What's a normal energy bill in the UK? (by home size)

Every price-cap headline quotes one number — £1,663 a year for a “typical household” since 1 July. Useful for headlines; useless for you, because “typical” means a specific thing: a 3-bed semi using 2,500 kWh of electricity and 9,500 kWh of gas a year. If that’s not your house, you’ve got nothing to compare your bill against.

Here’s the missing context.

Normal dual-fuel bills by home size

These use Ofgem’s typical consumption values, scaled by home size with our benchmark model, priced at the July–September cap rates (26.1p/kWh electricity, 7.3p/kWh gas, plus standing charges):

Home	Gas	Electricity	Cost per year	Per month
Small flat / 1–2-bed terrace	~7,000 kWh	~2,200 kWh	~£1,410	~£118
3-bed semi (Ofgem’s “typical”)	~9,500 kWh	~2,500 kWh	~£1,663	~£139
4-bed detached	~12,200 kWh	~2,700 kWh	~£1,930	~£161
Large detached	~14,400 kWh	~2,900 kWh	~£2,130	~£178

Notice what drives the differences: gas. Electricity barely moves with house size — it follows the people and appliances — while gas follows the building, because in a UK home gas is the heating. That’s why the size of your house and the state of its insulation matter more than almost anything you plug in.

Four reasons your number can differ — and still be fine

You’re on a fix. The table uses capped rates. Around 40% of households are on fixed tariffs, some cheaper, some (older fixes) dearer — the fix-or-wait decision is its own article.

Season. Nearly half your annual gas burns in the three winter months. A winter quarter compared against the monthly figures above will look terrifying and mean nothing. Compare a full year, or use a tool that adjusts for the season.

Occupants. A full house runs more electricity (washing, showers, screens) than the same building with one person in it — worth roughly a few percent per person either way.

All-electric homes (no gas — mostly flats and off-grid houses) buy all their heat at electricity prices: fewer kWh than a gas home’s, but dearer ones, and no gas standing charge. The table above doesn’t apply cleanly — the comparison tool below handles it.

Average is not the target

Before “about average” reassures you: Ofgem’s typical values describe the UK’s housing stock as it is — which is old and leaky. A well-insulated version of the same 3-bed semi — decent loft and cavity insulation, sealed draughts, a properly set condensing boiler — runs on roughly £1,300 a year at the same cap rates. Same house, same family, about £360 a year less, every year, without a heat pump in sight.

So the table tells you whether something’s unusual. The gap between your number and the insulated version tells you what’s on the table.

Check properly

A table can’t know your home. Our free comparison takes your actual bill — gas in kWh, standing charges and all — adjusts for home size, occupants and the season the bill covers, and shows where you sit against an average and an efficient home, then tells you whether your lever is the tariff or the usage. And for the priced list of fixes — including the free ones like boiler flow temperature, and the ones we say to skip — that’s the UK guide.

Consumption anchors: Ofgem typical domestic consumption values (2,500 kWh electricity, 9,500 kWh gas — reconciles to Ofgem’s £1,663 typical bill at Jul–Sep 2026 cap rates). Size scaling and the efficient-home figure: Decode Energy benchmark model (the same one the free tool uses), efficient ≈ a well-insulated gas home at EPC-B-level performance. Your tariff, region and home will vary — check your own bill.