Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

[Werewolf]

I legit dont understand how large some peoples monthly bills are on here. Even 4 person families etc £300 a month (before increases) is mental, it just screams energy wastage

Or that you've got multiple people at home a lot.

The disabled and elderly tend to spend a lot more time in their own homes, thus making use of their household appliances more (same with the unemployed), and also far more likely to be sensitive to the temperature.
IIRC some of the people who started working from home saw their energy bills increase a lot, because suddenly the were in it for an extra 8-10 hours a day using the heating, powering computers etc more.

My mother always felt cold (even if she was wrapped up) in the winter so would have the thermostat at 23-24c, then in the summer would struggle if the temperature went over about 26c, my dad used to not notice the cold much (he's northern), but now he's in his 80's and slowed right down he's tending to feel cold if the thermostat is under 22, and i've had to set up a thermostatically controlled heater on a timer in his bed room so he doesn't have to heat the whole house over night.

Our bill is looking like it could hit ~400 a month, despite the fact the house is about as well insulated as it can be short of major works*, and most of the appliances are as energy efficient as we can get them.

On the plus side our home insurance is down this year, by about £20 so that helps :/


*The extension has no insulation in it's flat roof if I can get the room redecorated this year i'm considering getting someone in to replace the ceiling and put in some kingspan (the ceiling plaster is messed up).

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Electric 42.26p, standing charge 43.39, gas 12.623p, standing charge 27.22p.....no idea if that good or bad

Diabolical compared to the cap.

 

[SDK^]

I legit dont understand how large some peoples monthly bills are on here. Even 4 person families etc £300 a month (before increases) is mental, it just screams energy wastage

A few tropical fish tanks and an EV = about £320 per month

 

[fez]

My parents are retired and have the heating on all the time in their 30/40 yr old bungalow. They dont skimp on using the heating or electricity and they pay £60 a month, admittedly they are on cheap prices at the moment but i've forcast their increase eventually to cost them about £100-120 a month. which is still nowhere near the £300 a month i see folks complaining about in these threads.

Unless their house is fantastically well insulated and they never tumble dry anything I have no idea how they have not got a broken meter.

Currently we are averaging nearly £3/day on electricity alone and there are only two of us. I work from home but by and large thats one LED light bulb, a monitor and a laptop.

We only heat the rooms that we are in and I only heat my office during the day and we keep the house at about 15 degrees outside of the rooms we are in.

Our average bill currently is around £200/month. Perhaps slightly less. In the summer that will go down massively because I will put all the washing outside to dry and we generally won't be in the house so much but if they are genuinely only using £60 a month at this time of yeah they either have a broken meter or they are wizards.

 

[dlockers]

See the thing is im all electric and i've been working from home for the last 2 years and my bills went up 20 a month with that change. When there was 2 of us in the house (1940/50's house) it only added an extra 30 quid a month. Currently im paying 90 a month.

My parents are retired and have the heating on all the time in their 30/40 yr old bungalow. They dont skimp on using the heating or electricity and they pay £60 a month, admittedly they are on cheap prices at the moment but i've forcast their increase eventually to cost them about £100-120 a month. which is still nowhere near the £300 a month i see folks complaining about in these threads.

Heating the rooms in a home is just heating the room it doesnt automatically mean that 1 extra person adds 100% more on top of the bill or 2 people add 200%. A house is a finite space to heat, its not as if having 1 extra family member adds 3 extra rooms lol. Yes they may use the heating in 1 extra room but even then the thermal floor for that room should be higher due to bleed through heat from the rest of the home so it shouldnt take 100% more energy to heat 1 extra room

Seriously man, do a welfare check on your parents. They may be putting on a brave face for you and cranking heating when you visit - but there is no way in hell £60 a month covers heating and electricity in a bungalow like that.

 

[Zenduri]

Unless their house is fantastically well insulated and they never tumble dry anything I have no idea how they have not got a broken meter.

Currently we are averaging nearly £3/day on electricity alone and there are only two of us. I work from home but by and large thats one LED light bulb, a monitor and a laptop.

We only heat the rooms that we are in and I only heat my office during the day and we keep the house at about 15 degrees outside of the rooms we are in.

Our average bill currently is around £200/month. Perhaps slightly less. In the summer that will go down massively because I will put all the washing outside to dry and we generally won't be in the house so much but if they are genuinely only using £60 a month at this time of yeah they either have a broken meter or they are wizards.

Nope, meter is perfectly fine DCC enrolled SMETS1 meter and the usage on this meter ties in with the old 1989 mechanical meter which was removed. They dont have a tumble dryer they air dry clothes outside weather permitting

Seriously man, do a welfare check on your parents. They may be putting on a brave face for you and cranking heating when you visit - but there is no way in hell £60 a month covers heating and electricity in a bungalow like that.

Lol its fine. I've been dealing with their gas and electric for them for the last 8 years and when i lived at home before they moved from 2 bed house to 2 bed bungalow the house was NEVER cold. My father is very much of the attitude of "if im cold ill put the heating on screw the cost". They are on state pension and living very comfortably in their old age.

Just to show im not ************ this is a screenshot from their account, obv any personal information removed and the DD payment hasnt been adjusted because they are in credit. It's been £60 for the last 9 months and they are on monthly bills

Spoiler

 

[413x]

I can't quite believe it! 60? To get down to 60ppm I think id have to not shower and not wash clothes, heat one room and ration to an hour of TV!

I think I could only get to 60 in a one bed well insulated flat

 

[Zenduri]

I can't quite believe it! 60? To get down to 60ppm I think id have to not shower and not wash clothes, heat one room and ration to an hour of TV!

I think I could only get to 60 in a one bed well insulated flat

Thats gas and electric by the way lol. The heating in the lounge and kitchen is heated the most, the spare bedroom is on super low just to take the cold out the room as its rarely used and their bedroom is on low as is the rest of the bungalow. They use the timer for the boiler thermostat wisely and have ti set perfectly for them to stay nice and warm and cosy all throughout the day. They just simply dont waste electric and gas, they are very proactive with it.

I have told them to expect it to double to £120 though when i sort their fixed prices out when their current one ends in August. They are currently on super cheap rates from last August

 

[413x]

Thats gas and electric by the way lol. The heating in the lounge and kitchen is heated the most, the spare bedroom is on super low just to take the cold out the room as its rarely used and their bedroom is on low as is the rest of the bungalow. They use the timer for the boiler thermostat wisely and have ti set perfectly for them to stay nice and warm and cosy all throughout the day. They just simply dont waste electric and gas, they are very proactive with it.

It's more than not wasting.
It would be physically impossible for me to use that little. I mean standing charge would take up 1/5 to 1/4 alone

I already have zoned heating too

It must be exceptionally well insulated. No tume drying. Few clothes washes etc.

 

[Haggisman]

See the thing is im all electric and i've been working from home for the last 2 years and my bills went up 20 a month with that change. When there was 2 of us in the house (1940/50's house) it only added an extra 30 quid a month. Currently im paying 90 a month.

If I'm reading that right a 2nd person increased your bill by 50%?

My parents are retired and have the heating on all the time in their 30/40 yr old bungalow. They dont skimp on using the heating or electricity and they pay £60 a month, admittedly they are on cheap prices at the moment but i've forcast their increase eventually to cost them about £100-120 a month. which is still nowhere near the £300 a month i see folks complaining about in these threads.

But I bet they don't have multiple people watching big TVs, running washing machine/tumble dryer 4-5 days/week, lots of electronics using little bits here and there etc.?

Heating the rooms in a home is just heating the room it doesnt automatically mean that 1 extra person adds 100% more on top of the bill or 2 people add 200%. A house is a finite space to heat, its not as if having 1 extra family member adds 3 extra rooms lol. Yes they may use the heating in 1 extra room but even then the thermal floor for that room should be higher due to bleed through heat from the rest of the home so it shouldnt take 100% more energy to heat 1 extra room

Maybe not but it does mean using 2x as much hot water for the shower, boiling twice as much water in the kettle, cooking twice as much food, washing machine and dryer running twice as much (make that 8x as much if you have kids!) having 2x as many devices running (e.g. a computer each, TV each if you aren't watching the same thing, extra lights on in other rooms).


I'm definitely going to be looking at adding another layer of loft insulation in the next few months though. Looks like it's going to cost about £400 taking into account having to raise the current floor by 200mm, but with current prices that should pay for itself in about 2 years!

 

[Zenduri]

It's more than not wasting.
It would be physically impossible for me to use that little. I mean standing charge would take up 1/5 to 1/4 alone

I already have zoned heating too

It must be exceptionally well insulated. No tume drying. Few clothes washes etc.

Its insulated about the same as every other insulated bungalow. They do just save the laundry up all week and do big loads of washing rather than putting 3-4 loads of washing throughout the week. They dont believe in tumble driers and hang the laundry in the garden to dry

 

[Zenduri]

If I'm reading that right a 2nd person increased your bill by 50%?

But I bet they don't have multiple people watching big TVs, running washing machine/tumble dryer 4-5 days/week, lots of electronics using little bits here and there etc.?

Maybe not but it does mean using 2x as much hot water for the shower, boiling twice as much water in the kettle, cooking twice as much food, washing machine and dryer running twice as much (make that 8x as much if you have kids!) having 2x as many devices running (e.g. a computer each, TV each if you aren't watching the same thing, extra lights on in other rooms).

Ill answer in order of the questions

1) Yes she did increase it by 50% but only because she was proper wasteful Leaving appliances and lights on all over the place and she used to have the heating at uncomfortable levels.
2) No they dont have hordes of devices but there is usually the TV and laptop running , they do 1 big laundry day saving it all up through the week to do big loads in the washing machine and they air dry the clothes as much as possible as they dont have a tumble dryer. They turn stuff off when not in use or in that room.
3) Just because there is more people in the house shouldnt mean 3 or 4 x the usage. For example they dont cook a meal each seperately or when im visiting we dont do our own things, we cook and eat as a family.

 

[Zenduri]

Biggest take away im seeing from some of these responses from people is this (Not aimed at anyone)

1) People in your family dont turn **** off and because its an extra person in the house thats used as an excuse to not turn it off
2) Everyones seems to be doing 14 loads of laundry a day and tumbledrying everything.
3) Families are maybe too separated doing their own thing, cooking and eating their own thing all the time. Its cheaper and more effective to cook and eat as a family rather than making 4 different meals at 4 different times.

and finally..... people just dont think about their energy usage behaviours

 

[Haggisman]

Ill answer in order of the questions

1) Yes she did increase it by 50% but only because she was proper wasteful Leaving appliances and lights on all over the place and she used to have the heating at uncomfortable levels.
2) No they dont have hordes of devices but there is usually the TV and laptop running , they do 1 big laundry day saving it all up through the week to do big loads in the washing machine and they air dry the clothes as much as possible as they dont have a tumble dryer. They turn stuff off when not in use or in that room.
3) Just because there is more people in the house shouldnt mean 3 or 4 x the usage. For example they dont cook a meal each seperately or when im visiting we dont do our own things, we cook and eat as a family.

1) I can totally empathise - my other half is like this as well, although my constant nagging has helped (although we do still fight over the thermostat constantly )

2) Fair enough - unfortunately this isn't really possible for many families - when you have kids/baby who go through 2-3 sets of clothes a day then the washing machine is on constantly! And unfortunately our climate isn't particularly conducive to air drying for most of the year . When your kid comes home from school for the 2nd time that week covered in their lunch/paint/mud & grass stains, you either have to send them to school the next day in filthy clothes, or get it washed and dried within 12 hours, so waiting till the weekend or for a sunny day isn't really an option!

3) True for many things, but without changing the laws of physics, you can't ignore the fact that things like cooking 2x the food will take 2x the energy (ignoring losses from the pan which should remain relatively constant), 2 people having a 10 min shower each is going to take twice as much energy (unless you're suggesting families should shower together? ). 2 people leaving the house at different times is going to result in 2 lots of hot air leaving the house via the front door, etc.

 

[Dyson]

They dont believe in tumble driers

How dare they! Next thing you'll be telling us is 5hat they don't believe in father Christmas!!

 

[413x]

Biggest take away im seeing from some of these responses from people is this (Not aimed at anyone)

1) People in your family dont turn **** off and because its an extra person in the house thats used as an excuse to not turn it off
2) Everyones seems to be doing 14 loads of laundry a day and tumbledrying everything.
3) Families are maybe too separated doing their own thing, cooking and eating their own thing all the time. Its cheaper and more effective to cook and eat as a family rather than making 4 different meals at 4 different times.

and finally..... people just dont think about their energy usage behaviours

For ourselves it isn't this.

Work from home adds a lot.
Poor Windows adds a big chunk on heating for us.
We do 2 loads of washing a week max.
And tumble dry one (the weather. Is nearly always wet/damp

It's just adds up. It's the heating by far that could be reduced. But new windows are too expensive

 

[Zenduri]

For ourselves it isn't this.

Work from home adds a lot.
Poor Windows adds a big chunk on heating for us.
We do 2 loads of washing a week max.
And tumble dry one (the weather. Is nearly always wet/damp

It's just adds up. It's the heating by far that could be reduced. But new windows are too expensive

Thing is my statement was a generalisation and you wouldnt fall into that category but in general, both from managing my own usage and dealing with the parents energy affairs, plus working for an energy supplier it's really an eye opener on how wasteful people can be and how most of the public say they know what they use... but the reality is they dont.

 

[Combat squirrel]

a) Energy suppliers have nothing to do with the infrastructure, might want to speak to the wonderful government and their policies about that one.
b) This magical pool of money a state run energy market would have would be either drained by gov cronies and their mates consulting contracts or repurposed to find vanity projects like HS2 and the likes. it 100% wouldnt be used on the energy infrastructure or on the poor.
c) Extreme capitalism is bad but the near fanatical socialism you're talking about does no-one any good and only makes things worse

'Fanatical Socialism' is miles off having public energy suppliers - you clearly have never thought about healthcare outside the UK - the NHS is absolutely amazing, only underfunded on purpose by a tory gov with motives to make their owners rich.........capitalist services don't work and are abusive, just look at USA healthcare, i saw a guy over there post on social media he went to hospital for a week with covid, came out, insurance 'fully' paid out for his claim of $86000 - but only upto $77000 which has left him with a 9 grand bill!!!! INSANITY !!

Stop thinking capitalism helps, it doesn't, at all, it cannot, its only designed to siphon money off - your point B only makes sense because the torys are major abusive capitalists, we need a humans first government.

Stop voting in torys, stop giving rich people your money, and protest it if its forced upon you (which is hardly a 'free' society, is it now), if anything a social society is more free, because it doesn't destroy lives if you can't pay your heating or NHS bill, every human on the planet deserves the absolute basics, anything above that is their choice of what and how they work or do not work to contribute to society...............capitalism doesn't contribute to anyone other than the already rich.

Don't let them fool you.

 

[Zenduri]

'Fanatical Socialism' is miles off having public energy suppliers - you clearly have never thought about healthcare outside the UK - the NHS is absolutely amazing, only underfunded on purpose by a tory gov with motives to make their owners rich.........capitalist services don't work and are abusive, just look at USA healthcare, i saw a guy over there post on social media he went to hospital for a week with covid, came out, insurance 'fully' paid out for his claim of $86000 - but only upto $77000 which has left him with a 9 grand bill!!!! INSANITY !!

Stop thinking capitalism helps, it doesn't, at all, it cannot, its only designed to siphon money off - your point B only makes sense because the torys are major abusive capitalists, we need a humans first government.

Stop voting in torys, stop giving rich people your money, and protest it if its forced upon you (which is hardly a 'free' society, is it now), if anything a social society is more free, because it doesn't destroy lives if you can't pay your heating or NHS bill, every human on the planet deserves the absolute basics, anything above that is their choice of what and how they work or do not work to contribute to society...............capitalism doesn't contribute to anyone other than the already rich.

Don't let them fool you.

Jesus did you focus on the wrong things and come across as a frothing labor supporter (dunno if thats the case and dont care lol)

Ill refer you back to this:

c) Extreme capitalism is bad but the near fanatical socialism you're talking about does no-one any good and only makes things worse.

I will not die on the cross for capitalism and the NHS is a wonderful thing thats treated so poorly by EVERY government and party for years now and shouldnt be used as a means to engage insome Tory bashing some on here love to partake in. It was underfunded with Tories and it was underfunded with Labor. End of. Please dont assert im not aware of the US medical system as i am aware of it and its a ******* crime what they do and what they charge and i would hate to have it in this country.

Modest capitalism to a degree aids development and innovation as there is always the desire to improve and create wealth which means more business and more inventions and innovation. Fanatical Socialism breeds the idea of "ah well everyones looked after and everyones comfortable (in theory) so there is no need to strive for new ideas and new innovations." However things like socialised healthcare for all is key to keeping a population healthy and fit to engage in all the world has to offer and should never be privatised.

I do think however some people need to get a reality check and think that giving the gov control of everything means they will A) run it well b) not abuse it c) not siphon the money to other area of government or vanity projects like HS2

Sadly the NHS is a prime example of this, Gov controlled, underfunded and mismanaged. HOWEVER it should never be made private or sold off. The Gov just needs to do a better Job.

 

[burtie]

Crap 500ltrs of house oil has hit £630 and still rising lucky I ordered when I did at £400, looks like what we've got will have to last a while.