Utility costs, what are yours like?

[crookesey]

We've just had our Yorkshire Water account, a £165.22 refund and an estimate for next year of £204.00. I don't think that's bad for a 1450 square feet detached house, obviously on a meter.

 

We have just moved our gas and electricity to first:utility, monthly internet billing, they reckon that our £1450 annual account will come down to £1050. Our heating is on 16/7 in tandem with electricity usage, how do we compare with you guys?

[watchcoll]

:o:o:o

 

How much?

if thats what it costs to live in a big house with a family, im staying single in my little city centre rabbit hutch....

 

i am on electric only. my last two bills have been £250 for 6 months over last winter and spring and £85 for three months, and i use the washer dryer a lot. there must be another bill due soon though.

 

all electric heating but the place is warm anyway. landlord (or my rent) covers the water bills.

 

*sits here wondering if i really do want to buy a house after all...*

[crookesey]

:o:o:o

 

How much?

if thats what it costs to live in a big house with a family, im staying single in my little city centre rabbit hutch....

 

i am on electric only. my last two bills have been £250 for 6 months over last winter and spring and £85 for three months, and i use the washer dryer a lot. there must be another bill due soon though.

 

all electric heating but the place is warm anyway. landlord (or my rent) covers the water bills.

 

*sits here wondering if i really do want to buy a house after all...*

 

I felt like that when I left my flat in the early 70's. Your annual power costs will be circa £450, so I reckon that I'm not doing that bad if you have say, circa 500 square feet of living space.

[watchcoll]

saw on the news a couple of nights ago that the pricing of these energy companies is under investigation.

 

its shocking that they're putting prices up again when they have already increased their profit margins by putting up prices before.

 

who thinks it will mean a reduction in prices next year?

im with NPower and hoping the Ofgem investigation puts them off raising their prices...

[CottonTop]

You know.....I'm doing my best to reduce my bills. I don't use my clothes dryer anymore, except for sheets and towels and I don't use my dishwasher at all. No lights on in the house during the day at all and I've switched all my bulbs except a handful to florescent. But I'm not seeing any reduction in my electric bill. I suppose the difference could be that I cook at home more now. Maybe my electric range/oven could be eating up the difference. I have a bucket in my shower that I collect wasted water in to flush my toilet. I keep my thermostat on 64F at night, at most 67F when the kids are here but don't have a new gas bill yet to compare. Any suggestions on reducing my utility bills?

[Hetty]

I pay £85 per month (direct debit) for gas and electricity, 3 bed semi, live alone, 18 a month for water. I use a slow cooker for a lot of my food, have a ceramic hob and usually cook veg (if possible) in one pan, have dishwasher , but don't use it very much.

[mc55]

I pay £85 per month (direct debit) for gas and electricity, 3 bed semi, live alone, 18 a month for water. I use a slow cooker for a lot of my food, have a ceramic hob and usually cook veg (if possible) in one pan, have dishwasher , but don't use it very much.

 

I pay similar to you - 3 bed middle terrace. Two of us though, my OH works from home so heating is on a lot (in my opinion ) We're with Scottish Power - no idea if they are the cheapest (so difficult looking at other companies as they all present their charges differently).

[Alex C.]

We pay around £5 a week for gas (sometimes less - when the heatings on, it goes up to around £15 a week) and around £17 a week for electric. That's about £900 a year for electric which isn't too bad when you consider it's a shared house and there are 5 TV's and 7 computers in the house

 

We're on a prepayment meter unfortunately, so we could probably save some money but we seem to be doing alright. We're on a dual fuel tarrif with British Gas.

[crookesey]

We've just had our Yorkshire Water account, a £165.22 refund and an estimate for next year of £204.00. I don't think that's bad for a 1450 square feet detached house, obviously on a meter.

 

We have just moved our gas and electricity to first:utility, monthly internet billing, they reckon that our £1450 annual account will come down to £1050. Our heating is on 16/7 in tandem with electricity usage, how do we compare with you guys?

 

Well if the total cost of gas, electricity and water comes to £3.43 per day, that will do me. Our dishwasher is on 5 or six times a week, we use the dryer as and when required and only turn the GFCH off when we go to bed, we don't leave lights on for the sake of it, but aren't fanatics.

[watchcoll]

despite telling myself that i will try and cut my energy usage this winter, the only thing i can really do is cut down on the heating.

i'd rather use the dryer for half an hour a couple of times a week than have wet clothes drying in a small space...

 

and going on crookeseys sentiment above, i can afford what it costs to be comfortable in my home so i should be. not being wasteful is probably what im trying to do now. so its lights off and jumper on during the day. but im not afraid to put the heating on if i need to.