Fuel Prices    849269

Domestic Fuels

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Current average fuel prices for Electricity, Gas, Coal, Wood, LPG, Heating Oil, Butane and Propane.

Domestic Fuel Prices

Prices last updated on 28 June 2022

Most of this site is dedicated to giving its visitors useful indicative cost information related to the use of energy in and around your place of residence. Depending upon what is within your control where you live, it is hoped that this information will help you save money and help you make sensible cost based decisions regarding what equipment to invest in, to reduce costs.

fuel prices in the uk various different fuel prices

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 prices currently in use on this site are in the bar chart below, they include VAT and delivery where appropriate.

energy prices kWh gas electricity kerosene fuel oil wood biomass LPG coal smokeless propane butane

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.

** 1 unit (1kWh) is provided by about 3.4 cubic feet or about 0.09 m3 of Natural Gas. This volume depends up on temperature and pressure.

UK Average Heating Fuel Prices. Prices last updated on 28 June 2022
Heating Fuel Unit Energy Average Price Used in the Site
Gas ** Unit 1 kWh per unit £ 0.07 per kWh
Heating Oil (kerosene) litre 10 kWh per litre £ 0.1 per kWh
Wood Log ton 4.2 kWh per kg £ 0.08 per kWh
Wood Chip ton 3 kWh per kg £ 0.05 per kWh
Wood Pellet ton 4.8 kWh per kg £ 0.09 per kWh
Coal ton 9 kWh per kg £ 0.05 per kWh
Smokeless Coal ton 6 kWh per kg £ 0.09 per kWh
Bulk LPG litre 7.08 kWh per litre £ 0.12 per kWh
Butane* 4.5 kg Cylinder 13.7 kWh per kg £ 0.3 per kWh
  7 kg Cylinder 13.7 kWh per kg £ 0.26 per kWh
  15 kg Cylinder 13.7 kWh per kg £ 0.21 per kWh
Propane* 3.9 kg Cylinder 13.9 kWh per kg £ 0.3 per kWh
  6 kg Cylinder 13.9 kWh per kg £ 0.26 per kWh
  13 kg Cylinder 13.9 kWh per kg £ 0.22 per kWh
  19 kg Cylinder 13.9 kWh per kg £ 0.2 per kWh
  47 kg Cylinder 13.9 kWh per kg £ 0.18 per kWh

* Please note that there is usually a rental charge for cylinders of gas of about £ 40.

** 1 unit (1kWh) is provided by about 3.4 cubic feet or about 0.09 m3 of Natural Gas. This volume depends up on temperature and pressure.



The prices currently in use on this site are in the bar chart above.

Comments and Questions

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Electric Prices - J-A-C  2022-08-04 09:32:10
Very useful, think we might use coal this winter but aren't your electric prices too low. Current Deemed Rate from EDF is £0.16 for Economy 7. And based on the fixed rates I'm now getting will be - 62p day / 24p night this winter. Ouch.
reply - Richard  2022-08-04 10:55:51
Hi, the values are currently based on the variable rate, not fixed tarrifs, which seem at the moment to be robbery, double the variable in many cases. You can add you own values on the site and they are stored for the day via session cookies. This winter is going to be hell for many, except the energy firms.
smokeless kg's per day - 3 bed house - Mark Jones  2023-04-04 11:35:40
One 10 kg bag of homefire will heat a well insulated 3 bed semi house for 24 hours - the secret is to keep it on low, almost zero on the air intake dial..over 24 hours will radiate heat from the chimney breast acting as stored heat ..as long as its over 6 degrees c ..you can archive this with just 10 kgs ......if its below zero for a 24 hour period you might want to turn it up a bit , then you'll burn maybe 15 kgs - you must keep the fire in and never let it go out, you must burn it 24/7 - you'll be suppressed how little you can make your room heater use to provide good heating- would not surprise me if it efficiency when done this way is over 50 percent maybe up to 75 percent ...and only slightly warm fumes coming out of the top of the chimney ..as its lost all its heat to the chimney itself on its way up.
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Calorific values - Silverswan  2018-04-13 18:03:50
I think you may underestimate the calorific values of some fuels. My suppliers quote 32077 KJ/Kg for smokeless coal (Homefire Ovals) and 5MWh/tonne for wood pellets. These figures equate to 8.9 KWh/Kg for smokeless coal and 4.8 KWh/Kg for wood pellets. That makes the price of both these fuels roughly 50% cheaper per KWh than your table states.
reply - rdh  2018-04-14 12:12:11
Hi There
Thanks for taking the time to give me some useful data, much appreciated. The thing about both those fuels is there is quite a range of quality (if that is the correct word). But I think to improve this page it would be an idea to put a range in for the more variable fuels. I will get to it as soon as I can.
Thanks again
Richard
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Fuel Prices - Stuart  2017-05-06 12:11:01
Precisely what I was searching for, thanks for putting up.
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Mr - sinbad1900  2017-02-23 17:31:22
The prices on this page are now almost 11 months old. When will they be updated?
reply - rdh  2017-02-24 20:37:51
We update once a year when the data comes out. So in a few weeks. If you register and login you can add your own rates, and most of the site changes to reflect your values.
cheers
Richard
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Best independent site in the UK - David McCaffrey  2016-09-23 15:42:54
This is without question the leading independent site for energy information. It deserves a much higher profile and should be high up in search engine results. May your good work continue.
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Mr - Keith Bacon  2015-07-25 13:37:23
why can't all the gas and electric suppliers just publish a price list of the actual price per unit, for Standard Credit, Direct Debit and pre pay, also the daily standing charge rate. This would then so easy for consumers to see immediately who has the best rates.
Just one website with all the rates, simply.
Mr - Derek Hunt  2016-03-09 17:46:04
I blame the Government and Regulators for allowing this energy market mess. They could at a stroke quite easily insist on the simple unit cost and standing charge rates be published, as per Mr Bacon's comments instead it's all smoke and mirrors. They are part of the problem.
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Mrs - Lynda Tomlinson  2015-06-15 06:35:50
Could you compare the annual running costs between a gas fired 2 oven Aga with a 2 oven, 5 hob range cooker, please?
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why do I pay 4 grand more a year than what i use - Jay  2015-03-22 08:20:33
Just getting real confused with my energy bills. I'm on standard tariff with british gas and my annual cost of energy usage with them is £1265 per year, However when I looked through past year bills the total I've paid is £1847. Can all the Vat and supplier charges amount to 4 grand? looking for some opinion and advice
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Mr - LPG Compare  2015-02-08 14:58:18
Hi Nigel, tell them you want a collective agreement for the site not individually. this will allow a bit more freedom and would prevent new occupiers tying everyone else in. don't accept from them that they don't do it because they do i have seen them offer this to other metered estates like yours. please feel free to contract me at LPG Compare if you would like any furher help.

Jon
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Flogas - rdh  2015-02-08 14:53:04
Flogas has reduced its cost to our community from 50ppl to 44ppl fixed for 12 months however it is tying us in for another 2 years. Not happy about this and have challenged them. They have issued new contracts this time, although when they increased the cost in December 2013 they simply issued a letter. They have told me unless there is 100% support there is no opportunity to change supply. Also, every time a new contract is issued, the whole community is bound by a contract term extension from the date of that signing by a new customer. I.e, every time a new occupant/resident signs up, we are all bound by any T&Cs issued and contract term. This is piracy!!!!



Nigel
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Not Sure It Is Legal - Lee  2015-02-08 13:07:16
Actually I am not sure it is legal. I own a campsite and I am not legally allowed to make a profit on the charges I make for electric hook ups, beyond costs of electricity to me and an allowance for upkeep of the supply infrastructure etc.

I don't see why it would be different for the supply of other types of energy?

I could be wrong but it wouldn't seem right if that was the case.

Perhaps someone else has info on this.
reply - rdh  2015-02-08 14:57:56
It seems it is different for LPG but it is mad that it is have a look at the link

http://www.uregni.gov.uk/uploads/publications/Guidance_for_Resellers_of_Electricity_or_Gas.pdf
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Mr - LPG Compare  2015-02-07 14:45:28
Hi Paul, unfortunately it is legal but morally its absolutely disgusting when he will be paying around 40p per litre!! if he is paying more than 40p tell him to get in touch with me at LPG Compare and i will get him a better deal
reply - rdh  2015-02-08 14:49:30
As the comment above states, it is legal, and seemingly every wrong. I guess the park owners has a mix of other fees. So I imagine the owner would recoupe revenue losses as a result of fairly charging for fuels by increasing the general park fees anyway. It seems to be a tax for greater levels off occupancy.

Here are a couple of links:-

In the first link it descipes a maximum reseller price for gas and electricity, but states LPG is excluded???

uregni.gov.uk/.../...

In the second, in question 2 is shows that only the park owner can switch suppliers as the contract is with them.

www.gov.uk/.../LPG_FAQs.pdf

For some reason LPG is excluded in consideration for fair prices and final customer choice.

cheers

Richard
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Mr - Paul  2015-02-07 13:50:12
7 February 2015
I own a holiday lodge and have to buy my lpg gas from the park owner he is currently charging £2 23per ltre is this legal
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Mr - Tony Smith  2015-01-21 14:24:37
Cylinder Prices.
Are your cylinder prices based on retail or contract?
We live 180ft down a narrow lane so can't get bulk LPG, oil or wood pellets delivered. When the 50 year old Parkray rusted through last year (coal was delivered by pickup truck) we replaced it with an LPG boiler running on cylinders - an option I'd previously discarded as too expensive.

Flo charge us £44+VAT per 47Kg cylinder, delivered and connected, that's 6.74p/KWh or about 48ppl (I think bulk LPG is a propane/butane mix so not an exact comparison)
. I also get the same tariff on 13Kg butane we use for cooking (£20).
At the time Calor stated that they would price match cylinders with bulk. They offered £50.

It's still not cheap but to anyone considering this option I'd recommend ignoring the advertised prices on websites and forecourts, they'll only scare you. Contact the suppliers direct and tell them you want to run central heating so will buy 20-30 per year, not the one or two most people use for cooking.

Unlike a bulk tank Flo do not own any of my installation so no rental charge and nothing to stop me buying from another supplier. If I want to switch all I have to do is give the empties back. Given that they deliver, connect and even flip the valve over the only inconvenience is having to keep placing small orders all winter, rather than one big one.
reply - rdh  2015-01-21 17:00:22
They are retail prices
Your comment offers excellent advice, to users of the site, my thanks
Richard
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LPG Compare - Jon Rose  2015-01-21 08:39:35
Thanks Chris for the kind words. I can help all users of LPG to get cheaper prices and it's completely free of charge. I have numerous years experience in the LPG industry do know which suppliers will best suit your requirements. Simply visit www.lpgcompare.co.uk for a no obligation quote and I am sure you will be surprised with what you might save.
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flogas - jayjohnston  2015-01-15 14:11:20
just out of contract with Flogas, ( I was paying 50.51 ppl) so after reading Lee Breeze's deal i contacted them and was offered 38ppl for 1st yr 2 year capped at 3.5ppl increase - no free gas tho!!
Calor quoted 1 ppl more plus £250 free gas
Have just requested quote from LPG Compare
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LPG Compare - Brilliant - Chris Mutten  2015-01-09 21:31:42
Just switched supplier after contacting LPGCompare.co.uk Jon Rose sorted me out with a deal which should save me at least £500/yr. Highly recommended.
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Flogas new deal - Lee Breeze  2015-01-09 09:54:41
I just negotiated a new deal with Flogas for my bulk LPG. It's 39.375 ppl including the VAT, fixed for 1 year with a max cap of 3ppl on the 2nd year plus £300 free gas. Prices are down, if you are at the end of your current contract you can hit them pretty hard. I was going to switch to Calor and their retentions dept. called me.
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Avanti Gas 56p/litre Robbers - Chris Mutten  2014-12-20 15:31:57
Previous comment should have said [b]Avanti Gas[/b] not Shell gas. Shell were taken over by Avanti Gas a couple of years ago. I have been a loyal customer for 30 years. There appears to be no reward for loyalty. Chris Mutten
reply - Jenni  2015-01-03 12:17:21
We've been with Shell/Avanti since moving into the rented house we're in, about 4 years now. The price has gradually gone up, we paid 57.1ppl last bill, and I have just been sent a renewal agreement offering a discount, meaning I'd pay 54.2ppl. This still seems very high compared to the other comments who use FloGas?
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Great overview - Chris Mutten  2014-12-20 13:41:13
We have just obtained planning permission for a new house and this is brilliant information. We have been using LPG for the past 30 years and think that we have been ripped off for the past 30 years. We use Shell Bulk LPG and our bill last week was [b]56p / litre[/b]. We will probably go for oil in the new place. We are not then tied in to a single source supplier. Many thanks
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mr - pip  2014-12-15 15:20:33
Hello.
Why is your web site so out of date? Energy prices have changed a lot since your current data of March 14 were gathered.
reply - rdh  2014-12-15 20:45:37
when you consider what the website is about - i.e bigger picture decisions on investment and costs you will understand that a time domain of six months is irrelevant. Costs are updated annually and averaged. There is always a fluctuation throughout the year with fuels like wood and LPG. Additionally there is a uk varience.

cheers

Richard
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Price of firewood - Tom Langdon-Davies  2014-12-01 10:42:15
£450/tonne is very high. I pay £110 for a large pickup "load" which I estimate to be at least half a tonne, so it's about 5p/unit, not 10. I use a Clearview 8kW stove which heats most of the house most of the time.
mr - Kerry Hoskin  2014-12-03 15:32:46
agreed I pay around £120 for a tipper load that's 2.4Cum that's seasoned soft wood. I have a 9Kwh burner plumbed into a 700l thermal store running 9 rads and 2 UFH zones. Also have a oil boiler plumbed in to the tank too, and with oil at sub 50p/l its happy days
reply - rdh  2014-12-03 21:13:19
wood is by far the most difficult to get a price view. It is sold by volume, softwood or hardwood. It is sold wet or dry or somewhere in the middle.

On balance I think you are correct, although I have seen £800 for a tonne, of perfectly dry hardwood, I have also seen £200 for 3m cubed of softwood. I have put a new average price in the site of £300 per tonne. But this is still the most inaccurate figure on the whole site. So it is guidance only. Also remember all woods have different calorific values.

As a guide by the way 15kg would have a volume of about 40 litres, there is a lot of air between logs!
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Mr - Nigel Hall  2014-11-17 11:01:46
I think our proce from Flogas at £0.50 per litre is expensive. we are on a bulk tank supply which services seerall properties, not sure how many but probably in excess of 25. The system was installed at tye time of build. Looking at your chart we are being charged £0.05 more. I would like to challenge flogas and get a tender done to get the most competative price. Can you assist in anyway with guidance on current prices and recommending a way ahead. flogas will not giove details of the other users, (data protection)
mr - pip  2014-12-15 15:27:56
50p is outrageous with Kerosine at 45p per litre now.
For the same energy cost, LPG bulk needs to be kerosine divided by 1.6. so you should pay 27p per litre.
In reality it could be even cheaper as there is such a low demand for propane, regarded and burned as a waste product in the petroleum industry.
Mr - Ian  2014-12-16 19:30:44
Hi,
if any help I'm in Northumberland and we pay Flogas 43.5ppl

Regards
Mr - Ian  2014-12-16 19:33:12
Hi,
If any help, I manage a small estate of LPG homes via Flogas and we pay currently 43.5ppl
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Ms - Sha  2014-11-15 08:47:35
Nov 14
Bulk LPG 0.38p litre year 1 then 0.41 year 2
Quotes from avanti gas, flogas and then calor (existing supplier) price matched and undercut.
Tank charge £63 per year
Location wiltshire. Depot Farley/Southampton
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mr - Ali  2014-09-24 15:57:50
Hi we have just bought a house and it has LPG for its heating. The people we have bought off have a contract with calor Gas and they are paying .53.4p a ltr and £16's a month for the tank. Is this expensive or is it average ?
reply - rdh  2014-11-11 19:34:30
Hi Kevin

That seems like a much more sensible price.

Thanks for posting and sharing the info.

Also your comments on the site are greatly appreciated

cheers

Richard
Mr - Kevin  2014-11-11 08:56:15
Hi

We're paying Calor 56.5p/ litre; a local-ish supplier (in Southampton - we're an hour and a bit west) has offered a fixed price of 43p for 12 months, or we buy on delivery day spot price; tank rental cost same as Calor.

Richard: this site is brilliant - thank-you!

Kevin
mr - Ali  2014-09-25 08:13:52
Hi we are in Aberdeenshire
reply - rdh  2014-09-25 08:09:59
Hi
It does seem a bit high according to our data but not outrageously high, geographically where are you? Shopping arround must be a good idea.
cheers
richard
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Mrs - Louise Brannagan  2014-08-29 16:02:07
Could you tell me if 36 pence per unit with LPG is expensive? I'm thinking of taking a rental property that is LPG and the landlord invoices for the use of gas at 36 pence per unit
reply - rdh  2014-09-09 19:11:13
sorry for delay in getting back I was on holiday.
I would say very expensive. for example if say a 3 bed house that could cost £5000 a year to heat, assuming LPG is used for heating. Is it?
cheers
Richard
reply - rdh  2014-09-09 19:14:39
also check what they mean by a unit, do they mean 36p per litre? If so that is fine, if per kWh then it is expensive
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mr - peter higginson  2014-08-16 15:37:59
Can you tell me which is more expensive to run in terms of electricity consumption: an electric 9.5 Kw shower, or an electric power shower drawing from a vented hot water tank, (163 litres) with 4.8 kw immersion element.
Thank you
reply - rdh  2014-10-27 17:06:40
Phil
so if the variance in the cost of the fuel to heat the source water is a factor of three this makes no difference to the cost?????? Humm ......
comparing two showers with the same flow rate, same duration, same water temperature but two fuels, one expensive (electric) one cheap (gas). The source certainly makes a difference.
Richard.
reply - rdh  2014-08-17 17:57:12
Hi Peter

This article covers the question I recon, take a look. The answer is alomost certainly the electric shower is much cheaper

http://www.confusedaboutenergy.co.uk/index.php/energy-saving-tips/hot-water/87-shower-or-power-shower

cheers
Richard
mr - phil clement  2014-10-20 10:18:10
The source makes no difference, its flow from the shower and the length of time used that effects the cost. an electric shower usually has a low flow rate and power shower a high flow rate-beware!
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Mr - Al Tingey  2014-07-21 07:39:26
From your charts am I correct in saying that gas is currently cheaper than Electricity as a means of heating water.
reply - rdh  2014-07-21 09:01:56
generally Yes. Gas is generally cheaper for heating and hot water. But one has to offset the initial capital cost of more expensive equipment, boilers and water heaters.
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Mr - Al Tingey  2014-07-21 07:36:17
From your charts am I correct in saying that pound for pound, gas is currently a lot cheaper fuel than electricityp
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Fuel Prices - finance  2014-07-08 21:58:21
We currently own a rental property here in California that was originakly owned as our primary
residence. It is a Freddie Mac backed loan which was last refinanced with Provident
in 2004 with a second taken outt inn 2005 through our local credit union. Balance about the Proovident loan is $234,000 at 5.5% and the balance to the
second is $33,000 at 6% on the residence wlrth $295,000.

We have now excellent credit, steady verifiable income and hazve never missed
payments. While we're not "underwater" we'd still wish to
refinance to get a lower curiosity rate. Fromm whaat I understand, technically,
wee qualify for HARP two.0, but Provident is
not a participant. Would yoou please recommend a lender/lenders
who would be willing to work with us on this loan? Also, is there
any reason you can see from our scenario that would pose a problem for refinancing?
Thank you in advance. Your site has been a wealth of information!
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mr - kevin kissack  2014-06-30 12:15:57
Could you add a compoarison for electric vehicles please: kWh to petrol? I can see them both on the chart but it would be handy to see MPG (if possible to compute).
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MRS - Helen Seys Llewellyn  2014-05-02 16:02:51
Our recent bill with flogas is more than 68 pence per litre which does not compare favourably with the prices for Bulk LPG in your chart. Could you recommend other suppliers. We are in semi rural Powys Thank you.
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standing charges - ray hawes  2014-03-24 21:16:56
Can i find comparison charts showing fuel prices and the associated standing charges.I am not convinced that so called comparison sites always show the real cheapest supplier when standing charges are included in the comparison.
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Wood (logs) cost - Simon Morgan  2013-12-08 19:41:36
I use a wood-burning stove as I have access to free wood plus cost of chainsaw fuel, my labour etc. Because of a back injury I had to buy some logs and as far as I can tell logs are sold by the "load" and not by the ton (wood chips and pellets may be different). The reasons for logs being sold by volume rather than weight is to do with moisture content. Dry logs are lighter than wet logs so buying a ton of "wet" logs gives you much less useful energy - less carbon per ton AND wasted energy converting moisture into vapour (aka latent heat of evaporation). The problem with the unit "load" is that it is ill-defined so maybe one persons "load" is less than someone else's. The problem is further exacerbated because of the types of wood with hard woods containing more carbon than a lighter, soft wood. I would welcome comments from other wood stove users on the cost of their logs.
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Prices per kWh - Margaret  2013-11-30 16:21:51
I wouldn't usually leave a comment but was so happy to finally find, (as the person above who mentioned the same,), a website that gave average energy prices per KWh. Thanks again if only everyone tried to find out from their suppliers and shared this information the "BIG SIX" and others would have to finally tell the truth and explain their tariffs properly, comprehensively and in a regimented way so ALL customers can understand the EXACT price per kilowatt hour they are actually paying. Many thanks again this is the best site I have found re energy prices in the UK.
Big 6 tariffs - Simon Morgan  2013-12-09 15:07:11
Not all Big 6 are created equal :) SWALEC's web site is excellent and in just a few clicks you can see their tariffs. I am with nPower and I just can't locate a simple table of tariffs. You have to go through the hassle of getting a "quote" (just put in phoney numbers, say 3000 kWh per annum). However the easiest way is to use one of the comparison site. Uswitch.com make it extremely easy to view the tariffs of most suppliers and you don't have to go through the phoney quote route. In fairness to the Big 6 (OK why be fair!), my bills have always spelled out quite clearly what the charges are: X pence per kWh plus Y days at at the standing charge rate. This has been true of Swalec, nPower and Scottish power and surely they all do this or how else would they charge you? If you want your AVERAGE cost per kWh then you do need to divide the annual standing charge by you annual consumption in kWh and add this to the unit cost. Of course the marginal cost of a kWh is just the unit cost you are charged. All this makes comparisons difficult as a very low consumption looks expensive as this standing charge is added however much you use. It is just the "rental" for the wires to your house (sort of...)
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Nuclear - ellie  2013-10-31 17:07:01
Hi Does anyone know the cost (pence/kWh) of nuclear? I have to do a school project on methods of generating energy and I can't find the price anywhere. thanks
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Gas and Electricity Blind Choices - Mark  2013-07-08 18:41:44
It appears when buying there are 3 basic costs you should be able to know. How much they charge you per year as a set figure (the cost of supply) How much per unit of electricity and how much per unit of gas. I have been trying to research this and it is impossible to know as they omit the varying costs based on usage and how the hell they calculate this (eg. monthly or annually). In most case they simply state you will save....£££ that is rubbish how will I save that much??? Break it down!! I am sorely tempted to simply live without both.
reply - Richard  2013-07-08 20:52:57
Yes suppliers do seem to like pulling the wool over consumers eyes. making the key information as difficult as possible to extract. What is worse in my view is that loyal customers the ones that do not choose to switch end up on poor tariffs. It is an industry standard, the same happens with things like broadband. For those who do not know, for both gas and electricity there is a standing charge, this is like the rent each year for the wire or the pipe! That charge is sometimes separately stated or averaged over the unit price. The average price for gas end electricity on the site includes all of these charges as one big average. I agree they should make this clear, always separating the standing charge from the unit rate. I thought our dear government was going to make it simple and clear, to prevent profiteering from those without a doctorate in mathematics. In short I share your frustration. Cheers Richard
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Bulk LPG prices - Richard E  2013-06-11 20:41:33
59.4 pence per litre plus vat seems on the high side, there is a very informative thread on the moneysavingexpert forums called 'Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?' with a lot of information about current prices for bulk LPG, the range is large, and there is some excellent advice about reducing the costs by switching supplier.
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Excellent reference site. - David McCaffrey  2013-06-02 10:43:04
For some time now I have been looking for a site that compares the cost of different energy sources by kWh and yours meets all these needs. I will be telling many friends about it. Please keep up the good work. Will you be updating your figures in the near future?
thanks - Richard  2013-06-03 22:19:54
thanks for you comment David, very kind. When we first started this site we were astounded that no one had tried to present energy data in a consistent manner so we decided we would. Also be aware that there are other sites with data on the price per kWh of tings like butane, LPG or heating oil but they are often wrong forgetting that a kg is not equal a liter. I thing they assume the density of the fluid is the same as water it is not.
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Immersion or boiler in summer - Dave Vickery  2013-05-02 10:01:03
We're on LPG bulk for heating, hot water, cooking using an Ideal Classic boiler. I was talking to a plumber friend who suggested that we would be better off using the immersion to heat the water during summer months. The figures on this site suggest otherwise as I'd always thought. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks
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LPG Prices - Dave  2013-03-25 08:47:00
Hi, I was wondering how accurate your price is for Bulk LPG gas. I am currently paying 59.4 pence per litre (+VAT) so either your prices are out of date or I am paying way too much. Great website, thanks!
LPG - Richard  2013-03-26 11:39:07
Domestic LPG is one of the hardest to quantify in terms of price and with large fluctuation throughout the year. The current price on the site with current prices is about 5% low, I have adjusted it accordingly. The price data on the site is generally the previous years average price, since this is the data that is readily available from UK Gov sources. So all the price are probably a little low given the huge price hikes we are experiencing at the moment. We will look to a six monthly update this year! Having said that you price seems high
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Multi fuel Stove - Nick  2013-03-24 19:02:23
Hello We are in the process of moving to a house in which we want to install a multi-fuel stove to burn wood and coal. I am considering installing a back boiler to the otherwise oil-fired house (no gas in the area). Is the outlay (approx £1k more to install the back boiler element, given that we will in any case fit the stove) worth the payback do you think? The boiler in question is a brand new one and 92% efficient so I am not sure whether this will be more efficient than the back boiler. Thanks.
back boiler - Richard  2013-03-26 11:32:31
I've been mulling this one over. I have to say I cannot easily quantify an answer. It is a tricky question. As an estimate you may use 4000kWh on heating water each year with heating oil this might cost £300. If you have your stove on for perhaps a third of the year and assuming that you only use the back boiler (unlikely) to provide all hot water at this time you will save £100 from the oil bill. The investment taking 10 years to payback. It is never that simple however. That fact that you are heating the water consumes heat that would have otherwise been imparted to the house, meaning in effect that you will end up burning more wood to maintain the desired temperature or you will notch up the central heating, so you are unlikely to save £100 a year. It is a nice idea, a back boiler, but I think the payback is very marginal. There are often other reasons however. If your central heating fails at least you have another source of hot water, I suspect this is a better reason to do it, presuming that you do not have an electrical immersion heater. Hope that helps Cheers Richard
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Consumption conversion - Eli  2013-01-30 05:46:13
Hi all,I live out in Dubai where energy bills are silly prices. Whilst there is no real Gas charge ( no need for heating) our Electric and water bills come in around 700 pounds a month. Today i decided to go and check the meters. The water meter shows 22698 units of use ( the last 3 figures i believe are decimals but they keep these as whole numbers for the purpose of the bill calculation and muliplied by roughly 1 pence per unit) More worrying however is the electricity. The meter shows a usage of 146 units, but when i compare that to my bill there is a conversion to 'consumption' with a multiplying factor of 40. My initial thoughts were this is to convert to KWH but on re-examing the meter i see that the units on the meter state KWH. Can anyone out there please shed some light on the multiplying factor (MF). Kind regards. Eli
KWh - fredsherbet  2013-01-01 16:16:22
KWh are a 'real' thing, and used in science all the time. They are an absolute measure of energy used. 1KWh of energy is used by a 1KW appliance every hour. There are 3600 kJ in a KWh. It takes 0.092 KWh to take 1 litre of water from 20C to boiling.
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standing charge - June  2013-01-11 11:51:59
I have been given an estimate for gas for the coming year based on last years consumption.I know V.A.T is included does anyone know if the standing charge is also included ? British Gas unhelpfull.y
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standing charges in empty properties - Loretta Gooch  2012-12-30 22:14:19
Is there going to be some sort of concession for owners of empty properties, using little or no fuel, who will now have to pay expensive standing charges, with no significant usage of energy. My 93 year old mother died in May 2012, after having been in residential care (North Yorks County Council) for over 4 years, accumulating a loan of considerable size. We maintained the energy supply while we emptied the flat and had a tenant in for a few months, but after he left there has been very little energy used. We would be unwise to cut it off completely, with winter now arriving, but don't envisage using up to the standing charge. We have been trying to sell the property ever since mum went into residential care, but so far unsuccessful. It is bad enough that Council Tax now has to be paid at full rate of £92 per month, together with insurances, and maintenance work. So we would be glad of any advice about this.
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the more we save, the higher the bill ???? - The Equiimedian  2012-12-29 18:12:31
Just thought this info might be interesting for those who are absolutely dumbfounded by ever increasing bills for fuel, when in reality they are using less. Consider what I have written. Let it sink in. Then do your maths. Then complain to whomever will listen. 1) "Standing Charges" are rising in a manner that allows ALL the companies to charge a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly set rate regardless of useage. In reality, the less you use, the more it costs. ie: (not real numbers just examples) a £40 bill = £25 energy + £15 charges OR it means £11 energy + £29 charges. In short it is nigh on impossible to reduce your energy bills due to this rigging of costs. You are going cold for nothing. 2) The "kwh" usage numbers are always showing a larger use of fuel, yet our appliances are using less & less. This is because the companies are setting the calorific value higher & higher on your meter. ie: independant measuring devices actually show LESS actual use than that shown by the companies own meters. This is "illegal" but true. The meters are rigged to show the companies specific opinion of what kwh means, not to show how many amps/volts you have used. ie: 2 identical appliances on different suppliers will show a different kwh usage. Furthermore, ALL electricity meters have since the 50's been capable of being "reset" to show more use from the same amount of energy supplied. The older meters had a small screw on the underside of the spinning dial. This was used to slow down OR speed up the rate at which the counter wheel spun around. Same amount of electricty passed through the device, yet the counter showed a higher/lower kwh. This is a FACT. Modern digital devices have the same capacity. In point, " any meter can be re-set to use more than it actually is". Ask yourself WHY this is so ? If you check all your old bills, you will find that your usage numbers have risen, when in reality you have used less (all new appliances are strictly tested for energy efficiency). I am lucky in that my own household appliances are the same as those from 20 years ago, baring a new fridge, freezer, and oven (all A in the energy charts). In reality, I use less power now than I ever did, yet my usage numbers rise year on year ??? This question has allowed me to understand why I cannot lower my energy bills. I cannot because the energy companies wont allow me to. They simply raise the standing charges (secretly via the computer key used to make payments) AND alter the value used in their own kwh rating charges, ie: control how fast my money is devoured by thie meter. It has nothing to do with how much actual energy I have consumed, only the calorific vale they place on it. 3) "kwh" what does this mean ? It is actually a nonsense word, there is no such thing as kilowatt hours. Electricity is measured in volts & amps. KWH is a word invented to allow charges based on "calorific value" ie: "what you might use your energy for". It does not mean how many kilowatts you use in 1 hour. Gas was measured in cubic volume in the old days, now it is measured in kwh. Hope some this helps those of you struggling to comprehend "whats going on". No my friends, "you are not going mad", you are using less, and the bills are going ridiculously high, well above the %age rates claimed in increases. Your bills are doubling & trebling, but their is little you can do, because "de-regulation" brought out in the 80's makes all of this possible for companies to do. It is "your responsibilty to know your rights & enforce them" NOT the energy companies obligation to apply the law arbitrarily without descrimination. Check your old bills, check your usage, check your kwh usage, you'll see I'm right :-) PS: Good work my friend on having this site, there are so many folk now who are drowning under a deluge of useless information.
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Gas prices - David Nisbett  2012-12-16 12:34:13
Dear Sir,I live on a residential home site and our site owner charges 3.02 ponds per unit for LPG. This seems rather high to me compared with .047 averagew for town gas.Can you tell me the maximum figures in law that a site owner can charge or is just a free for all??Regards
gas price - Richard  2012-12-16 16:09:54
is that per kWh, or a different unit, for example a volume of gas delivered. Can you confirm that before I dig around. 3.02 pounds per kWh for any fuel type would completely crazy, so I'm fairly sure it must be for a volume measure cheers Richard
Electric Charges and law on Resold Energy - ella  2013-01-03 17:37:56
Hi Scottish Power don't charge for a standing charge, but it isn't cost effective for them to send bills out regularly. The law changed in 2003 and a landlord cannot make a profit reselling energy i.e lpg, gas, electricity. He has to provide within 30 days upon written application his costs.
free for all - Nick  2013-10-09 04:13:57
are you on bottled gas? If you are i suggest you form a group t uy your LPG as it sounds too expenisve Thanks Nick
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Cost of Wood(logs) - Gary  2013-02-27 19:38:13
Hi, there seems to be some sort of error in the cost/kWh for wood logs, in your table it shows logs cost between £265 per ton and £315 per ton, this gives an average of £290 per ton, dividing by 1000 gives £0.29 per kg and dividing by 4.2 gives £0.069 per kWh not the £0.035 shown on site. Am I missing something?Thanks for a great informative web siteGary
error - Richard  2013-02-27 22:59:59
Hi Gary well spotted!. On the last update (last week) we used prices for 2 tons of wood not one ton, but quoted on the site one ton. For consistency we moved to one ton prices but forgot that the wood log was a higher volume. The number £0.035 per kWh was correct, and was the number we expected hence why we missed the other error. It is all correct now and many thanks for finding the error, it is appreciated. cheers Richard
Wood (logs) cost - Simon Morgan  2013-12-02 08:42:33
I use a wood-burning stove as I have access to free wood plus cost of chainsaw fuel, my labour etc. Because of a back injury I had to buy some logs and as far as I can tell logs are sold by the "load" and not by the ton (wood chips and pellets may be different). The reasons for logs being sold by volume rather than weight is to do with moisture content. Dry logs are lighter than wet logs so buying a ton of "wet" logs gives you much less useful energy - less carbon per ton AND wasted energy converting moisture into vapour (aka latent heat of evaporation). The problem with the unit "load" is that it is ill-defined so maybe one persons "load" is less than someone else's. The problem is further exacerbated because of the types of wood with hard woods containing more carbon than a lighter, soft wood. I would welcome comments from other wood stove users on the cost of their logs.
Cost of logs - Paul  2014-01-13 15:26:04
I'm paying in Somerset £100 for a cubic metre of hardwood logs. Prices generally in the UK are within about 10% of this. This is actually about 450kg in mass at 20% moisture content (there's an awful lot of air around cylinders in contact). So I make the unit cost per kWh around 7p for hardwood. However, we then have to factor in a stove efficiency of about 70% so the real cost is about 10p per kWh - still cheaper than electric but substantially more than oil, which we use for radiators. Of course it's used as much for aesthetics as for heating. What I do find is that getting the temperature really high in our house for a couple of days (thick stone walls) turns it into a storage heater. Initially the fire is just heating the walls, after that the house is as cosy as it comes, especially first thing in the morning, and it's just a case of topping it up from that point. Those of us without access to gas for heating deserve a break from the Government - surely they could cancel the VAT on domestic heating oil at least; we're paying 50% more to heat our homes as it is. I doubt many firewood suppliers reach the VAT threshold anyway. Fuel costs are tricky to predict but shale gas could depress gas prices - nice for those with gas options but it leaves the rest of us marooned.
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business electricity rates - business electricity rates  2013-02-21 11:24:13
Hello i want to say that this article is amazing, nice written and include almost all significant info. I would like to see more posts like this .business electricity rates
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A monthly double price difference with the exact same build of flats, I'm begging for your opinion - Daniel Brandkamp  2013-02-08 23:54:45
Hello Richard. I am extremely confused with my gas bills in particular, my friends and I are renting 2 Identical flats next to each other in London, the gas is paid via prepayment meters, (which many thanks to your chart) proves to be costly as is. In my flat we spend £40 a week on gas, there's only 4 people in the house and to be honest 2 of them rarely shower or wash dishes etc. Next door they are only spending £20 a week on gas, there are 5 people in the house always cooking so washing dishes, showering often before work and after gym etc, both houses have the same amount of heaters which are always on but not at full blast, due to the bad insulation in our homes.We have the same energy supplier so how on earth is our prepayment meter double that of next door? I look forward to your reply and thank you for your great contribution to this society of lost victims. Kindest regards. Daniel
strange - Richard  2013-02-09 20:48:12
Does seem very strange, Daniel I would estimate that at least 75% of the gas usage in the flats is for heating. So it is likely that the rest of the consumption in the flats is similar and that heating and heat loss difference account for the differences you are seeing. In the summer you could test this by comparing consumption again. A few questions:- Is one of the flats an end flat? Is the insulation better in one or are they both equally bad? Do both the flats have modern boilers, and old inefficient boiler could be the issue. What kind of heaters are you referring to , do you mean radiators or are they gas heaters? Does Next door have the same kind of heater? cheers richard
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pre-payment meters - maria  2012-11-16 04:11:42
Hi, i've just moved into a property a mnth ago which has both pre-payment meters with british gas, the gas supply is from a back boiler system. its your basic, ex-council terraced house, 2 rooms downstairs and 4 upstairs ( 3beds, 1 bathroom) i use the heating on a timer 2hrs in morning and 2 1/2 at night and im going thru 30.00 per wk if i had an extra hr or so in an afternoon when cold then it goes up to 40.00 wk. Is this normal?? i've rung british gas a few times now and they say my meter is working as it should and all ok.
pre-payment - Richard  2012-11-16 17:28:49
It probably is correct. Remember in winter cost are much higher for heating. I pay by direct debit so costs are spread through the year. with prepayment I guess you are much more concious of winter costs. do you know how much you are paying per kWh? Is your loft well insulated, if not you may just be in time to get it done free by your electricity supplier. This will save a lot of money cheers Richard
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Gas/Electricity unit prices?? - Mia  2012-11-01 16:54:05
Apologies for missposting this earlier. Hi, I'm hoping you can clear something up for me. A self catering cottage is charging £0.60p - £1.00 (depending on which cottage) per unit of gas. Not having gas myself I don't know if this is right or wrong. They are also charging £0.23 for a unit of electricity, again not having electricty bills, I am not sure on this either. Could you help please?
unit prices - Richard  2012-11-01 18:45:29
Hi the gas price seems very high if mains gas (4.1p/kWh average now), but I'm guessing it is probably calor gas. if it is mains natural gas what do you mean by unit in this context do you mean 1 kWh, or a specified volume of gas, it is high for a kWh but not for 100 cubic feet for example. If it is calor gas it is still high, cost price of the gas is at the most 30p/kWh, just take a look on calors website. The electric is easy, the average UK rate is about 14p possibly a bit higher now. and they are charging 23p basically the cottage is charging a margin on fuel, I think this is normal practice. The difference between the cottages could be to do with the sizes of the calor cylinders they would use in each. Are the small cottages more expensive? cheers Richard
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Useage - Brian Hume  2012-11-01 12:55:36
We live in a 4 bed farm house, operate two computers all day and run a small oil filled heater in the office apart from that the two of us use average electricity, cooker,TV,kettle etc the hot awter is oil fired, eon say my usage is 4385 Kw hours from June 25 to october 25. Is there any way i can check this.
high bill - Richard  2012-11-01 16:35:06
Hi That sounds impossible, the oil filled heater I guess is electric, and will consume a lot, but it was summer most of the time. You can get a device that uses the relationship between the electrical current passing in the wire and the magnetic filed generated. The one I have is called electrisave. The wire you monitor is mains coming out of the electricity meter. With this attached you experiment to try to see what is going on. Turning things on an off and to compare against the meter. Cheers Richard
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Cost of firewood - Chris  2012-10-23 17:10:49
Your cost of firewood seems very high we have never had to buy any in 23 years but had a busy summer , we have purchased two tonne sacks of seasoned hardwood logs for £90 ?
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gas v electricity - Bob  2012-10-11 15:03:34
Hi Richard, Great site. I'm obviously missing something important here. Why do you take a typical annual energy consumption of 3,300 kWh for electricity but a massive 18 000 kWh for gas? I suspect that the answer must be obvious but it isn't to me! Bob
answer - Richard  2012-10-13 20:31:21
Hi Bob The reason is the proportionally large amount of energy we all use to heat our homes, and provide hot water each year. The majority of us use fuel that can be directly burned for heating, like gas or coal or heating oil. Regardless of the fuel used on average 18000kWh is used per average household each year. It is why it is so important to insulate your home. If you used standard tariff electricity to heat your house you would still use about the same amount of energy as you would if you used gas but it would cost four times more, as electricity costs about four times more per kWh. Generally electricity is for lighting, the tele and in my case too many computers! May family uses nearer 4000kWh each year because of the PC’s I think. Does that answer the Question? Cheers Richard
Gas unit prices - Mia  2012-11-01 15:15:45
Hi, I'm hoping you can clear something up for me. A self catering cottage is charging £0.60p - £1.00 (depending on which cottage) per unit of gas. Not having gas myself I don't know if this is right or wrong. They are also charging £0.23 for a unit of electricity, again not having electricty bills, I am not sure on this either. Could you help please? Thanks.
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Using Electricity - Raymond  2012-10-01 02:35:53
Hi everyone,Just want know if it is legal to install an electric cable to supply next door. I own both houses and the cable is fitted according to health and safety sandard.Thanks for the help
cable - Richard  2012-10-01 22:45:34
no idea Raymond, sorry. Knowing this country however I would guess it must be a problem!
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Gas - James  2012-09-20 07:25:07
Can anyone help?! My landlord of my commercial premises, coffee shop, invoices me for my gas usage. This is because there are several business off the main meter with sub meters etc.He is billing me 1.22 pence per unit for gas. Is this right?? Looking about it seems crazy high?Can anyone help? Is there a different rate for commercial business.Regards
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C.H. Boilers for Kerosene - J.D.Snaith  2012-07-02 12:02:32
The cost of Kerosene at 6.2p/kwh is more attractive than that of electricity, but how much of the heat from the oil goes up the exhaust flue? I have read that modern oil boilers are 95% efficient. Does this mean that only 5% of the 10kwh/litre is lost?
boilers - Richard  2012-07-03 11:39:36
shortest answer ever Yes That is exactly what it means cheers richard
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Kerosene - Sean Hughes  2012-06-22 10:43:12
Do you know if the price of kerosene will be affected by the duty rises imposed on petrol as of August. I can't seem to find an answer anywhere. Thanks.
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Energy costs - Peter  2012-04-24 13:30:12
I can't equate the various figures for heating energy consumption with my own. We live in a three bedroom detached dormer bungalow and run our oil fired central heating for about 6 hours a day and less in summer. This also provides hot water for 2 people. I find that we are using 3500 litres of kerosene a year which with our 80% efficient boiler 28000 KwH or somethong over £2000 per year. But it doesn't end there because we also have to use a coal fire during the coldest months at a cost of £500 a year. With electriciity, we are having to pay something over £3000 a year just for energy. How does this compare to other people living in the country, who are forced to use oil or bulk gas?
Energy costs - Richard  2012-04-24 16:04:19
Hi Peter have you a bit more info. 1. What rate are you paying for heating oil, looks like 7.1p per kWh. 2. what year are you specifically considering, the year 2010/2011 was ridiculously cold and my bill were 30% higher. 3. how well insulated are you? with that we can see how sensible the numbers look. cheers Richard
Energy costs - Peter  2012-04-24 16:33:13
Hello. Richard. 1. Current heating oil price around £600 per 1000 litres (I buy at the lowest possible rate) 2. Costs go up every year. We had a particularly frugal time around Feb when it was very cold and we got within a day or two of empty. Caused by delay in delivery, so we cut back drastically on central heating time. 3. Pretty good. Cavity wall plus loft. Coul do with more around the dormers, but on advice we haven't done any more because opinion of insulation company surveyor said it wasn't worth the payment (even with a grant).t a conservatory over the front door to reduce drafts and gain from hot air produced by sunshine (when it does!). Boiler 80% efficient.Old but regularly serviced. Calculations showed it wasn't renewing in the short term. We are careful with energy and like other people arew being screwed by the oil price.
Energy Costs - Richard  2012-04-25 11:36:01
your number all look correct. this site uses 60p per liter for heating oil, the same number you are using. there are 10kWh of chemical energy in 1 liter so that is 35000 kWh a year and with 80% efficiency as you say that is 28000 kWh. There are several possibilities i think, 1. the average use number for a 3 bed house is wrong on the site. We have tested this number many times and it is generally about right It was however wrong during the cold year 10/11. 2. Bungalows require more to heat them. This can be true depending on the age of the property and how well it is insulated. 3. You like a very warm house???? 4. Your boiler is less efficient than you think it is. Tricky to test this 5. You have a fuel leak (unlikely) Humm, not much use, Cheers Richard
energy costs - Peter  2012-04-25 12:37:34
I should have mentioned that we also have double glazing throughout.We shut off one bedroom and the dining room completely and reduce the thermostatic radiator valves in other non essential areas. My feeling is that the kWh consumption assumed is optimistic. A detached house will always require more heat than a semi and if in an exposed position probably even more. It would seem that there are no really accurate figures for energy consumption/costs available for the various house types in different locations. Perhaps this is another aspect of confusion marketing and government's economy with the truth? Thanks for helping, even though there is no easy solution. As previously stated, I can't be the only one.
Energy costs - Peter  2012-04-25 12:49:12
Just a note I have just received details of a 4 bed bung in hereforshire, situated amongst other houses. The figures give are Heating £2514/year over 3 years, total energy costs £3192 excluding TVs, washing machines etc- Category C. These are supposedly everages for this kind of house in this category Regards Peter
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impossibly high bills - Emma Tranter  2012-03-21 20:46:26
I really need a sense check from someone sensible. I am struggling to believe that my gas and electricity bills are genuine and am worried we are paying for upstairs as well. We live in a 2 bedroom flat with a combi boiler, gas central heating and a gas oven. We have the central heating on for 2 hours in the morning and 5 hours in the evening at 20 degrees. We have the dishwasher on once a day. We run a small bath every day and spend about 20 minutes a day in the shower. Our gas bill for 21 Dec - 15 March (about 85 days) is £350 and electricity for the same period is £160. That equates to about £6 per day for 7 hours of heating, keeping clean and a bit of telly. Does that sound inflated or is that what it costs these days?(i don't understand how to apply the kwh rates to my usage, sorry)
Your Bill - Richard  2012-03-21 22:37:07
Hi Emmaat first glance it does not sound that mad, remembering that it is winter are the summer bills will be much lower. I will crunch the number tomorrow. can you tell me the age of the property and if the flat is well insulated?cheersRichard
Your Bill, does this help - Richard  2012-03-22 18:10:53
The generally accepted data for a 3 bed semi per year (remember these are averages, considering families and single occupancy):- Heating and hot water 16000kWh x 4.1p/kWh = £656 Electricity 4000kWh x 13.7p/kWh = £548 A Guesstimate for a 2 bed flat for a year:- Heating and hot water 12000kWh x 4.1 = £492 Electricity 3000kWh x 13.7p/kWh = £411 Checking my bills over 80% of the gas bill is incurred between October and March half a year, so you might expect a bill of £492 x 0.8 = £394, so perhaps £200 for the period you talked about. Electricity is more static, if not used for heating, your number is for about a quarter year so you may expect a bill of perhaps £100+ Both the gas and the electric seem high I agree, what bill tarrifs are you on?? How old is the property etc and the boiler. cheers Richard
impossibly high bills continued - Emma  2012-03-22 22:31:47
Hi Richard, That's great to know - i am so glad I found your website. I am with Southern Electric for both gas and electricity. The tariff is 'General Domestic NSC - moneysavers.' The property is a large Edwardian house, from around 1900. It has been converted into 2 flats - ground floor and first floor. We are on the ground floor. Insulation-wise, it probably scores about 6/10. The walls are very thick. In the back bedroom we filled the gaps between the floorboards because these were very draughty owing to an external ventilation grille at the back of the house, which let air in and through the gaps. Other rooms are carpeted, bar the living room which is at the opposite end of the house to the ventilation grille. The windows are single-glazed timber sash windows and we have put felted sellotape stuff around the edges to minimise the draughts. The boiler is a Vaillant Combi Boiler and is about 10-15 years old. The British Gas heating engineer told me it is better than many newer ones and it had a total overhaul about 3 years ago when I was pregnant. However, it is located in an outhouse adjacent to the house which means that direct heat from the boiler does not come into the flat. The new neighbours upstairs mentioned last month that they had tried to set up an electricity account with npower who told them that our address is registered as only one property, rather than two. Which is why I started to wonder about our high bills. I obviously need to ask them if they managed to resolve that.
heating - pauline  2013-12-28 16:38:11
Hi Richard can you please tell me is it wise to heat all rooms (even the ones you dont use) in this weather or just the main rooms to keep costs down I live in a two bedroom terrace with a combi boiler and noticed its much more costly,can you please tell me the average monthly bill for this,thanks so much,
Reply to heating - Richard  2013-12-29 09:29:41
Hi PaulineDo you have a little more info. How well insulated is your house for a start. Do you have the number of kilo Watt Hours kWh you are using each year it should be on your bills. How old is your boiler? As a total guess I would say 12,000kWh to 16,000kWh a year and roughly so about £600 to £800 a year with most of the use being in the winter.CheersRichard
Huge bill for gas - Vicky  2014-03-07 05:49:22
I've been reading the previous entries with interest. Our gas bill has just arrived and I can't believe the figures, particularly with reference to the guesstimates of usage above. From 13 Nov to 4 Mar '14 (112 days) the gas units used was 1377 converted to 15,489.87 kWh, resulting in a bill for £708.46!!! This equates to 138 kWh per day. There's 2 of us in a 3 bedroomed ground floor flat in a converted victorian house, . It's reasonably large approx 1200 msq, carpeted and draught-proofed as much as possible including the windows which are the original single glazed. We had a new combi boiler & radiators installed a couple of years ago. The heating is set for 19C in the day and 21C for evenings, going off overnight. We have a couple of showers per day and use a gas hob. Unfortunately I can't compare previous usage as we rented the house out last winter and the previous energy provider we used was all online and we don't have any paperwork. But having lived in the flat on and off for 10 years before that I'd swear we've never used that quantity of gas before. I'm pretty sure the meter was upgraded to metric a bit before we left last year, I thought maybe they'd confused the imperial/metric conversion but the bill states metric units used...converted to kWh. I'm at a loss with this bill especially as it's been such a mild winter. What can we do?
Huge gas bill - Vicky  2014-03-07 09:47:50
Hi, re my last posting, the flat is approx 120 msq (not 1200 msq, oops).
Huge gas bill - Richard  2014-03-07 10:50:58
Hi Vicky two quick questions 1. Is upstairs occupied? 2. When you say you set a day time temperature of 19 degrees, does that mean you someone is in the flat all day? I ask this because this is a high setting for an empty house. ok Three questions! 3. Are all the rooms radiators on? If you are heating the property in the way you describe then I think the meter readings are most likely correct. I agree it was mild this winter, but consider this if you had an electric bar heater in each room with a power rating of 3kWh and assume it is un-thermostated and you leave it on for say 14 hours a day the energy used would be 42kWh per room. cheers Richard
Huge bill - Vicky  2014-03-07 12:49:25
Hi Richard,In answer to your questions, yes the upstairs flat is occupied but the guy leaves 2 rooms unheated.We're home all day hence the heating at 19C and keep the radiators on full (as we use all the rooms) and adjust the boiler temperature up or down as required. This was recommended to us by the heating engineer who installed the system and we've run it that way ever since then including through the very cold winter of '10/'11 and I'm certain that we didn't get through that much gas then. I wondered if it was worth having someone check the meter? Anyhow, thanks for your comments. I think we'll just have to be more canny with the heating in future and get a jumper for the cat!CheersVicky
energy bills - Jan Boreham  2014-03-17 15:47:45
I just called utility warehouse to question my bill which is £233 per month for gas and electric! The gas was estimated wrongly which has brought my payments down by around £20 per month,but they've also wrongly estimated the electricity...which has put my payments UP by wait for it...£100 per month!! So over £300 per month??...Crazy?! I put my figures into various comparison sites,but doesn't look as if I can save much.We're 2 adults,2 teens in a double glazed 3 bed semi,with gas radiators and a gas hob,electric oven and shower. We have one shower a day each,less than 1 washing machine load per day,no tumble dryer and a small dishwasher.What the heck am I doing wrong?Is this the norm.I've seen quotes on here of around £1200 per year...mines nearly that per quarter!! All helpful comments gratefully received!
Reply to Jan - Richard  2014-03-17 16:10:43
Hi JanYour house circumstances are very similar to my family house circumstances and our bills are half yours. What would be useful to try to get to the bottom of this is what is your consumption per year in kWh of both Gas and Electricity and what rates you are you paying per unit of each.An important point is that if you have been underpaying because of estimated readings for a long time then they are recouping the debt in addition to charging more per month for use, since they will now be estimating that you use more than they had previously estimated. So your actually energy use will not be as high as it seems from the current bills.CheersRichard
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Standing charges - Tim Brookes  2012-03-06 22:29:57
Installed a woodburner last october and starting to see the benefits in my gas bills now, however, such a large proportion of my bill is standing charge that if I use no gas at all my only reduces by 75% ! Does (can) your calulator and your tabulated per kWh prices include the standing charge contribution. I am trying to work out whether to replace my gas boiler (when it dies) with an oil boiler. Now my demand has been reduced so dramatically by wood and solar, the standing charge penalty appears to outweigh the oil premium. What say you ?
standing charges - Richard  2012-03-07 19:14:55
Hi Tim I understand what you are saying. The rates on the site include standing charges and are averaged across all supplies and all regions in he UK. These would include people like you with high standing charge ratio. I am therefore unsure how to deconvolute the standing charge from the averaged rate in the site, i do not think it is possible. We may need to do something specific with your numbers, What is your standing charge and unit rate as a starting point. Also have you considered moving to a two tier rate where effectively the standing charge is included in the higher rate. The initial units will cost more but at least you are not paying when you don't use a thing! cheers Richard
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Daily standing charges - Heather Owens  2012-02-23 12:44:44
A very helpful website - thank you! Unit charges kwh seem clear, just unsure how to factor in the daily standing charge of 21p per day into comparing our current electricity provider relative to others available.
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re your site - Richard  2012-02-07 22:27:47
thanks Jo, your comment is much appreciatedcheersRichard
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your site - Jo Grevette  2012-02-04 08:21:21
Found your site by chance - very informative and clear.
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Is a price update due in the near future? - Richard  2012-01-06 17:42:45
thanks for the comments Patrick. Yes a price update is due by the end of January, hope that is soon enoughCheersRichard
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Is a price update due in the near future? - Patrick Allfrey  2012-01-05 21:56:07
Glad to have found the siteit 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.
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cost of bulk LPG - Richard  2012-01-05 18:35:35
good question john.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
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cost of bulk LPG - john hunter  2012-01-04 16:00:52
Hello,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?CheersJohn
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Wood Briquettes - Golden Coals  2011-11-24 08:30:42
Hello EveryoneWe 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.comThank you for your time and we wish you a warm and economical winter.Golden Coals
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Average fuel - Tony  2012-03-17 23:54:55
Hi there, we are looking at buying a house in the country and it is heated by Gas cylinder not a tank. can anyone tell me if it is worth while having a tank installed and what cost we would be looking at? Would it be better to get an aga? Also any advice on consumption of gas would be a great help, it is a 2 bedroom house.
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thanks and calculator - Richard  2011-11-10 12:24:30
Thanks for the commentsI 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!CheersRichard
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ELECTRICAL ENERGY COST CALCULATOR 2 not working - Amanda  2011-10-28 08:37:29
Hi, Great information thank you. When will you next be updating? Also, the calculator doesn't seem to work.Kind Regards,Amanda.
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Dodgy boiler/heating system?? - Amanda  2012-10-30 21:20:09
Our gas bill for the period Dec-Mar last year was an absolutely ridiculous £700!!! We have a Victorian home, with loft conversion & cellar (10 radiators) The loft is insulated to the hilt (over & above recommendations for building regs approval) We have a combi boiler. We have no cavity in the walls so impossible to insulate. We have double glazing throughout. We try our best not to put the heating on until desperate!! Given that we have a baby now (+2 older children) this cannot go on...we shouldn't have to choose whether staying warm is a necessity!! Does 1 unit per hour sound about right for having the heating on? I'm confused. Thank You.
heating - Richard  2012-10-31 10:44:52
Hi Amanda There are so many possibilities. But £700 does sound high. The first point to consider is that it is the coldest quarter of the year. It is most useful to get the annual cost; my guess is £1600 per year in your case. This should buy about 35000kWh of “potential” gas energy, which is 10,000 to 15,000kWh more than average. Your house has no cavities to fill with insulation; this will lose you a lot of heat. Solid walls are not good insulators, as you know. You can get insulation on the insides of your outer walls this is likely to save you money and should pay for itself in a few years, but it does mean redecorating! Is the boiler old? Old boilers can be terrible at converting gas to heat (burning the gas). Can you get the model of the boiler and Google it to see if there is any data on it? Modern boilers are 90 to 95% efficient. The question does 1unit per hour sound right when the heating is on. how are you measuring the 1 unit? Your meter is probably either measuring the number of cubic meters used or the number of hundred cubic feet A unit is a measure of energy that can be yielded from a material, and is defined as 1kWh, this would be for example 1kW of power delivered in an hour or perhaps 2kW of power delivered in 30 minutes. Very Roughly :- [volume of gas used] (m3) x 11.2 = number of units (kWh) [volume of gas used] (hundred cubic feet) / 31 = number of units (kWh) Cheers Richard
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Excellent resource - Gordon  2011-06-29 08:54:58
Excellent resource, a great help in planning the household budget, thanks!
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Finally - Richard  2011-03-22 12:19:39
It used to irritate me too, thats why I decideded to relate everything on this site to actual current price data. It is amazing how fast pages go out of date if this is not done
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Finally - Jason  2011-03-21 14:46:32
Hey many thanks for this.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.
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Fuel Prices - Ed Hogbin  2011-01-25 18:21:09
Could you please add night rate electricity (Economy 7) as this is important if you are not on mains gasThanks
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prices on site - Richard  2010-05-10 17:37:51
they have all been updated, cheersRichard
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fuel prices - Richard  2010-05-09 10:53:18
Hi Mike 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!thanksRichard
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fuel prices - mike Siebert  2010-05-07 10:07:46
Hi,
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test - mike Siebert  2010-05-07 10:05:12
is this working?
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