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)

Leftbutcameback
Has anyone else worked out how much kWh of electric they use a day? I've just checked and ours is 26 -28. Various websites suggest average is 10, and I can't see why we are so far above that. Is 10kwh per day what people are using

1 radiator is 2kw/hour so it is on all Day as it is our only heating
Even if we turn it down it only gets to 1.5 kw. It hardly heats the room as it is and at the lower temperature it is hardly warm

@mogsrus

That’s what I said for goodness sakes, 2watts input. 40 watts output. It’s all about efficiency & that’s what I’m trying to get over, you only use 2watts to get 40 watts out depending on the way the bulb has been put together,

You don't "get 40 watts out" though.

It emits as much light as an old 40W incandescent bulb, but that's its light output and measured in lumens, not Watts.

If you could use 2W of power and "get 40W out" you'd be generating power with a lightbulb, rather than consuming it.

for all those working out how to reduce usage and kwh to help reduce your billss,dont forget that the standing charge is increasing as well,which there is bugger all.you can do anything about. Electricity will go up fro.about 24p away to 45p,almost double. So even if you manage to reduce appliance usage,it might not be enough to offset standing xharge. Has anyone worked anythi g out around that?
I was lookiing at details tonight as my gas and electric with EDF has risen from £145 pminth. To £181 p.mnth. For the last 177 days of last bills ending at 9th Dec. We used less electricy and only slightly more gas for same time period year before. I can fix a rate now for wait for it... £310 p.mnth. ie almost 60% more than current. So that is indication of what I'll face in April. On top of NI rise we will need to cut back elsewhere.

C'mon you moaners, what are you complaining about?

Sunak's 12 homes will all still be nice and toasty. What's the problem?

@NewModelArmyMayhem18

Our gas reading was significantly higher for January than for December which shocked me as we've not been having the heating on in the evenings in recent weeks.

Life is just getting more and more grim. #wfh will become a lot less appealing for people when they're struggling to keep warm while consciously turning down the thermostat to save money.

Maybe that is the plan... Government are desperate to force people back to the office.

@SquareNotCircle

I think base layers whilst working from home (uniqlo do good ones) are the way forward.

Totally ridiculous that anybody should have to wear thermals inside their housd.

That's the problem everyone complains about the cost of childcare as it is. I only charge £4 per hour but am one of the most expensive childminders in the village already.

What?!? This is bonkers. People around here would bite your hand off for £4 per hour childcare! That's so, so low. I can't believe anybody could be moaning about that.

They may well be but like NS gas and oil, gas from fracking is sold on world markets, so regardless of where it has come from it makes no difference to what we pay.

Yep. If people think the private companies who had the fracking contracts would treat this as a public service and sell that gas to UK consumers at a reduced rate, they are living in dreamland.

Or that our Government would make them do that. Brexit was all about markets and free trade and deregulation remember?

Enjoy the riches spewing out of the backsides of the unicorns you voted for, you proud 52% of people who now mostly won't admit what they did or take any responsibility for it.

@itrytomakemyway

I want every single Tory MP to sit down and read this thread.

I doubt very much that any of the cabinet have to give a thought about choosing which room in their house to heat, are piling on extra jumpers or are rooting about in the yellow label sticker cabinet. Honestly, we seem to have gone back to the 1930s.

I really, really hope that people remember this when they go to the ballot box. It seems unthinkable that our children will have a standard of living lower than the one we had as children. I grew up in a very poorly coal fire heated home. I had a childrhood of the family staying in the living at all times because it was the only room with heat. I had a childhood of jumper wearing, no takeaaways, days out not week long holidays. I worked hard for 30 years so that I and my family would have a better standard of life. It really isn't asking too much in UK 2022 to be able to have a warm home, a decent variety of food on the table and holidays and treats to look forward to.

Here we go Boris. read this thread. THIS is what you have done for millions of people in the UK. It makes me angry, fearful and sad in equal measure.

Totally agree. And I'm so furious with the people who voted for these tossers, again and again, at the referendum and general elections.

Yes gas prices are not determined in the UK. But other countries have mitigated this as much as they can to protect their citizens' standard of living. Ours chose not to, big surprise.

Ours decided to put extra business costs and trade barriers in place during a pandemic, leading to rising business costs, job losses, inflation, devaluation... and get drunk and then try to deflect it with pathetic lies.

Shame on anybody who voted Brexit or for these clowns. My sympathy is reserved for those suffering from all of this who had no part in that. Those who wanted it should pay, not the rest. With the extra Brexit controls coming in in July, on top of all of the pandemic supply chain issues and our complete lack of any energy strategy, I fear things may get much worse. 😕

@baba
So sorry, must be heartbreaking for you re your animals. Tragic I hope you can find a solution x

If you could use 2W of power and "get 40W out" you'd be generating power with a lightbulb, rather than consuming it.

Lol! Indeed. And shortly find you were ricker than Bezos.

@reesewithoutaspoon

Currently sitting here with fleece-lined leggings with trousers on top. 2 pairs of socks, slippers. a t-shirt a thermal long-sleeved vest and a jumper over the top. a neck tube, wrist warmers, and a hat. I m actually pretty warm and the heating has been off. But I feel like I have gone back to the '70s again. when we had no CH and just a gas fire. Think I,m going to invest in an oodie and a heated throw, if not for this winter at least for the next one when prices will be even higher

The oddies are fantastic. I have obe and got my friend one for her birthday, she loves it! They are very warm.

You shouldn'have to buy or wear one to stay comfortable though, that's awful.

People could protest. But we don't. We just keep voting in these weirdo arseholes. Many people who voted for these entitled chumps were people who were struggling. Why?

[quote Leftbutcameback]@Blondeshavemorefun that's good (showing the kWh per day, not the higher bill of course). I might suggest Octopus do that on their bills.

That's quite a difference to last year, is that heating or have you had to cut back on other electric usage if you don't mind me asking?[/quote]
@Leftbutcameback tbh I’m not sure why less but thank god it is as can’t imagine if bill was another third higher

I’ve tried to turn lights off more. Esp kitchen one which could be on all evening

Not heating as that gas

Washing machine on 3 times a week. Dw on every day but always been that

Really not sure why used Less

We used more last January than this and the only thing I can think of was we were in lockdown so would be in more. We were also in partial lockdown in November and December 2020

@camperqueen54

People could protest. But we don't. We just keep voting in these weirdo arseholes. Many people who voted for these entitled chumps were people who were struggling. Why?

What’s the alternative? There isn’t one, it’s a two horse race and Labour are just as bad IMHO.

To clarify the 2w 40w thing- what the poster was trying to say is that a 2w LED produces the same number of lumens, ie is as bright as, an old 40w incandescent bulb

That’s what I said for goodness sakes, 2watts input. 40 watts output. It’s all about efficiency & that’s what I’m trying to get over, you only use 2watts to get 40 watts out depending on the way the bulb has been put together

At this stage I hope you're trolling, but just in case:

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. If it could be created, we wouldn't have energy bills. It can be changed from one form to another.

Watts are a measure of power, or energy per unit of time. One watt = one joule per second. Since watts measure energy you cannot create watts. You cannot get 40 watts out if you only put 2 watts in.

I'm going to simplify this bit.

Old 40 watt incandescent bulbs consumed 40 watts of electricity, which they gave out as 2 watts of light and 38 watts of heat.

LEDs consume 2 watts of electricity which they give out as 2 watts of light and 0 watts of heat.

Thus the two bulbs will look as bright as each other, because they're both producing 2 watts of light. One just waists 38 watts as heat which it gives off up in your ceiling so it doesn't even heat the room effectively.

It's not that your lovely LED bulb has 2 watts of input and 40 watts of output. It's that the old incandescent bulbs had 40 watts input for 2 watts output of light.

Now everyone else can insert their own joke about not being the brightest bulb in the pack.

We spent significantly more on gas in January than in December and I can't quite fathom why. We have already turned down the thermostat so that the heating is very unlikely to come on in the evening at all (unless it's really, really cold), andn don't have it on during the day. It's a puzzle.

We are still in credit (£200) with our current direct debit amount, so aiming to go down to zero heating come April.

January's heating always tends to be higher than Dec because it tends to be colder so even if your heating is set to the same temps, it has to overcome colder outside temps to achieve the same inside temp.

This Jan we had a number of -0c nights when compared to December, for e.g.

Feb this year has been milder than Jan so, in theory you should find usage drops again in Feb.

we spent significantly more on gas in January than in December and I can't quite fathom why.

It's colder....

I’ve tried to turn lights off more. Esp kitchen one which could be on all evening

That's a good thing to do - but it won't make much of an impact on your electrical use as they use very little power.

There are changes you can make that will potentially make a much bigger impact on your electrical usage.

@cakeorwine - what are the biggest changes? Or what things generally use the most electric?

I think we are fairly good on turning things off already or not overusing things like tumble dryer ( only use for bedding really)

There's a thread here that goes to more detail

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

It's knowing roughly what power a device is and how long you use them for.

Cutting down electric shower use - especially if you have a lot of shower users - can significantly reduce the cost.

1 minute in a 10,000 watt shower is 0.17 KWH or about 5p under the new tariff

So if a family has say 30 minutes in the shower, that's £1.50 per day, £45 a month, £540 a year

@Whattochoosenow

To clarify the 2w 40w thing- what the poster was trying to say is that a 2w LED produces the same number of lumens, ie is as bright as, an old 40w incandescent bulb

Thank you so much. That is indeed what I was trying to get across. Just the way I worded it, to myself it looked & read right , to everyone else it was garbage thanks again