What is the average monthly gas and electricity bill?

Your average electricity bill

An hour's worth of electricity in your home costs about 15p. The table below gives you a rough idea of what your average cost might be per year. Remember, prices can go up and down, depending on the tariff you’re on. So take a look at your bill to see the actual figure.

Your average gas bill

An hour's worth of gas in your home costs about 4p. As with electricity, gas prices go up and down. But this table will give you an idea how the average UK household pays for their gas – depending on whether they’re a high, medium or low usage home.

How we calculate your energy bill

There are two parts – the amount of your energy use, and the standing charge. This covers everything from running costs, pipes and cables, through to government levies for green initiatives.

What are kWh?

Kilowatt hours (or kWh) are the units used to calculate the amount of energy you use. To give you a rough idea, one kilowatt hour is about the amount of energy it would take to boil 10 kettles, run a full cycle of your washing machine, or keep your laptop powered for two days.

How your household type affects your energy bill

Are you a typical household? The energy industry breaks down typical domestic customers into three broad categories – low, medium and high.

A low energy user could be a single person or couple working full time, living in a flat or small house.

A medium energy user could be a small family in a three-bedroom house, who work full time with children in school.

A high energy user could be a large family of four or more people, living in a house with four or more bedrooms, who spend a lot of time at home.

Want to find out what everything means on your energy bill? Read our guide to Understanding your energy bill. And if you want to cut your bill down to size, take a look out our hints and tips to save energy in your home.

What does your energy bill cover?

As well as the actual energy you use, your bill also covers things like running costs, pipes and cables – all the infrastructure that keeps gas and electricity flowing to your home.

Some of these are covered by our Standing Charge. Some energy providers choose to set this at £0. This doesn’t mean they’re not charging you, just that they’ve added it to the price of each kWh of energy you use.

So when you’re deciding on a tariff, make sure you’re comparing like-for-like. And take a look at our How to compare energy suppliers guide.

Here’s a breakdown of what else your bill is made up of.

Use of pipes and cables

There’s a charge for getting gas and electricity into your home. This charge may go up or down every few years, but don’t worry, any savings will be passed on to you.

VAT on energy bills

Your energy provider includes the government VAT on gas and electricity in your energy price per unit. If the government makes a VAT change, your energy bill will also change.

Levies for green initiatives

Part of your bill goes to the government’s green electricity projects, which will help to cut carbon emissions. It’s also used to incentivise people to use renewable energy sources, such as solar panels.

Levies for social initiatives

Your energy bill also includes a government levy to support its Warm Home Discount. This gives vulnerable people a £140 one-off discount on their electricity bill. If government policy changes, your bill will change too.

Running costs

Part of your bill helps us run apprenticeships, develop new energy-saving technology and customer service apps. And, installing smart meters in millions of homes across the UK.

Energy bill profits

The smallest part of your bill is our profit. Most of it goes back into the business, to future-proof your energy supply and help you to control the amount of energy you use.