Average Gas and Electricity Bill for a Five Bedroom House (2025)

Last updated: 11th January 2025

For families and housemates living together in a spacious 5 bedroom house, energy costs can make up a significant portion of your housing expenditure. With high demand from multiple people plus the large size of a 5 bedroom home, gas and electricity bills can be quite substantial.

This guide examines typical gas and electricity usage and costs for a 5-bedroom house across the UK.

What impacts energy use in a 5 bedroom home?

Firstly, let’s look at what are the main factors that affect your energy usage and bills in a 5-bedroom house:

• House size – The average 5 bed home is over 150 square metres ¹. More interior space means greater energy needs for heating, cooling and lighting.
• Number of occupants – More residents means higher demand for hot water, laundry, cooking and electronics charging. 5 bedrooms may indicate 4-6+ occupants.
• Heating system – Larger homes often have centralised gas heating systems. Consumption depends on boiler efficiency and insulation.
• Appliances and electronics – With more rooms and people, more fridges, freezers, TVs, computers and other appliances drive up electricity use.
• Location and climate – Colder regions require more usage of heating. Solar potential impacts electricity from rooftop panels i.e. if you live in an area that gets less sun ².
• Age of home – If you home is older, it tends to be less insulated and have outdated, inefficient appliances and electronics.

With these factors in mind, we’ll now look at the average typical gas and electricity usage for a 5 bedroom house.

How much gas does a 5 bedroom house use?

For powering the heating system and hot water heater, an average 5 bedroom house in the UK uses around 17,000 kWh of gas per year ³. This works out at approximately 1,400 kWh per month. You are however likely to use more in the winter than the summer due to the needing to likely heat your home more.

Homes with poor insulation or located in very cold climates may use more than this whereas well-insulated modern homes with high-efficiency condensing boilers could have much lower gas usage.

If you live in an area with a colder climate, like Scotland or Wales, you may also use more gas for heating, while warmer southern areas have lower demand.

How much electricity does a 5 bed house use?

With significantly more lighting, appliances and electronics than smaller homes, electricity usage is also higher for a 5-bedroom home. Annual usage for electricity in a 5 bed home ranges from 4,000 – 5,000 kWh ³. This is around 333 kWh – 416 kWh per month).

Larger homes with things like hot tubs or swimming pools may use much more than this, for example just using a hot tub once a week could add an additional 300 kWh per year to your usage ⁵. However, careful monitoring and LED lights can drop usage as low as 3,000 – 4,000 kWh per year.

What is the average gas bill for a 5 bedroom house?

Factoring in market rates for gas and the average usage from Ofgem above, a 5 bedroom house will typically see annual gas bills of £1,175. This works out at roughly £98 per month.

This is calculated using the Octopus Energy Fixed tariff tariff prices for January 2025 ⁶. One of the cheapest tariffs available. You can see our calculations below:

Standing charge: 29.431p x 365 days = £107.42

Unit rate: 6.028p x 17,000 KwH = £1,067.60

Add these two together (£107. + £1,067.60) and you get: £1,175.02

If your bill looks like it will be much more than this, then it could be due to a few of the factors stated at the beginning of this post. If your usage is similar to the average, then the main factor is likely to be the tariff you are on with your supplier.

If your tariff rates are similar to the above, then it is likely your usage is higher than average. This can often be due to your home being poorly insulated.

What is the electricity bill for a 5 bedroom house?

The estimated electricity bill for a 5 bedroom home is £1,383 a year. This is roughly £101 per month.

Again, we have used the average consumption from Ofgem, which was stated earlier in the article. We have also used the current Octopus Energy flexible tariff. The calculations look like this:

Standing charge: 54.847p x 365 days = £200.20

Unit rate: 23.66p x 5,000 KwH = £1,183

Add these two together (£200.20 + £1,017.38) and you get: £1,383

Homes with outdated appliances and lighting can expect bills to be higher, conversely switching to LED bulbs and upgrading electronics and appliances could save £100-£150 per year on electricity ⁷.

What is the total energy bill for a 5 bedroom house?

Combining the gas and electricity bills we worked out above, the total annual energy cost for a 5 bedroom home ranges is approximately £2,558. This works out at approximately £213 per month.

Carefully monitoring usage, comparing supplier rates annually, and tapping into efficiency grants can potentially lower costs by 20% or more.

If know you the rates from your energy suppliers tariff (or from a supplier you may be looking to join), then you can work out what your actual energy daily, monthly or yearly energy bill would be using our energy bill calculator.

What is the average gas and electricity bill by house type?

If you’re curious how gas and electricity usage and annual bills compare by different property types, you can see how they compare in our table below:

This table is based on average annual usage for both gas and electricity. The annual bill amounts are calculated using the current average gas and electricity prices per kWh with the average standing charge for each energy type included.

If you would like some more tips on how to reduce your energy bills, then keep reading…

Ways to reduce your energy bills

While location and house size are fixed, you do have a few different ways to lower your energy costs:

• Use comparison tools to switch to cheaper supplier tariffs when better deals are available.
• Take advantage of discounts for monthly direct debit or switching from prepayment meters.
• Check eligibility for council and government grants for insulation, boiler upgrades, rooftop solar panels or heat pumps ⁸.
• Replace old appliances and electronics with newer, more efficient models and switch to LED lighting for better efficiency.
• Install smart thermostats and use zone heating to lower heating costs in unused rooms.
• Wash clothes in cold water cycles and hang dry when possible to reduce laundry energy use.
• Have an energy audit done to identify the most impactful areas for efficiency upgrades.

Hopefully, this post was helpful in providing you with an estimate of what you should be spending on your gas and electricity bills in a 5 bedroom house.

If your usage is higher than you should now have a better idea of why this might be and how you can look at reducing your bills. If your bills are lower than the average, then congratulations!

We also have a handy guide on the cheapest energy suppliers right now, which could help you find a cheaper energy deal.

If you have any questions or queries, please ask in the comments below.

You can find similar guides on other size properties here:

• Average Gas and Electricity Bill for a One Bed Flat
• Average Gas and Electricity Bill for a Two Bed House
• Average Gas and Electricity Bill for a Three Bed House
• Average Gas and Electricity Bill for a Four Bed House

Sources

1. https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/room-sizes-how-to-get-them-right ↩︎
2. https://www.geogreenpower.com/blog/a-guide-for-where-to-place-your-solar-panels/ ↩︎
3. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/average-gas-and-electricity-usage ↩︎
4. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/average-gas-and-electricity-usage ↩︎
5. https://hydropoolbristol.co.uk/hot-tub-kwh-usage-cost-uk/ ↩︎
6. https://octopus.energy/tariffs/ ↩︎
7. https://www.savemoneycutcarbon.com/learn-save/is-my-electricity-bill-reduced-by-installing-led-lights/ ↩︎
8. https://www.gov.uk/apply-boiler-upgrade-scheme ↩︎