December to May I paid sixty-seven pounds per month, which covered my usage. Direct debit was increased to seventy-nine pounds per month in July; not sure if this’ll be enough, although I did use the heating a lot during winter and was WFH earlier this year. I expect I’ll be using closer to a hundred and fifty a month, but I’ve really no idea. Unfortunately, I live in a three bedroom Victorian terrace. which is likely not energy efficient. Could do with sorting out some of the draughts before winter really hits.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned, but I’d like to see sliding scale pricing, where costs are set low up to a certain amount of units used, then they get progressively more, the more that’re used. Psychologically, I think that’d encourage more people to use less, although it’s obviously not going to be something that’s implemented in the current climate.

There’s a geographical element to all this too.

Indeed there is

The Great British electricity swindle – How Scotland subsidises the UK’s energy

We do, every day, all those public transport subsidies for London and surroundings because too many people live in such a small area. Try public transport up north. No doubt the north will be paying for the lack of infrastructure for water supplies in the south.

Except 3 regions (inc London) in the SE run a surplus which goes elsewhere..
If you really think the top half of the country is putting it’s hand in it’s pocket for the bottom half you need to put the jingoism aside and look at the numbers, yes London received over double per head on transport (£700 v 300) but you have to look at that against the surplus generated per head and where it ends up

£15000 per head spent in scotland
£14693 per head spent in London

£18600 per head raised in London
£12100 per head raised in scotland

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/articles/countryandregionalpublicsectorfinances/financialyearending2020

wind yer wee necks in, I don’t want to derail the thread just point out that the idea of paying more for power in the south to subsidise the north is moronic, however there is merit in the very well off paying more or rather the less well off paying less but not with taxpayers money but the insane profits from the wholesale energy companies. (not the distributors as their margins are tiny)

And the issue of the higher standing charge in scotland is indicative of a system that isn’t working when multiple companies and agencies are involved. Ofgen has obviously failed or is too weak to influence for the benefit of customers.

a less nationalistic view on price differences:
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-10667939/Energy-standing-charges-regions-pay-60-others.html

3ft thick solid stone walls which are a massive heatsink and take literally weeks to properly warm up after a whole summer of no heating use.

In fact stone walls have so little thermal resistance that they’ll never warm up and stay warm. They’d need to be 20m thick to provide as much insulation as 100mm of insulating materials. They’ll cool down in a day or so if you turn the heating off, try it.

The answer is to insulate them on the outside in which case they take a day or so to warm up when you start heating and then attenuate temperature changes. Or insulate on the inside in which case the house will warm up really quickly but the temperature will flutute more quickly. Either will be a huge heat saver.

Our bill is usually a bit below the cap so in 2021 it was aprox £1200 this October I will now expect £3300 and just heard on the radio that the April 2023 predictions are in excess of £7000. If that happens I have no idea what to do. Too nuts to worry about now.

….

not changed. I’m locked in till march 2024 and have been well before the first cap change thank god.

And the issue of the higher standing charge in scotland is indicative of a system that isn’t working when multiple companies and agencies are involved. Ofgen has obviously failed or is too weak to influence for the benefit of customers.

He never said anything about standing charges, he was talking about grid connections.

This has been raised by the SG and it’s gone nowhere.

not changed. I’m locked in till march 2024 and have been well before the first cap change thank god.

What out of interest are you SC and kWh rates on that deal? And are you considering prepaying or at least putting the amount you are ‘saving’ aside for the end of your cap? Or spending it hoping that the situation reverses by 2024?

Was originally paying £65 a month with OVO but I upped the DD to £300 awhile ago to build a surplus. Bought two tons of smokeless Excel for £1100 as solid fuels are shortly going up again.

Old former Victorian foundry building/mill and Covid wrecked our energy renovation project so not very thermally efficient, thankfully only me and MrsRNP.

wind yer wee necks in

😎

Never stop this chat. It’s the best pro independence campaign ever

Never stop this chat. It’s the best pro independence campaign ever

Grab it with both hands (if you get the opportunity again)

Hopefully the independent government can deal with this :

SCOTTISHPOWER which has been pushing for a taxpayer-backed £100bn fund to help energy firms freeze energy bills has handed over nearly £7bn in dividends to its foreign owners since being taken over, it can be revealed.The payout bonanza to its Spanish owners, Iberdola over its 14 years of control of the Glasgow-based company has been revealed as its high profile chief executive Keith Anderson has seen his pay soar by £200,000 to £1.35m in a year. Six years ago, Scottish Power Limited’s highest paid director was getting almost half that at £687,000ScottishPower’s dividend payments to Iberdola have amounted to nearly one billion pounds in the past two years alone as customers face energy bills soaring by three-and-a-half times in a year.

tbf the majority of people from the south and the north don’t really see that much different weather, the vast majority of people live no far from sea level. If you get regular snow, it’s more likely because you live above 150/200 meters rather than how far north or south you are. Spring does take a bit longer to start up here though, so the winter is a bit longer. Could be argued as well that the south has warmer summers, so air con needs will be more.

Much of a much muchness really.

I don’t see this as a north south problem anyhow, we are all getting hammered here. In fighting is useful to no-one.

MrSmith
Free Member
Never stop this chat. It’s the best pro independence campaign ever

Grab it with both hands (if you get the opportunity again)

Hopefully the independent government can deal with this :

SCOTTISHPOWER which has been pushing for a taxpayer-backed £100bn fund to help energy firms freeze energy bills has handed over nearly £7bn in dividends to its foreign owners since being taken over, it can be revealed.The payout bonanza to its Spanish owners, Iberdola over its 14 years of control of the Glasgow-based company has been revealed as its high profile chief executive Keith Anderson has seen his pay soar by £200,000 to £1.35m in a year. Six years ago, Scottish Power Limited’s highest paid director was getting almost half that at £687,000ScottishPower’s dividend payments to Iberdola have amounted to nearly one billion pounds in the past two years alone as customers face energy bills soaring by three-and-a-half times in a year.

Energy policy is a reserved to the uk. So hopefully the uk government will get its finger out its arse. Doubt it myself.

Don’t know how much energy I use but my energy bills (combined gas & electricity – I am with Bulb) used to be around £45/mth in the summer time, but now it has gone up by around 90% to 100% to £80 to £85/mth. I think I will need to add another 50% to the bill for winter (when central heating is switched on).

It’s a small flat and I don’t earn a lot so the increase means I need to cut something else to compensate for the increase.

We spend about £1500 a year on oil and monthly DD for elec is around £55 but the house has solar panels so as well as earning money from what they create also get paid for the next energy that goes back to the grid

I have been using an energy meter thing to see what appliances are using electricity in my house. Still working my way round various appliances, but eye openers so far have been the 20+ year old freezer that is currently using 2.8 kWh per day (currently about £23 a month, but by April that could easily be £78!). By purchasing a new energy efficient freezer (and downsizing) I reckon it will pay for itself in just a few months.

Other big users are a similarly aged fridge that gets through 0.6 kWh a day, but is a ‘spare’, largely used for beer and drinks. So that is going too.

Currently testing the microwave (which seems fine – almost no power draw on standby at all) and then to tackle my sons gaming PC…

The podcast the big green money show by Deborah meaden covers this very subject, how to invest in your home to improve energy rating. Well worth a listen, some v good ideas.

Two gaming pc’s and a hot tub. Hot tub was turned to pump only start of summer and only heated when we decided to use it – saved a significant amount of Kwh, but I’ll turn it off soon – power monitoring plug has been bought so I want to see what power the pump only is using. Then test both gaming pc setups as I know my son has loads of stuff on standby.

Old fridge and freezer have just gone (knackered) and a new unit installed. Any other appliances aren’t on standby now. small chest freezer will beturned down.

LED security lights will have timer’s reduced – one or two can be switched off.

Can I remind all those of you with mains gas, that those of us without pay more for our electricity (no dual-fuel discount) – and our daily temperatures even in the south of Scotland are on average 5c lower than in the South East.

Oh and our oil cost has tripled over the last 2 years, spent £2000 so far this year compared to £700 for the same period in 2020.

Kiln-dried Wood unsurprisingly has also risen, looks about a +50% rise over last year.

And picking up on the Scotland Standing Charge issue, ours is 49.64p.

Cam anyone recommend a device for measuring power consumption through a 13a socket? Or, are they all pretty similar?

I think i need to assess and go on an appliance cull

Ian

I’ve just ordered a couple via ebay for not much more than £20. Much of a muchness. You can get smart plugs with power monitoring, but I went for the adapter plug and display, non-smart.

Extended 3 bed semi with 4 adults, used to use 13000kwh of gas, which dropped to 10000 when we fitted a Tado smart thermostat, then in the spring we added Tado smart TRV’s, looking like we’ll come in around 6-7000kwh a year, so about £1100.

Electric we use about 4000kWh with me WFH, 3 on 13 weeks a year holiday, a telly that is permanently on if the Mrs is awake and a son that spends any waking hour gaming, this should come in around £2100 but we switched on a 5.2kwp solar array last week that should take us down to around £1250, and £250-300 back in export payments.

So all in around £2000, pre price rise and pre smart TRV’s was around £1800-1900

So I get monthly bills then pay them, keeping track of them.
Last year at this time of year I got down to less than £35 for July/ August.
This year the same two months are closer to £80.
I’m too worried about the winter months, I can probably cover the increases but other things are going to be put aside to do so.

If it helps anyone this electricity cost calculator has been updated with the new price cap.

Oh and our oil cost has tripled over the last 2 years, spent £2000 so far this year compared to £700 for the same period in 2020.

How well insulated is your hot water tank? I found that the Megaflo thing in my place only needs nuking with the oil boiler every other day and can still do a hot shower 48 hours later (two showers / day). Flow rate on a thermostatic shower reduces a bit on the second day, but it’s saved several hours running the boiler every day, and the water use is less too.

Don’t know how much energy I use but my energy bills (combined gas & electricity – I am with Bulb) used to be around £45/mth in the summer time, but now it has gone up by around 90% to 100% to £80 to £85/mth. I think I will need to add another 50% to the bill for winter (when central heating is switched on).

If you have them, have a look thru some old bills at what you were paying last winter. If you’re on a normal variable rate….The increase this summer from your old £45 to £80 will be due to the price cap increase (now at 27.35p per kWh electric and 7.28p per kWh gas) The new cap coming in in October sees them rise by c80%. So your SUMMER bill would be c £145 (we use 3x the summer energy thru the worst months of Winter)
I’d urge you to give this a very good looking at…..

Oh and our oil cost has tripled over the last 2 years, spent £2000 so far this year compared to £700 for the same period in 2020.

Sounds impressive till you realise 2020 was pretty much an all time low. Anyone planning a budget using that as a baseline is living on a wing and a prayer.

Compared to any other energy source bar the spike in February to 1.20 oils up about 30% on its 10 year average which puts it’s increases considerable lower than the others right now.

Sounds impressive till you realise 2020 was pretty much an all time low. Anyone planning a budget using that as a baseline is living on a wing and a prayer.

Go back to 2018 then, and it’s still doubled in price.

We pay around £100 per month for combined gas and electricity. We have quite a bit of credit also. Our DD was about £130 a couple of month ago, but has come down. We input readings regularly. They always overestimate usage. We live in a new build, 3 bed semi detached with triple glazing and a 1kw solar setup. Over the last 6 1/2 years we have made around 5300kwh through the panels. We’re about to move to another new build, but an extra bedroom and no solar panels. So I’m guessing we will see a big jump in our bill. But we don’t have a dishwasher, or tumble dryer, and there is only 2 of us. We don’t consume much.

Go back to 2018 then, and it’s still doubled in price.

yes the boilerjuice price graphs(i assume thats what your using since you picked 2018 as your referance and thats as far back as that goes) would certainly make you think that how ever whos paying that price ? – example its showing about 110p/l and yet i can get quoted 84p from my usual supplier.

The RPI 10 year average graphs paint a different picture

Estimated Annual Electricity Usage 2660.0 kWh
Estimated Annual Gas Usage* 15331 kWh

Interesting. ONly 2 of us, but we both work from home – me on computers, Mrs NBT makes curtains. Gas for hot water, heating and the hob. Everything else is electric. Surprised to see our usage is so high

I think I can get a full set of smart TRVs and thermostat for £300 to enable single room heating for WFH. This may pay for itself in one winter.

yes the boilerjuice price graphs(i assume thats what your using since you picked 2018 as your referance and thats as far back as that goes

Nope, when we first moved in I’d no idea what oil would cost so recorded it (and usage via a remote) – I’ve the data for +10 years now and it’s the actual data of what we paid for each fill (3x per year = 3,000l) and usage in 100l units.

Also to check for leaks, by recording usage I’d see it.

And 95ppl at the start of the month for us.

We’re 4 adults, gas use low – efficient house, but electric is high due to gadgets. Son’s room does have smart sockets but I really need to resync them (pain in the ass as they don’t like the 5ghz wifi, but I’ll shedule power off duering day (he’s at work). Going to see what the sandby use is as gaming pc, 3 screens, VR etc all on standy !

Daughter’s put her two consoles on a switched extension as she’s mainly using her gaming PC, but’ she’s also an ipad pro and a gaming laptop

We’ve an IR panel heater where MrsF works frm home (two days) so she;ll use that more as it heat’s you, and nt the room. My I’ll be two days at hme, so will work out something – currently the conservatory or shed.

I think I can get a full set of smart TRVs and thermostat for £300 to enable single room heating for WFH. This may pay for itself in one winter.

The wife just uses an electric oil filled radiator in her office. Never run the numbers on what it actually costs to use…

Over the last 8 years we’ve paid between 32ppl and 47ppl for premium kerosene. In March we paid 63ppl. My price for last week was quoted as 92ppl. 3* the lowest price and almost 2* the (previous to war in Ukraine) highest. That’s in the Cotswolds/SW.

But – It’s followed exactly what Brent Crude is doing, so can’t really complain. Sadly, the low point seems to have been August 17th and I missed it.

I think I can get a full set of smart TRVs and thermostat for £300 to enable single room heating for WFH. This may pay for itself in one winter.

Question for the massed ranks of STW…is this worth it? I have old (1980s build) radiators with older valves – they do have ‘dials’ on so you can choose between 0 & 6 as a heating level and my boiler is less than 10 years old. I cannot afford new radiators or £300 for smart TRVs so wondering if just going round the house turning stuff down/off will have the same effect? I suppose walking round the house may generate some personal warmth 😉 I have invested in some some smart plugs for the TVs and a couple of strategic plugs (Fazzini-jnr-jnr Xbox).

In terms of costs Shell (after we were moved to them when Pure Planet went bust) told me in January I needed to be paying £180p/mth so I upped it to £200. They have since told me my expected usage will be £175 p/mth but want me to drop my DD as I’m in credit. Nothing at all like making it as confusing as possible for folks to get to grips with. If things do get really bad I’ll just start going back into the office to work to save energy/money as my commute is cycle or walk, so can avoid car use.