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A two bedroom flat can be one of the more expensive rental properties in the UK, especially if you live in a built up city where low cost housing is scarce. If you’ve just moved in, then you might be surprised at how high your electricity or gas bill is, and you’re probably wondering whether the charges are right.
But what is the average costs for someone living in a two bedroom flat? If you don’t know the average, then you don’t know how much you should be paying, and you can’t work out how much you could save by moving to a cheaper energy supplier. So, let’s look at what the average is for someone living in the UK.
Average Gas and Electricity Bill for a Two Bed Flat
The average electricity bill for a two bed flat in the UK is approximately ÂŁ336.20 per year, with an additional standing charge of ÂŁ85. The average gas bill for a 2 bed flat is approximately ÂŁ253.60, with an additional ÂŁ95 standing charge. In total, this means that the bills for a two bed flat are around ÂŁ769.80.
So, if you’re paying a lot more than £800, then it might be worth looking at switching your supplier. Your energy bills are generally dictated by your energy company, as you’re going to have the same average gas usage and the same average electricity usage no matter what supplier you’re using. However, if you can tweak your energy consumption and use less, then this can make a massive difference on that £800-ish bill.
But first, let’s look at things in a little closer detail to try and work out how we got to this figure. This includes the kWh per hour charge, so if you know how much you’re paying, then you can work out just how much you could save.
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Two Bed Flat – Electricity Usage
If we look across the board, then on average a two bed flat will use around 2000 kWh of electricity on a yearly basis. This works out at £336.20 across the entire year, or just over £28 on a monthly basis. This is only marginally less than the average energy bill for a small house, so there’s not a ton of savings to be had there.
When we add this to the pretty average standing charge of £85 per year, then we end up getting a total of £421.20 over the course of the year. If you can get cheap rate electricity in your area then it can be even less than this, and you’ll usually have to go into a fixed rate tariff to do that, which are the most common.
The average monthly utility bill in a flat is going to be quite a bit lower than what you’d get if you live in a 3 or 4 bedroom house. You’ll see a difference in electricity, but if you’re a high energy users then you’ll want to think about how much gas you’re using too.
Two Bed Flat – Gas Usage
Now, looking at the average gas figures based on an estimated usage of 8000kWh of energy. Gas charges are a lot lower than the cost of electricity, although we do end up using a lot more in terms of units. If we multiply the 8000 by an average of 3.17p charge per kWh, this gives us a total of £253.60 across the course of a year – a little over £21 per month.
Adding in the standing charges, then we get an overall total of ÂŁ348.60. Both gas and electric costs for a 2-bed flat are actually pretty reasonable. For most people their gas bill will be a little bit lower than their electric bills, but obviously this relies on the person actually using gas heating in the first place. Electric heating is definitely better for the environment, but generally they end up being more expensive than their gas equivalents.
Am I paying too much on my bills?
Hopefully this average has given you an idea of whether you’re paying too much currently for your electricity and gas bills. This is just an average of the big six suppliers, which are typically a little more expensive than some other cheaper options. So, you could save even more money by switching your energy supplier to someone else.
A two bed flat actually isn’t that much more than a one bed – have a look at this electricity price guide if you want to compare the price to houses. This will, of course, depend on your overall usage of the energy in your house too. A one bed flat with a couple who stay at home all day with the lights on, watching TV and washing their clothes (it’s just an example!) will be more expensive than a two bed flat of people who are at work all day.
You can also look at choosing a different kind of tariff than the standard. A good one for regular 9-5 workers can be the Economy 7 tariff, which is more expensive in the daytimes, but much cheaper in the evenings. Moving to this kind of tariff can make sense for students households, for example.
The best way for you to find out if you’re paying too much is to contact an independent company, like a comparison site. They can help to give you a better idea if what you’re currently paying is fair, and they can find out if you can get a better deal elsewhere.
Conclusion
All in all, a two bed flat shouldn’t be costing you much more than £70 per month for both your gas and your electric. This will depend on your location in the UK, which is one of the biggest factors in determining your energy bills at the end of each month, as it varies from region to region. This is obviously amongst other things, at there will be other factors that affect your bill costs too.
