how much a month do you pay for electric

ukprometheus

got my electric bill through this morning

i normaly pay £70 a month on electric and have never been in arrears normally in credit

however this quarter is a different matter £120 in arrears, only thing i have added to the flat is a dishwasher so i put some new batteries in the owl as i had let it go flat cos i was sick of putting batteries in it and oh yes thats a hungry beast on the electric but i didnt think it would make that much difference.

Wild Weasel

Seems like a big jump. Are you using the dishwasher on a long program - a 1-2 hour cycle or something? I find that the short ones are perfectly good enough. Even a 30 minute economy wash does a nice job.

Also, your water usage should be lower now. If you're on a meter you'll save some money that way.

ukprometheus

yeah i kinda was doing 2 hour washes with the dishwasher

robh2002

We've a pretty old dish waster which uses about 1.2kWh per 2 hours wash, but it's only on just over once a week - how often do you use it? That could well be the main issue - we only put it on when it's completely full...and some!

ukprometheus

i was doing 2 hour washes twice a day

robh2002

Umm, looks like this is the answer! How does anyone put enough in a dish washer to need it twice a day?!

We tend to wash the things we need most often and always to the pots and pans by hand - hence twice a week...

johntheexpat

Over the last twelve months.
Used 13,722 KWh at a cost of 1,492.37€

We also use about 10€ worth of gas (inc standing charge) per month.

In the winter we supplement the heating with a wood burning insert and a free standing butagaz heater (each cylinder lasting about 2 weeks in the depths of winter, and we may get through 4 or 5 per season)

Marc

i was pleasantly surprised recently to find my e.on account £250 in credit after just one year was paying £90 per month for gas/electric but for the next year i will be paying £42

Pipsaholic

Pay about 250-300 per month in gas/electric 50 quid of that is to pay off a 500 arrears balance. We have a 4 bedroom semi detached home we just got solar installed so hopefully cut the bills down.

Confucius

Seems pricey, even allowing for the £50 pcm arrears; almost double my house and flat combined. Are you growing 'herbs' under uv lights or something?

Family 4 bed detached: 3.50 Mw electric & 14.9 Mw gas p/a, £88 pcm. No solar, just Scottish Power and lots of CFL, now all replaced by LED, bulbs. (Gas: hob, hw & ch; electric: oven, lighting etc.) We're considering getting solar but our aspect isn't ideal - E/W facing roof, although that should still get ~85% efficiency compared to a South facing system. That said morning and particularly evening are peak useage hours, so we might benefit more from the 'free' power.

My pied-à-terre (single bedroom) flat in Oxford: 1.15 Mw electric & 6.67 Mw gas p/a, £45 pcm (First Utility). (Gas:  hw & ch, electric: everything else)

I'm no ecomental, I just resent paying out money! If you're looking to cut what many would regard as a fairly hideous outlay on energy then calculate exactly how much energy each device uses. For example, I know that a 2 minute shower in my flat uses 0.5 kw of electricity, filling the hot water tank uses 0.5 cu. m of gas - about 5.5 kw - which provides enough water for 1 bath and a day's washing up.  In my house we only use the dishwasher once a day tops, ideally we pack it so we use it 6 times a week rather than 7; every little helps. Sounds as though I'm an energy nazi? True, but I've cut my energy usage by half over the last 7 years, leaving extra money for stuff that's more enjoyable than paying bills.