Shit just got my electric bill!!

[2anddone]

Just got my electric bill it's gone up £200 compared to this time last year....it's going to get worse isn't it!
I have night storage heating which works on a thermostat and is set to low (17 degrees) plus a log cabin which I need to heat for my work (childcare so have to have heat!). I don't leave lights on unnecessarily, don't have my hot water heater switched on, only run my washing machine and dishwasher when they are full. The tv is on every evening but not in the daytime, don't have a tumble dryer.
I honestly can't see where I can save money on my electric bill (was over £400 this month)

@BiddyPop

Both the electricity and gas bills are the highest we've ever got here. I got 2 days warning of 1 direct debit, over €100 more than I expected, and 4 days warning of the other, just under €100 more than I expected. Both bills were officially sent with 14 days notice ...but just arrived yesterday.

And we got collar panels that are doing well in generating power so had expected a (slight) reduction in the electricity bill - not a massive increase!

Our come via email and I can check online anytime

@FTEngineerM

you cant reduce useage

Now that, right there, I’d fundamentally the problem with peoples attitude 😂

Of course you can reduce usage! You don’t need a fucking sunbed for a start. Go outside in the actual sun.

I was referring to the OP and her situation..that was obvious....!!..I dont do sunbeds...it was an example !!

I had a shock when my January bill arrived. I am alone in a 2 bed new build flat, all electric, and I paid £160. Since then, I have switched off the heating - yes, it is freezing!. I only heat enough water for a shower and dishes. No more baths for me!, and every single device is switched off at night, as in laptop, etc. So far this month, I am spending £2.40 a day, according to the smart meter app. It is really sad because I realise that as an adult, I can decide to work with a blanket over my legs, put another jumper on, etc, but what about people with babies.

Got ours today, duel fuel, gone up £100. Barely have heating/hot water on. Led lights. We do have an old boiler though, so we are updating that, but old house, high ceilings. At least we aren’t struggling financially, god help anyone on a fixed/ low income.

@Leftbutcameback

Back to the question of ways to save electricity - acknowledging that there is a fixed standing charge. I guess modern fan ovens are quite energy intensive so better to use a ceramic dish on the gas hob to do roast potatoes etc. But what about stuff on standby? I don't turn our TV/ WiFi off at night for practical reasons. Would this help?

Kettle not boiled much - three times a day on average. We do use the microwave for something most days.

I do WFH so my laptop and phone are plugged in a lot. Radio tends to be on too.
I don't use a hairdryer very often (not for energy reasons, because I don't like them).

What am I missing in terms of reducing energy use?

Go for a single cup machine instead of kettle, they deliver water at precise temperature for drinking. Unless you already have them LED lights. Today’s fan ovens are remarkably efficient & don’t gobble energy like predecessors so don’t worry on that one. Tv on standby is absolutely pointless so turn it off you say it’s on for practical reasons, what possible reason? WiFi will burn about 2£ a yr, if that.

I've just explained to my disabled son that he can't have his fan on all night. He struggles to regulate his temperature, gets too hot and it can make him vomit and faint.

He is understandably worried and hugely pissed off.

Hopefully we will have downsized to a flat soon as we can't afford this house even without astronomical heating bills.

We are lucky and have a plan to jump ship before we sink. Some people will just sink.

It will increase the divide between rich and poor tenfold.

I feel like we are living through a Dickensian tale told in modern times.

@Caspianberg

For those asking about kettle usage

We got one of these (Christmas present from in-laws)
caso-design.de/en/p/hw660-turbo/

It’s really good. You only heat the amount you use at a time, therefore saving energy. They sell smaller/ large options as well

That's a £120 kettle.

Do you know how many cups of water you need to boil to recoup the cost of that?

It costs 0.183 KWH to boil 1 litre of water So it costs about 1p to boil a cup of water.

You would need to boil a lot of water to recoup the costs

@mogsrus - all the plugs for the TV, WiFi, tivo box etc are on one plug adapter which I can't reach to turn off (that's the practical reason) - but a PP suggested a timer plug which is a good idea and discovered they come with remotes so perfect! I don't really understand how to turn them off except at the plug, can you do that or are they still on standby? If so I can push a button but the red light is still on.

I'm not going to buy a one cup heater for a grand total of three tea cups a day - my kettle is fine thanks and has a measure for the minimum. No need to buy anything new.

Will do a check of the lights - kitchen is LED and others are energy saving but no idea what type. I've just been watching the meter re the oven and you're right, no sign of movement!

MrsBaublesDylan if you are talking about a simple pedestal fan or suchlike, they really do not cost much to run at all?

www.idealhome.co.uk/news/how-much-does-it-cost-to-run-a-fan-2-253322

Go for a single cup machine instead of kettle, they deliver water at precise temperature for drinking

Very expensive for the money saved.

all the plugs for the TV, WiFi, tivo box etc are on one plug adapter which I can't reach to turn off (that's the practical reason) - but a PP suggested a timer plug which is a good idea and discovered they come with remotes so perfect! I don't really understand how to turn them off except at the plug, can you do that or are they still on standby? If so I can push a button but the red light is still on

Standby power is virtually nothing.

Honestly - it's either high power items like showers etc that are used regularly, or things like washing machines, electric ovens that make the difference.

You need a power checker to see how much energy is used.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4471775-Confused-about-the-price-cap-and-energy-consumption-Heres-the-thread-for-the-physics-and-the-maths-to-help-you

This thread has some advice and information

Thanks @cakeorwine (great name!) - will have a look and work it out. Good to know what makes the difference

Mine has already doubled and will go up more soon. We are all electric but the apartment is well insulated but it's cold.

This is yet another thing to cope with in the middle of a pandemic.

[quote Leftbutcameback]@mogsrus - all the plugs for the TV, WiFi, tivo box etc are on one plug adapter which I can't reach to turn off (that's the practical reason) - but a PP suggested a timer plug which is a good idea and discovered they come with remotes so perfect! I don't really understand how to turn them off except at the plug, can you do that or are they still on standby? If so I can push a button but the red light is still on.

I'm not going to buy a one cup heater for a grand total of three tea cups a day - my kettle is fine thanks and has a measure for the minimum. No need to buy anything new.

Will do a check of the lights - kitchen is LED and others are energy saving but no idea what type. I've just been watching the meter re the oven and you're right, no sign of movement![/quote]
If a light is on when you push a button it’s still consuming, if some of your bulbs are the old energy saving , basically folded up fluorescent lights, get rid, they are not energy efficient anymore,that’s why along with halogen bulbs you can’t get them,apart from that they contain mercury,so not good for environment.

Ours has gone up by 63 per month.

We can afford it but will obviously cut back elsewhere.

Consequently less money going into local businesses. Suspect many households will do the same.

Anticipating a dreadful few years ahead tbh.

To those suggesting we cut back on usage, we already use as minimal as possible.

LED lights use very little power.

A 5 watt light would use 1 KWH in 200 hours. That's 1 unit - so 28p.

Whereas a 9000 watt electric shower would use 1.5 KWH in just 10 minutes. That's about 42p.

You can see where the money goes.

Thanks @mogsrus - two of our bulbs have gone in the last two days so that's a good place to start! If I understand correctly you can only buy good energy saving bulbs now then? That's good

@Leftbutcameback

Thanks *@mogsrus* - two of our bulbs have gone in the last two days so that's a good place to start! If I understand correctly you can only buy good energy saving bulbs now then? That's good

Look at the wattage of them.

In the old days, the incandescent bulbs were very inefficient. 100w bulb may only used 10w for light and 90w was wasted as heat.

Nowadays, they are much more efficient.

Just read this on halogen and fluorescent lights

www.gov.uk/government/news/end-of-halogen-light-bulbs-spells-brighter-and-cleaner-future

I feel you. I was slapped with a £370 electric bill. 2 bedroom semi-detached house, fairly small. No one home from 8am - 3pm. The bill floored me.

By the way - I am on a monthly direct debit, but there is a bill generated every month so I can see exactly how our balance is standing up to actual usage. I’ve chosen to increase my DD before they tell me I need to, and I’m hoping that with that, the savings from solar over the summer and the £200 credit in October, I won’t need to increase it again.

This is something I can't quite understand. Do you mean you pay the same amount via DD every month, regardless of what your bill is? I'm not in the UK, here we get a monthly bill and the electricity company takes the amount of my bill via DD so I am always paying for what I use.

@SquirrelG

By the way - I am on a monthly direct debit, but there is a bill generated every month so I can see exactly how our balance is standing up to actual usage. I’ve chosen to increase my DD before they tell me I need to, and I’m hoping that with that, the savings from solar over the summer and the £200 credit in October, I won’t need to increase it again.

This is something I can't quite understand. Do you mean you pay the same amount via DD every month, regardless of what your bill is? I'm not in the UK, here we get a monthly bill and the electricity company takes the amount of my bill via DD so I am always paying for what I use.

Yes, that's exactly it. It spreads the cost throughout the year, so you build up credit in summer and then use it in winter. Helpful for monthly budgeting.

You can do it your way too, but many people pay monthly in equal payments.

Do you mean you pay the same amount via DD every month, regardless of what your bill is? I'm not in the UK, here we get a monthly bill and the electricity company takes the amount of my bill via DD so I am always paying for what I use

Some companies estimate your annual usage and will then divide it by 12 so you pay the same amount per month. If you started in summer, you will end up in credit as the energy you use will be less than the money you pay in, but then in winter, you will use more so the bills increase.

In theory, you end up back to zero balance after a year.

In theory.

@MrsBaublesDylan

I've just explained to my disabled son that he can't have his fan on all night. He struggles to regulate his temperature, gets too hot and it can make him vomit and faint.

He is understandably worried and hugely pissed off.

Hopefully we will have downsized to a flat soon as we can't afford this house even without astronomical heating bills.

We are lucky and have a plan to jump ship before we sink. Some people will just sink.

It will increase the divide between rich and poor tenfold.

I feel like we are living through a Dickensian tale told in modern times.

Have you checked how much power the fan uses, before making that decision? Desktop ones use about 50W. So you’d have to run it for 20 hours to consume 1kWh of electricity, which at the new capped rate is £0.28. Even at 10 hours a night that’s £1 a week, up from around £0.70 when compared to the previous cap of £0.20. I’m not trying to make light of it, just checking that your focussing on the things that consume the most power

My Husband loves an outside light. He has set one up that comes on when you go out the back door. Is this bad?

I feel sick having just submitted our reads.

Our usage has tripled because we've had the heating on I'm guessing. Have 2 babies so can't really not have it on as our flat is freezing but we are careful with it.

I'm on half salary as it is as on mat leave and am probably going to have to give up my job to care for kids full time.

I'm in such a bad mood because I'm so stressed.