Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

[Minusorange]

That is insane, bill is going to be painful.

Why is it insane ? A 4 bed usually has 7+ rooms to heat, worse for a detached as you have all sides exposed, while Semi you only have 3 sides exposed or 2 if you're un/lucky to live in the middle of a Terrace

 

[chrcoluk]

Why is it insane ? A 4 bed usually has 7+ rooms to heat, worse for a detached as you have all sides exposed, while Semi you only have 3 sides exposed or 2 if you're un/lucky to live in the middle of a Terrace

Different mindsets I guess..

Daily cost I think is roughly £15 at EPG rates. So over £400 a month. It shows how variable GCH costs can be, some able to heat at under 20 kWh a day (these I think also for semis of 2/3 beds).

 

[Hawk Tuah]

Keeping my heating on all day Tuesday at 17c used 106kwh of gas. Combined came to £17.60 for the day.

Most days I'm only heating for an hour in the morning and 3-10pm and I'm around 75kwh and just under £15 a day. So it's not a huge difference keeping it on all day, but enough for me not to continue doing it.

I'm in a 4 bed with 12 rooms to heat. The trickle of winter solar and extra insulation I've added seems to be working well by comparison.

Up until 20th November I was able to keep the house above 17c with around 10kwh of gas use. But it's been properly cold these last few weeks.

 

[One More Solo]

We need some kind of group-buy or lend scheme on a FLIR. Its a lot of money to spend for 10minutes use

I’d consider buying it up front and then lending around to recoup some of the outlay if forum rules permit. I’d probably want a safety deposit though given what they cost.

 

[squerble]

We're in the range of 50-57kWh of gas a day at the moment. That's for a 3-bed detached, mixture of running on timer (morning 0540-0730 and evening 1600-2130) and manually overridden if I'm WFH.

 

[Feek]

The energy companies wonder why we're getting grumpy.

A week ago, I called the to request my account be changed from fixed direct debit to variable direct debit and get a refund of the money I'm in credit. They did the direct debit change on the spot and told me that it could take ten to fourteen days for the refund because it has to go through multiple levels of approval.

Yesterday evening, I received a call from them telling my my refund was being processed and it would take another ten to fourteen working days. I expressed my displeasure at this, considering that five of the initial ten to fourteen days have already elapsed and without any hesitation he asked me if I'd like to raise a complaint. It sounds like he's done this many, many times. Of course I said yes and the complaint has been confirmed to me in writing. Looking at their complaints process, it takes "up to fourteen days" for a response. They don't actually have to do anything with it, they can just sit on it until I've been refunded and then close the complaint as it's been sorted.

It's not exactly difficult to hit a button to issue a refund. It should be instant.

 

[Chris Wilson]

The energy companies wonder why we're getting grumpy.

A week ago, I called the to request my account be changed from fixed direct debit to variable direct debit and get a refund of the money I'm in credit. They did the direct debit change on the spot and told me that it could take ten to fourteen days for the refund because it has to go through multiple levels of approval.

Yesterday evening, I received a call from them telling my my refund was being processed and it would take another ten to fourteen working days. I expressed my displeasure at this, considering that five of the initial ten to fourteen days have already elapsed and without any hesitation he asked me if I'd like to raise a complaint. It sounds like he's done this many, many times. Of course I said yes and the complaint has been confirmed to me in writing. Looking at their complaints process, it takes "up to fourteen days" for a response. They don't actually have to do anything with it, they can just sit on it until I've been refunded and then close the complaint as it's been sorted.

It's not exactly difficult to hit a button to issue a refund. It should be instant.

That isn't making them interest though

 

[Trig]

I should imagine if they refund you that money has to be pulled out of whatever investment fund its in rather than it just being sat in the bank.

Took me 12 days to get my money back from BG and it looks like they based that on me closing the account on the 19th, not the 9th I actually rang them up, so, I got £40.61 from BG today, presumably as part of the refund/payment they're giving people at the mo.

 

[Doobedoo]

They no longer have any competition in the market so they can drag their heels with no fear of losing your custom.

It’s mad when simply paying what you actually owe is being penalised in favour of allowing them to hold your money for you and earn interest in that you should be earning.

 

[darael]

The energy companies wonder why we're getting grumpy.

A week ago, I called the to request my account be changed from fixed direct debit to variable direct debit and get a refund of the money I'm in credit. They did the direct debit change on the spot and told me that it could take ten to fourteen days for the refund because it has to go through multiple levels of approval.

Yesterday evening, I received a call from them telling my my refund was being processed and it would take another ten to fourteen working days. I expressed my displeasure at this, considering that five of the initial ten to fourteen days have already elapsed and without any hesitation he asked me if I'd like to raise a complaint. It sounds like he's done this many, many times. Of course I said yes and the complaint has been confirmed to me in writing. Looking at their complaints process, it takes "up to fourteen days" for a response. They don't actually have to do anything with it, they can just sit on it until I've been refunded and then close the complaint as it's been sorted.

It's not exactly difficult to hit a button to issue a refund. It should be instant.

Milk that complaint for all it's worth. Tell them you needed that refund to buy Christmas presents, but now little Miss Feek isn't getting as many presents as she should and you've been forced to tell her that Santa might be late this Christmas. On top of that, you've spent a lot of time waiting in queues and on hold, haven't you?

It all adds up.

 

[413x]

It's no wonder the suppliers are now bickering over bulb sale. With no competitors and support from the government, more customers the better.


I have to say, if I was a bulb customer I'd certainly want to be going to octopus

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I’d be wary if I was an octopus customer though. Adding a million customers into your business is not seamless and service will nosedive in the transition.

 

[fez]

I’d be wary if I was an octopus customer though. Adding a million customers into your business is not seamless and service will nosedive in the transition.

Yeah but they will make an absolute killing and where else will people go at the moment?

 

[Haggisman]

I’d be wary if I was an octopus customer though. Adding a million customers into your business is not seamless and service will nosedive in the transition.

To be fair, even a nosedive in Octopus' customer service would still be an improvement over any other provider!

 

[Doobedoo]

To be fair, even a nosedive in Octopus' customer service would still be an improvement over any other provider!

Well I’m still waiting for them to fit my smart meter! Waited 18 months for an engineer, took the day off when I finally got a booking, only for chap to spend 5 minutes on the phone and then leave without an explanation by him or Octopus.

 

[jpaul]

bulb's support and IT system remains fine, called them 2months back, still waiting, they replied sub minute
Octopus alternatives british gas has good EV contract if you need that, if Octopus had a smart CAD device where you can get 30s real time gas/electric data in home assistant that would be persuasive.

 

[Harnser]

We’re using something like 140kwh of gas per day at the moment and our thermostat is only set to 16.5c. Can’t wait for milder weather. I did a bit of remedial work over summer but think I’m going to buy a FLIR camera and go to town next year.

I've already done that with a borrowed FLIR camera; I found it v hard once you get past the obvious leaks. Like is it an air leak I can fix, or a cold surface, or a tiny air leak that the camera doesn't pick up because it's not high enough resolution/fast flowing enough?

 

[Harnser]

I'd get new parents rather than take that crap advice

Believe me, I would if I could...

 

[DXP55]

I had a nice email from E.ON this morning advising me of a rate rise due to Ofgems recent announcement that energy price cap will go up in January.

I am going to have to pay even more as they estimate my annual cost will rise from £1,367.96 to £1,383.34 -Price difference £15.38 - Where the hell do they think I will get that from.
Money doesn't grow on trees.

 

[Minusorange]

That isn't making them interest though

Perhaps the customers should start charging obnoxious interest rates for the days after their claim for their credit go unpaid

There should also be laws ensuring customer credit is not invested, what happens if there's a market crash and they no longer have the money to pay those in credit ?