The size of your property can have a big influence on the cost of your monthly energy bills. Generally speaking, the bigger the property, the more energy used, and the higher the bills.
For example, bigger homes need more energy for heating and cooling, and it’s also likely that there are more people living in them; you would expect a family of four to use more energy than a couple, for instance.
As a general rule of thumb, these assumptions could be used to estimate energy consumption for different types of homes:
But unfortunately, there isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ formula to work out the average energy usage for each type of property. These examples may represent some households, but they’re certainly not accurate for everyone. This is because other factors such as lifestyle and habits have a big effect.
For example, what if a family of four living in a three bedroomed detached house are incredibly eco-conscious? They could, theoretically, use less energy than a couple living in a flat who leave the heating and the lights on 24/7.
The energy regulator Ofgem has set out how to group households into high, medium and low energy users. This is a more accurate way to work out how much energy a household uses, rather than just looking at the type of property. Energy suppliers and comparison sites use these user groups for their quotes, and you can use them too to estimate your average bill costs.
Here’s what Ofgem suggests as annual energy consumption for each user group:
So, our eco-conscious family of four could, in theory, be low or medium energy consumers, whilst the couple in the flat could have medium or high energy consumption. Taking into account your property type, family size, and your lifestyle is a much more accurate way of estimating the cost of your energy bills.
But, average bill costs also depend on how efficient your home is. No matter how careful you are when it comes to energy usage, if your house lacks good insulation, double glazing, and draught proofing, then you could be paying for more energy than you need. Find out how you could make your home more energy efficient.
If you’re not sure how much energy you use, installing a smart meter could help you to keep track. Or, use our running cost calculator to help you better understand your electricity usage.
Help spread the word and share this page with your friends and family on your social networks.