Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Dp somehow

 

[Surveyor]

Because its really expensive!
Just had to pay 2k for an erc charge

What happened to the rest of the £25k you had in February?

 

[413x]

1 Therm is currently 375p !!

I was wondering. If a kWh was pound...

 

[MadMossy]

Listed incorrectly on this site then, shown as GBp, if its pence it should be GBX

UK Natural Gas - Price - Chart - Historical Data - News

UK Gas decreased 7.60 GBp/Thm or 9.41% since the beginning of 2024, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. UK Natural Gas - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on July of 2024.

tradingeconomics.com

 

[bigmike20vt]

I'm certainly going to be watching with interest the solar results people get.

I'm hoping to put away 6k before my fix ends to pay for a system outright.

If things are still bad then. I'll just get it done.

i may be derailng a little but........ it all depends on your house orientation and the system.

Mine went live on 1st july 2021 so i have some decent stats now. my house position is not ideal but not terrible, i have 10 panels on my east facing roof and 5 on the west. the whole system inc 7.2 kwh battery pack was £8500 installed (£500 of which was bird proofing which was a bit of a con).

october to februrary were pretty lean months, and in those i only generated 200 - 250 kw/h a month - but i was able to charge the battery each night on cheap off peak power which saves cash.

but may to september the system is fantastic generating 600-800 kwh per month.

put it this way, my middle of june - middle of july electricity bill was....................... £1.30 credit. what i sold back to the grid covered my energy use and standing charge. (but bear in mind my standing charge is only 24p iirc)

Gas i cant do much about...... i suppose i could have had a water tank installed and rather than sell the energy to the grid dump it into water, but that would not really help me in winter which is when i need the gas... my gas bill inc standing charge is only £15 a month at the moment anyway as we dont use any.

sorry derailing over but i would say if you can afford solar, are not planning on moving house and are in a good position it has to be worth considering.

 

[SDK^]

I was wondering. If a kWh was pound...

Just imagine if gas was £12.80 a kWh - we would all be screwed, even the high Gucci Belt earners

 

[413x]

What happened to the rest of the £25k you had in February?

I've paid 3k in total for mortgage.
Lost 2k on on stock falls
7k is left in stocks.
6k in in crypto (1/3 in pit 2/3 in stable coin)
2k I spent on my holiday
3k is in easy access cash.


If this was a forever home I'd have already bought it. But it's not. I'm not convinced it's the right move right now.

 

[413x]

i may be derailng a little but........ it all depends on your house orientation and the system.

Mine went live on 1st july 2021 so i have some decent stats now. my house position is not ideal but not terrible, i have 10 panels on my east facing roof and 5 on the west. the whole system inc 7.2 kwh battery pack was £8500 installed (£500 of which was bird proofing which was a bit of a con).

october to februrary were pretty lean months, and in those i only generated 200 - 250 kw/h a month - but i was able to charge the battery each night on cheap off peak power which saves cash.

but may to september the system is fantastic generating 600-800 kwh per month.

put it this way, my middle of june - middle of july electricity bill was....................... £1.30 credit. what i sold back to the grid covered my energy use and standing charge. (but bear in mind my standing charge is only 24p iirc)

Gas i cant do much about...... i suppose i could have had a water tank installed and rather than sell the energy to the grid dump it into water, but that would not really help me in winter which is when i need the gas... my gas bill inc standing charge is only £15 a month at the moment anyway as we dont use any.

sorry derailing over but i would say if you can afford solar, are not planning on moving house and are in a good position it has to be worth considering.

Yeah this house isn't ideal. Roof space is west and east.
Probably WSW and ENE

But the WSW I think gets some shade

But mainly... I only plan to be here 4 years.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

i may be derailng a little but........ it all depends on your house orientation and the system.

Mine went live on 1st july 2021 so i have some decent stats now. my house position is not ideal but not terrible, i have 10 panels on my east facing roof and 5 on the west. the whole system inc 7.2 kwh battery pack was £8500 installed (£500 of which was bird proofing which was a bit of a con).

october to februrary were pretty lean months, and in those i only generated 200 - 250 kw/h a month - but i was able to charge the battery each night on cheap off peak power which saves cash.

but may to september the system is fantastic generating 600-800 kwh per month.

put it this way, my middle of june - middle of july electricity bill was....................... £1.30 credit. what i sold back to the grid covered my energy use and standing charge. (but bear in mind my standing charge is only 24p iirc)

Gas i cant do much about...... i suppose i could have had a water tank installed and rather than sell the energy to the grid dump it into water, but that would not really help me in winter which is when i need the gas... my gas bill inc standing charge is only £15 a month at the moment anyway as we dont use any.

sorry derailing over but i would say if you can afford solar, are not planning on moving house and are in a good position it has to be worth considering.

Why that mix of East / West? just curious as I am looking to install E/W right now and was leaning to basically the opposite to you, thinking 5-6 on East and 10-14 on West.
I do have trees to my east, very tall, so the very early sun they block completely, but by 9am or so the sun is full on to the roof this time of year. By noon its almost perfect S so on both sides at an angle and as such I figure the useable hours still favours the west side...

 

[bigmike20vt]

Yeah this house isn't ideal. Roof space is west and east.
Probably WSW and ENE

But the WSW I think gets some shade

But mainly... I only plan to be here 4 years.

i reroofed my house before installing the panels and whilst they were doing it got the builder to take down my chimney (i had had the breast taken out of my lounge a few years ago so it was not functional all it was was a shade creator on the roof)

 

[413x]

I've heard E/W split can be better than all south for balance?

Really, solar would be ideal for us. Work from home all day. So moderate power use all day.

No real peaks.
Can put washing/dishwasher on while away/before work etc etc

But until its for sure adding value to a house I don't want to pay out and not break even

 

[bigmike20vt]

Why that mix of East / West? just curious as I am looking to install E/W right now and was leaning to basically the opposite to you, thinking 5-6 on East and 10-14 on West.
I do have trees to my east, very tall, so the very early sun they block completely, but by 9am or so the sun is full on to the roof this time of year. By noon its almost perfect S so on both sides at an angle and as such I figure the useable hours still favours the west side...

ideally west is better than East (even more so for me as its actually WSW and ENE but i have an extension on the west side which takes some of the roof space. I am actually a little miffed, there is room for 2 more panels on my west roof i am certain of it but the person who did the initial survey was not certain if it would fit or not, he said it would be tight. i said i would pay for the 17 panels and they could refund if they would not fit but he refused. The fitter at the time said he didnt know what the surveyor was on about it was fine, but by then they were unable to source 2 more panels whilst on the job.

IMG_20210716_095344394_HDR.jpg +1 more

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

And the people on benefits / min wage have no chance...

Sadly it's never been any different. They'll get the lions share of the help (as much as £1.5k+ I think currently and I would expect more help after the October increase) but it's unlikely to be enough.

 

[Curlyriff]

No it's not an insignificant rise and I suspect the true rise for most after October will be closer to £600pm.
Id suggest a middle earner would be in the region of £50k, on that kind of wage you're certainly going to feel it and you're going to have to cut back considerably to cover it but at that kind of wage if you can't cut back your discretionary spending (sky, netflix, gym, takeaways, nights out etc) and possibly trim back savings/pensions contributions to cover it then you were quite possibly living beyond your means.

I am near ish (come my current job move) that wage if that what you consider middle earner. If my rise totals £600 I would be in minus monies every month. I currently have (and have been this way since Jan);
- No TV licence
- No Sky
- No online TV service (having this month cancelled Netflix which was only one)
- No Gym
- Mobile only £6.50 a month
- 1 take away every two weeks (shared price between me and my neighbours where we catch up to see how all doing and a cheap night in)
- No nights out

My full wage as a single dad of 2 goes on mortgage, electric, gas, water, fuel, car, children (CSA), I limit my full food/clothes/cleaning product shop to £100 a month.

The reason I have any income at moment is my best friend rents a room otherwise I would be in debt every month just trying to live.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

ideally west is better than East (even more so for me as its actually WSW and ENE but i have an extension on the west side which takes some of the roof space. I am actually a little miffed, there is room for 2 more panels on my west roof i am certain of it but the person who did the initial survey was not certain if it would fit or not, he said it would be tight. i said i would pay for the 17 panels and they could refund if they would not fit but he refused. The fitter at the time said he didnt know what the surveyor was on about it was fine, but by then they were unable to source 2 more panels whilst on the job.

IMG_20210716_095344394_HDR.jpg +1 more

www.amazon.co.uk

Hmm it goes against what I read and the logic, but I guess particularly for me as i will miss the very early morning
Eg this tested showed a slightly high generation from west facing compared to east facing.

Solar Panel Orientation

We know south-facing is ideal, but how does solar panel orientation really affect performance? Can an east or west roof ever be better?

blog.spiritenergy.co.uk

 

[bigmike20vt]

to be honest East or west both are worth putting panels on if you can... it is only North which may not be worth it.
my east side generates more than the west, as you would expect as there are double the panels, but per panel, the West side has an edge, but it isnt enough to lose sleep over. the advantage of having panels on both is it gives you a longer time period of generation.
if you are fully south facing you may get more generation in total but if it is more than you can use and dump into a battery then all you do is sell it to the energy company (for me i get 4.2p per kw/h). better in general to generate a little less but over a longer time period such that you can use more of it yourself.
edit... that link you posted says the same... which is good, it seems i dont always spout rubbish and my own findings are accurate.

if you are getting solar put them where ever gets least shade. i should prbably stop derailing now however.....

 

[413x]

I am near ish (come my current job move) that wage if that what you consider middle earner. If my rise totals £600 I would be in minus monies every month. I currently have (and have been this way since Jan);
- No TV licence
- No Sky
- No online TV service (having this month cancelled Netflix which was only one)
- No Gym
- Mobile only £6.50 a month
- 1 take away every two weeks (shared price between me and my neighbours where we catch up to see how all doing and a cheap night in)
- No nights out

My full wage as a single dad of 2 goes on mortgage, electric, gas, water, fuel, car, children (CSA), I limit my full food/clothes/cleaning product shop to £100 a month.

The reason I have any income at moment is my best friend rents a room otherwise I would be in debt every month just trying to live.

Very similar to me with 2 significant differences
2 of us, no kids.
Its a big difference though.

I worked out on my wage alone, if I was single. I could just about make it before all this.
Now.. I'd need a lodger.

All this is similar to me. (including wage)
- No TV licence
- No Sky
- No online TV service (having this month cancelled Netflix which was only one)
--I have D+ on voucher trial
- No Gym
- Mobile only £6.50 a month
--mines 20
- 1 take away every two weeks (shared price between me and my neighbours where we catch up to see how all doing and a cheap night in)
- No nights out

 

[chrcoluk]

The British Gas scheme requires:

• Proof of money advice received in the last three months – individuals and families fund only [which will include going into your income and expenditure]
• Proof of all household income – including three recent consecutive wage slips or benefit statement less than a year old
• A meter read for your gas and/or electricity account – if you’re a British Gas customer – or your most recent gas and electricity bill

The e-on scheme requires:

• Proof of all household income for yourself and anyone living with you for the current tax year.
• All pages from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) stating your entitlement to a benefit and the amounts due to be paid for the current tax year.
• Pension letters for State or private pensions.
• Medical confirmation from the organisation that referred you to the fund or a medical DS1500 form or medical confirmation from a consultant or your doctor.
• Please note all supporting evidence must be less than three months old with the exception of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) annual benefit letters, for example, State Pension and Child Benefit letters. All documents must clearly show name and address details as well as the amounts currently being received for the current tax year.

And "We use a three-month Provisional Award Scheme for grants. This means that to receive an award, you’ll need to show your commitment to achieving financial sustainability by making payments for your current usage."

Not terrible for british gas, but where is the checks for expenditure, does the money advice ask for proof or accept vocal answers?
EON seems inadequate, its only checking for low income. Not checking if that income has been spent on non essentials.

I know I am harsh on this, but my approach to unpaid debt is on the basis its abused too easily, giving people assistance who are currently paying their bills benefit of the doubt it will be used right is ok, but I think once bills are not been paid the scrutiny needs to be exceptionally high.

 

[Curlyriff]

Very similar to me with 2 significant differences
2 of us, no kids.
Its a big difference though.

I worked out on my wage alone, if I was single. I could just about make it before all this.
Now.. I'd need a lodger.

All this is similar to me. (including wage)
- No TV licence
- No Sky
- No online TV service (having this month cancelled Netflix which was only one)
--I have D+ on voucher trial
- No Gym
- Mobile only £6.50 a month
--mines 20
- 1 take away every two weeks (shared price between me and my neighbours where we catch up to see how all doing and a cheap night in)
- No nights out

It is mental. I can't fathom how I lived on like £24k a year owning a flat with bigger mortgage at 19 and still having money to go out twice a week. How times have changed.

 

[413x]

It is mental. I can't fathom how I lived on like £24k a year owning a flat with bigger mortgage at 19 and still having money to go out twice a week. How times have changed.

Our mortgage is relatively big? 210k left.
We also WFH so travelling essentially is for pleasure only. But it whacks up utility cost.

Throw in a job loss however. And it's all change.


Another reason I don't want to dump cash into solar yet is it might be better used to pay off mortgage. Who knows what conditions will be like in 5 years!