electricity bill

[careergirl]

for the month of September used £39 worth of electric. In October this doubled to £69. I know why - I've been using the tumble dryer pretty heavily and my washing machine is energy inefficient
I've now replaced the washing machine with an AA rated energy efficient machine, and am not using the tumble dryer at all. Nor am I using the dishwasher unless got a really hefty amount of pots to wash
the thing is I have washed bedding today and its on clothes airers in front of the radiators. I've had the heating on most of the day to get things dry.
The house is energy effecient is that loft insulation has been renewed, central heating is serviced yearly boiler, combi, fitted with Magna Flow to increase its efficiency.
Anything else I can do?
In the interim my direct debit for fuel was £100 because of recent surge in elec use Powergen want to increase it to £150 (originally wanted £178) tempted to cancel direct debit and put money away for bills - is this sensible?

[ChasingSquirrels]

cancelling the direct debit depends whether you can afford the short term cash flow on the increased direct debit - because paying by direct debit is almost always cheaper due to the discounts you get.

[Fluffycloudland77]

It depends on the tarrif your on, some of the online accounts are the cheapest, because you get your bills online and you give your meter readings online.

Could you change tariff? we dont pay a dd, we put money away and pay quarterly. We pay £40 a year more but dd always go up.

Buy some clothes horses and put them in a room overnight, most stuff will dry overnight like this. We do this and only have storage heaters because it's electric only in the village.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I forgot to add, unless your dishwasher is massively energy ineffiecent it will use more hot water and electric to wash up by hand. Even if its only you and oh.

I only use tesco cheapy daisy powder now and its fab., as long as you use dishwasher salt and cheap rinse aid powder works really well.

Savers and home bargains do rinseaid for a pound! I decant into a finish bottle so DH doesnt find out.

[careergirl]

thinking a bit more calmly now that bill gave me a shock. tumble dryer remains out of bounds dishwasher back in use only use it once a day anyway. bought another clothes airer and have cancelled direct debit shall just pay when bills are due putting money aside each month of course for bills.

[fergoose]

I agree, I use the Daisy dishwasher powder on the economy cycle and it is excellent. It is 3kg I think for under a fiver and it lasts for months. We are in a soft water area so I don't bother with salt or rinse aid to be honest - I can't say I've noticed any adverse affects from not using them.

I got rid of my tumble dryer, and have bought extra sets of bedding so I don't need to get duvet covers dry on the same day - cheaper in the long run I hope.

Another thing worth doing is do take meter readings, I think they may only read meters every 6 months, maybe less if no access, so always check if your bill is an estimate and update the actual reading with your supplier. You often get a direct debit discount, but you could argue you give them your money, sometimes in advance of using the energy, when it could be earning you interest - not that anyone earns much of that at the moment mind :)

[Bossybritches22]

I keep my DD down to about £30 a month & if it gets too high a balance pay a one off extra £50, but I have to fight Eon every time!

[brighthair]

Sounds daft but switch anything off that's not in use. I don't have a tumble dryer, my lights are all energy saving. Total gas and electric is about £30 a month but I work hard to keep it low