Electric bill since working from home

[mjt]

I haven’t calculated it, but I’m pretty sure the energy usage of my laptop and external monitors running all day will probably be cancelled out by the lack of charging the car.
Although the fridge is definitely working harder being opened much more often! Saving significantly on lunch as well, although the dishwasher fills up quicker.

 

[theone8181]

If its somebody else reading it for you, are you sure they read it right and read the right one, as in not a neighbours? (I've no idea how meters are set up in flats, I'm assuming just a bank of them with the house number next to them).

 

[Guest2]

If its somebody else reading it for you, are you sure they read it right and read the right one, as in not a neighbours? (I've no idea how meters are set up in flats, I'm assuming just a bank of them with the house number next to them).

Yes, the property manager (consierge)
Reading tomorrow so can get proper weekly usage. The water heating times i’ve also changed.
After tomorrows reading i’ll reduce water heating times again

 

[Guest2]

Results are in!
Already looking more normal after i've changed water heating timings (to not boil water for 5 hours every evening!) The heater reset 2 or 3 months ago which set default timings but think the previous owners must have changed the defaults initially.

The previous 2 months were also under estimated, leading to (incorrect) higher use this past month


1 week usage from 24/06 - 01/07

Day @15.09p - 89kwh - £13.43
Night @8.24p - 19kwh - £1.56
£15/week (£65/month)

That's not including the standing charge or VAT.

Water heating timings are currently set to 05:00-06:30 and 17:00-18:00.
When Bulb let me know the day and night rate times I might just heat before day rates kick in

edit, we have been doing nothing differently this week. Both WFH still, same sort of time in showers etc.

 

[Zefan]

Very nice

 

[Semple]

I'm paying just over 13p per kwh though, so when it comes to renewal time I will have to look into seeing if I can improve that a bit

TBF that's a pretty good rate, unless your SC is very high. I'm currently paying about 17p for electric.

 

[Semple]

Water heating timings are currently set to 05:00-06:30 and 17:00-18:00.
When Bulb let me know the day and night rate times I might just heat before day rates kick in

That's generally the idea with Econ7, you should really avoid heating water at all during your peak hours. Does your tank of water not hold it's temperature well by 5pm? Or is it just a case of it running out of water?

Longer term plan might be bigger water tank or better insulation around the tank. When we had a flat it had a huge tank that would easily last the day, but would also keep the water hot until pretty much midnight.

 

[HungryHippos]

TBF that's a pretty good rate, unless your SC is very high. I'm currently paying about 17p for electric.

Yeah need to look at new ones soon though, my contract ends August 31st 2020.

These are my prices with Scottish Power:

Electric
13.080p per kwh
19.570p per day Standing Charge

Gas
3.001p per kwh
19.570p per day Standing Charge

I use a lot more electric than gas, so I need to focus on keeping the electric as cheap as I can

Looking at a couple of the deals I can get on MSE cheap energy club:

Outfox The Market
Fix'd 20 12.0
12 month fix

Electric
13.577p per kwh
11.320p per day Standing Charge

Gas
2.625p per kwh
11.319p per day Standing Charge

So unit price on electric is slightly higher, but the standing charge is cheaper, and the rest is a bit cheaper. I'm using about 14kwh's of electric a day at the moment partly due to wfh, so it should still wind up cheaper.

 

[SixTwoSix]

@Guest2 while I doubt you're looking to switch, i've been with Bulb for sometime but https://www.avroenergy.co.uk/ have come in a good chunk cheaper and might be worth checking out. My gas/elec for the year with Bulb is £1523, the same usage with Avro is £1293. My E7 usage is around 11%.

Tariff: Simple and SuperGlow
Type: Fixed for 12 Months
Electricity Standing Charge: 15.750p per day
Gas Standing Charge: 15.750p per day
Electricity Unit Rate: 13.246p per kWh
Gas Unit Rate: 2.284p per kWh

@HungryHippos watch out with OTM, their customer service is woeful.

 

[HungryHippos]

@HungryHippos watch out with OTM, their customer service is woeful.

Will bear in mind, I figured most of these companies are supplying me from the exact same supply so I shouldn't need to go speaking to them much.

I have usually been able to find a reasonable deal with one of the bigger companies though, been with BG, SP, and EDF over the years mostly.

 

[SixTwoSix]

Will bear in mind, I figured most of these companies are supplying me from the exact same supply so I shouldn't need to go speaking to them much.

I have usually been able to find a reasonable deal with one of the bigger companies though, been with BG, SP, and EDF over the years mostly.

TBH, I can't think of a time in my life i've ever had to speak with a suppliers CS, it's just worth considering. Various feedback and comments over at MSE isn't exactly great.

 

[HungryHippos]

TBH, I can't think of a time in my life i've ever had to speak with a suppliers CS, it's just worth considering. Various feedback and comments over at MSE isn't exactly great.

I had to recently when someone else tried to switch my supply. Apparently happened to my next door neighbour as well.

Apparently it's possible to basically switch the supply of anyone anywhere without needing to somehow verify it's coming from a legitimate source!

To be fair Scottish Power are usually pretty good so paying a bit more for slightly better CS can be worth it, but I wouldn't pay a lot more for it.

 

[McPhee]

My usage has gone up. Bill has gone down.

I've spent* an average of £1.07 per day on electricity since lockdown began. Six months ago, that was £3.06 per day.

*I've actually spent £0, as my supplier hasn't billed me for electricity since December...

 

[Psycho Sonny]

My usage has gone up. Bill has gone down.

I've spent* an average of £1.07 per day on electricity since lockdown began. Six months ago, that was £3.06 per day.

*I've actually spent £0, as my supplier hasn't billed me for electricity since December...

Doesn't make any sense.

Unless you have changed to a much cheaper tariff.

 

[Guest2]

@Guest2 while I doubt you're looking to switch, i've been with Bulb for sometime but https://www.avroenergy.co.uk/ have come in a good chunk cheaper and might be worth checking out. My gas/elec for the year with Bulb is £1523, the same usage with Avro is £1293. My E7 usage is around 11%.

@HungryHippos watch out with OTM, their customer service is woeful.

Thanks, worth noting but my electric usage (all electric, no gas) should be something like £830/year, probably less. I exect it was only so high because of the stupid water heater timings.

I've now changed it to it heats up 04:00 - 07:00 & 17:00 - 17:10

Night rate is 00:15 - 07:15 on my meter type / tariff. So far we have hot water in the evening. Yet to run things like the dishwasher and washing machine midday to see if there is still water in the evening so need to check that

 

[McPhee]

Doesn't make any sense.

Unless you have changed to a much cheaper tariff.

Variable price tariff; 2.1x wholesale price (IIRC). Wholesale prices are a fraction of what they were six months ago, due to seasonal variance, plus Covid, plus the ever growing amount of renewables on the grid, plus all of the wind we've been having

My bill is roughly half of what it would be on Bulb's Vari-Fair tariff.

 

[Guest2]

Variable price tariff; 2.1x wholesale price (IIRC). Wholesale prices are a fraction of what they were six months ago, due to seasonal variance, plus Covid, plus the ever growing amount of renewables on the grid, plus all of the wind we've been having

My bill is roughly half of what it would be on Bulb's Vari-Fair tariff.

Who's your supplier, the lamp post outside your house?

 

[Journey]

Who's your supplier, the lamp post outside your house?

Octopus Agile more than likely. It is the way forward

 

[McPhee]

Octopus Agile more than likely. It is the way forward

Indeed. Agile Octopus tariff. People are really missing a trick here, particularly those who are working from home. I signed up expecting to save a small amount each month. But it has generated a much bigger saving than I thought (and I carry on as I normally would; no cooking meals at funny times etc. as it's really not worth the pennies it saves).

Today's pricing:

00:00 - 00:30 3.19 p/kWh
00:30 - 01:00 0.62 p/kWh
01:00 - 01:30 2.60 p/kWh
01:30 - 02:00 0.62 p/kWh
02:00 - 02:30 0.00 p/kWh
02:30 - 03:00 -0.66 p/kWh
03:00 - 03:30 0.18 p/kWh
03:30 - 04:00 -0.02 p/kWh
04:00 - 04:30 0.20 p/kWh
04:30 - 05:00 -0.40 p/kWh
05:00 - 05:30 2.16 p/kWh
05:30 - 06:00 3.09 p/kWh
06:00 - 06:30 4.41 p/kWh
06:30 - 07:00 5.95 p/kWh
07:00 - 07:30 5.51 p/kWh
07:30 - 08:00 6.53 p/kWh
08:00 - 08:30 4.49 p/kWh
08:30 - 09:00 6.26 p/kWh
09:00 - 09:30 6.11 p/kWh
09:30 - 10:00 5.82 p/kWh
10:00 - 10:30 7.06 p/kWh
10:30 - 11:00 6.51 p/kWh
11:00 - 11:30 7.14 p/kWh
11:30 - 12:00 7.68 p/kWh
12:00 - 12:30 7.94 p/kWh
12:30 - 13:00 7.06 p/kWh
13:00 - 13:30 7.54 p/kWh
13:30 - 14:00 5.65 p/kWh
14:00 - 14:30 6.17 p/kWh
14:30 - 15:00 6.26 p/kWh
15:00 - 15:30 5.95 p/kWh
15:30 - 16:00 6.62 p/kWh
16:00 - 16:30 19.55 p/kWh
16:30 - 17:00 21.42 p/kWh
17:00 - 17:30 19.90 p/kWh
17:30 - 18:00 21.42 p/kWh
18:00 - 18:30 20.98 p/kWh
18:30 - 19:00 20.98 p/kWh
19:00 - 19:30 8.38 p/kWh
19:30 - 20:00 7.85 p/kWh
20:00 - 20:30 7.94 p/kWh
20:30 - 21:00 7.23 p/kWh
21:00 - 21:30 8.56 p/kWh
21:30 - 22:00 7.72 p/kWh
22:00 - 22:30 7.50 p/kWh
22:30 - 23:00 6.26 p/kWh
23:00 - 23:30 8.20 p/kWh
23:30 - 00:00 6.62 p/kWh

If you're in all day, chances are the benefits of cheaper electricity over 21 hours will outweigh the costs of more expensive electricity for 3 hours...

 

[Puzzled]

Do those hours fluctuate or tend to stay about the same? Surprised peak pricing ends at 7PM