guys, I rang them tonight saying leave it as it is. They say can't do that as our system tells us your usage means we have to charge £82/3 each.
If I have to move I will. Now uSwitch have nPower down as cheapest based on my data. however I reckon their system is flawed. My last quarter bill was 200 for leccy and 260 for gas. now that is for one of the two 'cold/dark' periods. yet even nPower reckon I'm a £1600 a year user! I reckon closer to £1300 max. Funnily enough, not much over 12 months ago I got over £400 back for overpayment!!!!!

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

Having a super efficient new condenser boiler makes a tremendous difference.
It is worth asking for a Warmfront grant, and if you don't qualify - get a bank loan - it will save you money in the end.
PS - it is useless going onto price comparison sites and quoting what you are paying now - you need KWH per annum stats

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Haha that did sound like a post I'd make!

Maybe you should buy a windmill to mount on your house ian?

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wouldnt it be best to speak to derekgas? im sure he will know....

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

The boiler is only 3 years old as it is Magaret. plus as mentioned from late April to about end Oct its not on for heating. Hot water is instant so no wastage there. gas is only used for hob as we have leccy ovens

from leccy POV I shut down teh router at night so its off for ~16 hours a day, I turn off teh TV sender unless we want to use it. all lights that can be are energy savers and I'm a sod for turning stuff off

The Sky box is set to standby whenever possible. teh TV uses 0.1W in standby. I can't think of anything except teh two alarm clocks that are mains powered that is left on that I could possibly turn off.

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Since I pay less than £50 a month for 24hr warmth at 23C and hot water I don't think he could get me to improve on that.

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Looked at them nearly 2 years ago. Technology isn't anywhere near good enough yet.

I'm probably greener than most people (plus I'ma skin flint ) so anything where I can get energy for nothing is good for me

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I think insulation plays a large part in keeping heating bills down.
I haven't just relied on the loft and cavity wall insulation and double glazing which my landlord supplied.
In addition I have painted my walls and ceilings with Thermilate added to the paint.
I have blinds and thick, lined, floor to ceiling curtains.
Insulating Paint Additive, Using Thermilate

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So how much a year is your new boiler saving you?
Now work out how much it costs to have one fitted and see how long it will take you to save the installation costs of the new boiler. Add in how long you expect that boiler to last before you need to fit a new one while your at it.

Has anyone recently had a new condensing boiler fitted, if so how much did it cost? My guess would be between £1000 and £2000 depending on how much other work was needed or how much you were told was needed ;)

I suspect you only rent your flat so your boiler was fitted for free.

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

The boiler was free , as you thought.
Before that there was an ancient gas warm air system which I had to stop using because it filled the air with fine dust. Instead I bought 5 Winterwarm wall mounted electric panels which were self regulating.
So I have had 3 different heating systems in the 6 years I have lived here.
My current costs are on a par with my costs 6 yrs ago, despite price rises that have occurred meanwhile.

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

So what is you annual saving now you have your nice free condensing boiler installed.

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

My gas has gone down as well Margarat since new heating was installed last year,I have my thermostat set at 24 I now pay £15 a month gas £35 a month lecky or £612 a year for both, I'm with British Gas

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

I'm the same as Margaret Neil, over the last 12 months my gas bill has halfed

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

Mine was the gas warm air system until last year, although some time ago I had a special filter fitted by HBC because I asked if they would replace my system with radiators because of my asthma. They came up with these special filters which was very good, I was actually monitorig the system for HBC but then they scraped the works department, end of

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

Neil - I cannot be precice, (despite fuel consumption records kept for 6 yrs), because it is not a 'like for like' comparison.

Jaysay has very similar, if not identical, accommodation.
He has experience of 2 heating systems, whereas I have had 3, and he has noted large savings.

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

i notice that a lot of you have the thermostat set over 21 degrees....WHY? i used to have mine set at 20 and i find it saves a lot of money if i have it down at 19 degrees and i cant tell the difference in the heat whatsoever, i think you all must have money to burn if your having it up THAT high when it doesnt need to be, its just not necessary

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

I have osteoarthritis - cold = increase in pain.
Wearing a wooly hat and mittens indoors is an option I don't want.
Also a bronchial condition is eased by breathing warm humid air, so I would need a face mask too :D

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

Me too
we have a quaterly bill of £ 380 ish depending on what time of year we are all electric and think its discusting that we have to pay that much, there is 5 of us but most of the time the heating is not on as the storage heaters are crap, we have oil filled radiators that we put on when its too cold, we save as much elec as we can, and i also think its unfair that people who have duel fuel get a discount when we only have electricity here and are not getting any discount if you know what i mean, we should also get a discount for getting all our fuel from the same company

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

I pay £30 a month on gas, and £40 amonth a on electric
pay £18 a month on water
so not bad i suppose

oh and my thermostat is set on 19 or 20!, i know someone who has it on 25 or over....god knows why:rolleyes:

anything else ya wanna know:D???

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nearly forgot, thats on a 3 bedroom house..;)

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You are right about turning the heating down a degree or two flashy, it will save a fair amount. What has to be kept in mind is that as you become older you become less active, the body will not generate much heat.
Help the Agedrecommend 21- 24 C.
What I found surprising is that Hypothermia can be induced by prolonged exposure to indoor temps below 18C ( surprising because I consider that temp to be fairly high ) I Googled it to make sure, seems some other council sites say the danger zone is below 16C ( e.g.Barnet Council)

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

The media aRe saying that gas and lecky could go up by around 40% this year, there was a guy on GMTV this morning saying you can sign up to freeze your prices for three years, but the cost will be about 10% above what your paying now. If the bills are going to go up by 40% maybe an idea looking into the scheme

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

I don't class his £180 a year as a large saving. I bet it cost Hyndburn Homes between £2000 and £3000 to remove the old hot air system and install a new condensing boiler and 4 or 5 radiators into his flat. That gives a payback on gas alone of at least 10 years ( even taking into account gas price increases of 50% over the 10 years). I suspect his nice new condensing boiler could well be at the end of its life in 10 years and need replacing with a new one.

It is a good saving for him not having to pay for the installation yes. Do you thing it would be worth it if it was your £2000 or £3000 for the installation?

I would be looking for an energy payback of 3 to 5 years if I was going to spend £3000 on a new system. I looked into it when I thought about replacing my ancient back boiler and decided it was a bad idea to install a condensing boiler at the time as I would not see a payback for many years, if ever.

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

your lucky, my water bill is £29 a month, for a 2 bedroomed semi

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

About 1300 per year.
But it is 3/4 bed house with heating on constantly, during the winter, as we work from home.

We are with e-one or however you spell it

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

Just for your convenience, an old (10 years plus) boiler will be around 60% efficient if you have tanks, a combi will be up to 77% efficient, a condensing boiler will be 90%+ efficient, if it is a combi, that is fine, if you have tanks then a regular condensing boiler will still be 90%+ efficient, but the system efficiency will depend on the tanks/cylinder, a standard copper cylinder will be nowhere near as efficient as a stainless steel quick recovery cylinder, these are usually well insulated and are more efficient with the timer on constant, a fully energy efficient system can save 35% of you energy bills. If you go to the trouble of installing solar panels, (which is becoming increasingly good option with another 30% hike on the way), the installation cost for solar alone can be around £3000, but grants are available, and the potential savings are growing by the month at the moment, it is now, for (in my opinion) a viable option to install solar, or ground/air source heat systems.

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

yaaaay me!

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

Thats another bone of contention with me flashy, its a rip off, I pay exactly the same water rates as two people living in the same type of property, mine is a one bed flat, no bath just a shower every day, I use the washer twice per week. This was discussed on another thread a few months ago, changing to a water meter, I'm seriousl giving it some thought

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

NOOOOOOOOOO DONT get a water meter, my ex had one of those and it was horrible, he ended up paying more for his water than he would have if he'd have paid monthly

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

water meters are cheaper for one person than for a family, if you make a little effort to ease your consumption, fill a washing up bottle with water and put it in the loo cistern, save about a pint every flush, only flush when you need to and use a freshener, when you run the bath, use the water for other things like the garden or washing the car etc.

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

i have a special thing in my cistern that swells when water is added, got it free off the net somewhere, it basically acts like a brick

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

Must be like my belly, that swells when beer is added :D

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lol Ken ya daft sod ;)

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

I'm a bit older than you flashy and as well as having COPD, like Margret I have Osteoporosis, in my the spine which is good company especially when its called

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

We have a 2 bed terrace and pay £40 electric per month and £2 gas!!!! My gas bill has been reduced from £8 per month as I was vastly in credit. We have no central heating but are fully double glazed and insulated. The hot water runs from electric and the cooker is electric. Our only gas is for the fires and they are only on when it is freezing. The house is usually pretty warm, mid terrace with neighbours on both sides flogging their central heating which heats our house too:D

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

For heat I use natural gas supplied by Kingston Public Utilities Commission and my electricity comes from Ontario Hydro ... I pay for what I use on a monthly basis ... winter is expensive, summer is cheap ... it averages out at about $200 a month .... I have a fairly big, older house (which is for sale by the way if anyone is interested ... I want something smaller).

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

Apparently its called a HIPPO.......but don`t ask me why, i have them but no idea why that name..........:rolleyes: we`ve always been on a water meter and don`t find them to bad, the rule of thumb is if you have more bedrooms than people in you`re house you will benefit, i.e 3 people in a 4 bed house. Basically you pay for what you use, if you use a lot you pay a lot.......

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We pay a set price of just under £90 a month for gas and electric but it covers how ever much we use without changing.

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:eek::eek: Yikes...........that seems a lot.

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The brick idea is also good for saving water in the toilet ... tho I have yet to come up with a quick way to clean the crap off it every day:eek:

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

I am ressurecting this thread as we have just had our gas bill from eon, I know these people are numpties, but £4000, they say it is estimated because they didnt get a reading, (so when I showed the meter reader round to read the meter, i must have been dreaming), the equivelant bill for last year was £60, so I think they may have got thier sums wrong.

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They always over estimate bills slightly in there favour just to be on the safe side:D

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yep, they already know its going to be £2000/therm next year :D

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

We have Oil heating and water which costs £110 a month,it has gone from 43p a litre to 62p a litre in the last year and £60 a month on electric.Only have heating on 5 hours a day or drinks oil.UNfortunately in rented and in stix so not alot I can do

Karen

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

'Out in the sticks' you aren't likely to be subject to a smoke control order under the Clean Air Act - so likely one of those 'burn anything' stoves could be used.
It does seem a lot of expense to go to in rented property, but it is up to you to decide whether its cost would be worthwhile.

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

Looks like you who is the main sponsor of the F. A. Cup Derek, any chance of a couple of tickets for next years final:D

Re: gas/leccy survey
 

I’m with Eon on a quarterly meter for gas and electric.

My small ground floor flat has gas central heating and electric shower with hot water on demand in the kitchen and wash basin.

The flat contains a living room (small), bedroom (just as small), kitchen (also small), washroom (no bath, shower instead, toilet and wash basin), kitchen and lobby with a radiator in each. Kitchen one permanently turned off.

Cavity insulation and double glazing.

I don’t like it too warm even at the height of winter so the thermostat is set at 17 C but it is near the front door so that area is always a bit colder than the rest of the flat.

For this last quarter up to early June the bill was £143. The same quarter last year was £110. If the reported increase is true the next quarter for early June 2009 is going to be around £190. I’m expecting less than £100 for the current quarter so that will help to off set the coming winter quarters, which I expect to top £250.