First of all, check the attic and see if you have adequate insulation. If not, get more insulation. You lose a lot of heat through the ceiling of the upper floor. Also check the exterior walls to see if they have blown insulation in them. If not, try to budget for that in future.
Get out of prepayment meters. Phone BG and ask them why you are paying so much. Even with prepayment you should still be paying for only what you use.
One more thing ... what kind of windows and doors do you have? Are they fairly good quality double glazing? If not, that would make your heating bills higher.
All these things should be considered before moving into a new home, whether buying or renting, but in the UK, NOBODY asked for information on them - they just look at the house/flat and figure out whether they like it or not. Or maybe it's in the 'right' post code. In Canada, you ask to see the utility bills of the place you're going to buy/rent. That way, you can factor the costs into your budget, or if it's too expensive, you look for a better place to live.
Ouch, if possible get off the pre pay meter as soon as possible, they really do fleece you on them. We pay direct debit of ￡72 a month for both gas and electric combined and we have a four bed house. At the moment we are in credit going into the winter months but luckily that should mean we do not need to have a great big bill when it gets really cold.
But pre pay meters are generally known to be the dearest form of getting your fuel.
I leave all of my lights, tv, radio, and computer on 24 hours a day. I dont worry about saving electricity. If I was rich enough I would buy a yellow h2 hummer so that I could waste gas too.
I spend about $150 (US) on electric a month, and use not gas for cooking.
I use oil for heating water and stream heat, and the oil costs on average about $200 a month.
we spend $0.00.. Because we are not using electricity now-a-days
I've just moved into a 3 bed house, everything electric apart from the vaillant boiler and central heating.
I'm currently with British gas and on prepayment meters (have never been on them before normally use direct debit)
I'm going through about ￡2 electric a day and ￡5 gas a day!
This can't be correct its far far too expensive?!
I'm just wondering what do others spend as not sure if this is right but works out ￡196 a month!! xx
