Getting to the actual cost of energy in your area, in you type of accommodation and with consideration for your personal circumstances is close to impossible because there is so much variety. The best that can be achieved is to have an average for each major fuel type. For those of you that are interested the range of prices in the UK for most fuels is presented in the table below . It should be noted that the values presented here vary with time and the cost of fuel in the overall economy, as a consequence these values are regularly updated and as they are updated all the costs in the site change automatically. The most accessible figures are for electricity and natural gas since these are the main sources of energy for most households in the UK. Using the BERR (Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform) quarterly review, the following tables summarise the three main billing methods and provide the largest and smallest unit rates in the UK and then the average of these. The total annual rates are based on the average use per household in the UK. Prepayment was a lot more expensive in 2008 it appears to have reduced dramatically this is good news since typically those who can least afford it were forced onto expensive prepayment tarrifs! |
The prices currently in use on this site are in the bar chart below, they include VAT and delivery where appropriate.
|
| Last Updated | 1th February 2012 | |||||
| ELECTRIC | Standard Credit |
Direct Debit | Prepayment (meter) | |||
| Unit (kWh) cost | Average annual cost | Unit (kWh) cost |
Average annual cost | Unit (kWh) cost |
Average annual cost | |
| Highest | 17.06 pence | £ 563 | 15.27 pence | £ 504 | 16.91 pence | £ 558 |
| Lowest | 12.88 pence | £ 4.25 | 11.67 pence | £ 385 | 13.31 pence | £ 439 |
| Average | 14.29 pence | £ 472 | 13.2 pence | £ 436 | 14.64 pence | £ 483 |
| An average annual energy consumption of 3,300 kWh is assumed for all calculations, and all figures include VAT | ||||||
| Last Updated | 1th February 2012 | |||||
| GAS | Standard Credit |
Direct Debit |
Prepayment (meter) | |||
| Unit (kWh) cost |
Average annual cost | Unit (kWh) cost |
Average annual cost | Unit (kWh) cost |
Average annual cost | |
| Highest | 4.62 pence | £ 831 | 4.2 pence | £ 755 | 4.35 pence | £ 782 |
| Lowest | 3.87 pence | £ 696 | 3.57 pence | £ 574 | 3.89 pence | £ 700 |
| Average | 4.15 pence | £ 747 | 3.89 pence | £ 700 | 4.13 pence | £ 743 |
| An average annual energy consumption of 18,000 kWh is assumed for all calculations, and all figures include VAT | ||||||
Direct debit payment and standard credit are equally used as payment methods for both electricity and gas, and about 15% use prepayment meters. The figure used for the electrical unit price and the gas unit price in this site is half way between the direct debit tariff and the standard tariff and is currently
- £ 0.137 per unit (1 kWh) for electricity, last updated 1th February 2012
- £ 0.041 per unit (1 kWh) for gas, last updated 1th February 2012
Almost all other energy sources are used for heating and hot water, and this is a huge and very important cost element in your accommodation. The table below shows all the heating fuels in common use, there are others (corn pellets, wood chip and even cow dung!) but we only show the main ones in use in the UK. For consistency and sensible comparison with electricity the final price of energy is given as pence per kilowatt hour (kWh). For further clarity this is the amount of potential energy in the fuel, and not the energy delivered from an appliance, it is therfore important that the efficiency of the heating application is also factored into cost calculations within the site and you will see efficiency factors in some of the tables.
| Heating Fuels | Range of Prices | Energy | Average Price Used in the Site | ||
| Low | High | ||||
| Gas | Unit | £ 0.039 per unit | £ 0.042 per unit | 1 kWh per unit | £ 0.041 per kWh |
| Heating Oil (kerosene) | litre | £ 0.58 per litre3 | £ 0.61 per litre3 | 10 kWh per litre | £ 0.062 per kWh |
| Wood Log | 50kg bag | £ 10 per bag | £ 20 per bag | 3 kWh per kg | £ 0.1 per kWh |
| Wood Chip | ton | £ 90 per ton | £ 100 per ton | 3 kWh per kg | £ 0.032 per kWh |
| Wood Pellet | ton | £ 220 per ton | £ 233 per ton | 4.5 kWh per kg | £ 0.05 per kWh |
| Coal | 50kg bag | £ 15 per bag | £ 20 per bag | 9 kWh per kg | £ 0.039 per kWh |
| Smokeless Coal | 50kg bag | £ 16 per bag | £ 21 per bag | 6 kWh per kg | £ 0.053 per kWh |
| Bulk LPG | litre | £ 0.5 per litre | £ 0.5 per litre | 7.08 kWh per litre | £ 0.074 per kWh |
| Butane* | 4.5 kg Cylinder | £ 16 per cylinder | £ 16 per cylinder | 13.7 kWh per kg | £ 0.26 per kWh |
| 7 kg Cylinder | £ 17.99 per cylinder | £ 21.5 per cylinder | 13.7 kWh per kg | £ 0.206 per kWh | |
| 15 kg Cylinder | £ 33 per cylinder | £ 33 per cylinder | 13.7 kWh per kg | £ 0.161 per kWh | |
| Propane* | 3.9 kg Cylinder | £ 15.5 per cylinder | £ 15.5 per cylinder | 13.9 kWh per kg | £ 0.286 per kWh |
| 6 kg Cylinder | £ 18.5 per cylinder | £ 20 per cylinder | 13.9 kWh per kg | £ 0.231 per kWh | |
| 13 kg Cylinder | £ 25.5 per cylinder | £ 25.5 per cylinder | 13.9 kWh per kg | £ 0.141 per kWh | |
| 19 kg Cylinder | £ 35 per cylinder | £ 35 per cylinder | 13.9 kWh per kg | £ 0.133 per kWh | |
| 47 kg Cylinder | £ 60 per cylinder | £ 65 per cylinder | 13.9 kWh per kg | £ 0.096 per kWh | |
*Please note that there is usually a rental charge for cylinders of gas of about £ 30.
The prices currently in use on this site are in the bar chart below.
Cheers
Richard
it takes most of the mystery out of the subject.
The major suppliers as so reluctant to explain anything.
It appears even their staff are kept in the dark (no pun intended)
Thanks for the obvious work that has been undertaken.
Happy New Year.
the prices are based on the cost of the fuel alone. So I guess an ROI calculation is required to calculate the cost profile with a storage tank install. I will get hold of some numbers for this when I get back to the UK
Does the cost of the above per kwh include an estimate for the cost of installation/rental of the tank, or is it for the gas only?
Cheers
John
We have several independent reviews that show biomass wood briquettes (Golden Coals) outperform traditional coals and logs in multi-fuel stoves and wood/ log burners. The heat output is similar to coal and higher than logs. Low moisture means a healthier chimney/ flue and fewer sweeps. Low ash content at around 0.7% and our product is 100% eco-friendly. The residue is perfect as a garden fertiliser. The cost can be as low as 24.8p/ Kg (domestic supply). If you want to find out more, please visit www.goldencoals.com
Thank you for your time and we wish you a warm and economical winter.
Golden Coals
I have recoded the calculator using Java instead of Javascript, it should now be more robust. I will also refine it a bit later, it outputs too many decimal place at the moment!
Cheers
Richard
Great information thank you. When will you next be updating? Also, the calculator doesn't seem to work.
Kind Regards,
Amanda.
cheers
Richard
I wouldn't usually leave a comment but was so happy to finally find a website that gave average energy prices per KWh. Keep updating when possible.
Thanks again.
Thanks
Richard
yes this works and is still live. I'll do my best to get up to data next week. The government reports the data comes from were still not published last time I looked (March), not sure why, perhaps the civil service is busy with other stuff!
thanks
Richard