Starting Up - Estimating Usage of Gas / Electric & Water

If you are planning to buy a rental home, or you're thinking about what to do with one you have just acquired, this is the place for any questions about starting out in the rentals business.
Tillee
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 4:03 pm
Location: Devon

Starting Up - Estimating Usage of Gas / Electric & Water

Post by Tillee »

Hi - I'm in the UK & have been trying to work out my costs to work out a rate to charge for a 3 bedroom bungalow with 1 bathroom with bath, shower & w.c. + 1 ensuite with shower & w.c. plus usual handbasins, also washing machine, dishwasher & kitchen sink :) in the property.

Does anyone have an idea of how to calculate an estimate of the unknown when you have no past history to go on for guest usage of electricity, gas & water?
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greenbarn
Posts: 6146
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 6:41 pm
Location: The Westmorland Dales, Cumbria

Post by greenbarn »

I assume you’re not considering charging separately for the utilities (if you are you’ll lose bookings as a result and they’ll have to be metered as you can’t charge for more energy than is used) so it’s a case of the costs being an overall expense of the business. As energy usage will differ significantly over the year almost directly opposed to the seasonal differences in rental charges, you can really only look at the numbers after a year’s trading.
There are so many variables in terms of insulation levels, occupancy, type of heating, guest profile etc that there aren’t any “typical” numbers - my energy costs over the last tax year represent 7% of revenue, some owners could easily see double that; that’s not, of course, an even distribution of 7% per booking.
ianh100
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:37 pm
Location: Sherborne Dorset

Post by ianh100 »

I would agree with Greenbarn. all of my heating is electric and my costs can be as low as £15 a week in the summer to £150 a week in the winter (heating left at 28C 24x7)
akwe-xavante
Posts: 306
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:19 pm
Location: East Yorkshire

Post by akwe-xavante »

Agree with above but i can add that in 2017 i had 34 weeks booked. Bookings of course comprised of couples upto 4 persons and an occasional dog and or child. Sleeps upto 4 with one wetroom comprising of a shower and bath. Most of the bookings were between week 14 and week 44.

The average weekly consumption of Gas, Water and Elecricity was £19.70 (over 34 weeks only). The actual total at the end of the whole year of course was more than this because even empty a property atracts daily standing charges on all three services and the property is being heated even when empty to 13 degrees. Electricity useage for security lighting, CCTV and alarm and router even when empty too.

Read the meters every changeover, you'll soon work out how much your guests are using. Create a spreadsheet to calculate usage and costs for you on entering readings each week
Tillee
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 4:03 pm
Location: Devon

Starting Up - Estimating Usage of Gas / Electric & Water

Post by Tillee »

Thank you for your replies everyone.

Perhaps my guesstimate of £100 a week for gas, electric & water might be too high.
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Giraffe
Posts: 410
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2016 10:10 am
Location: Cornwall, England

Post by Giraffe »

I'm all electric. Annual charge is around £2,500, probably high as I have a mixture of night storage and wall panel heaters, plus immersion heater which I think holiday makers leave on 24/7. Large house, 4 bedrooms, kitchen, 2 lounges, 2 bathrooms, 2 extra WCs. Property is heated (on low) when empty.

I don't have a water meter. National average daily usage is 150 litres per person. My septic tank man tells me that holiday makers here use more, around 200 litres per person per day.
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