To ask what you're doing in advance of gas/elec rises in April?

[irritablehead1]

I feel like I wade through treacle when i try to work out how to try and minimise rise of the gas/elec in April.

Can anyone offer a short cut through all the advise and pretty much tell me what I should be doing to cut the impact?

Thanks @Freecuthbert I was fuming at the time, I don't understand why they didn't tell me the electricity smart meter wasn't working for so long, the worst thing is that it worked once and then they used a random estimated reading that was 4000 kwh less than the previous one, hence the massive underpayment. We probably weren't very careful during that time as thought we were doing OK.

Energy saving light bulbs and using motion sensor LED lights in corridors. My boiler actually broke down and spent a lot to fix it but broke down again and I have not had it repaired again. I am in a flat that has one radiator that is on the communal building boiler but do not have any other heating now. Use air fryer and not a regular oven.

Big camping lanterns (D batteries) in the rooms the teen uses a lot and take light bulbs out.
I have serious doubts about this. D cells aren’t cheap - I can’t imagine it’s cheaper than an LED mains lamp.

@JigglyPiggly

Nothing

I'm not too fussed about it tbh

Excellent. I'll come over to your house then to warm myself up!

I've stopped turning the heating on as much, or having it down half a degree. I've got a hot water bottle on the go every evening instead and thick lined socks as my feet get cold. We don't have radiators on in rooms that don't need it, or they are turned right down in bedrooms. Our boiler flow temp has been turned down which should improve the efficiency of our heating (something DH learned last week when he started training as a heating engineer).

Our house exists on two climates you can actually pin point the step where the temperature changes. The loft is well insulated and upstairs stays very warm. The walkway is drafty and makes downstairs chillier (hall is also where thermostat is). We are putting a thermal curtain up over the front door to try and help. I have the heating on about 17 but also let it run over night on very low temp (13 or so) so that it never gets absolutely freezing. I cook dinner in the slowcooker 4-5 nights a week which is a big energy saver, run washing machine on eco and only full loads etc etc

Oh and having a smart meter I think makes you more conscious that you are actually spending money when you use the electric/heating

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

Big camping lanterns (D batteries) in the rooms the teen uses a lot and take light bulbs out. I have serious doubts about this. D cells aren’t cheap - I can’t imagine it’s cheaper than an LED mains lamp.

Whatever you can control man. If you have a better suggestion, get it out there.

Heated airer instead of tumble dryer
Didn't replace 2nd freezer when it broke
Radiators off in rooms not being used
All bedrooms off at 9am and on at 6pm
I wear a blanket and layers when WFH
Oil filled radiator (from FB) instead of fan heater in office.

For us the rise is a minor inconvenience. It will not impact our lives significantly.

However I grew up in poverty, living day to day on ‘emergency’ using gas cards and electricity keys. I feel sick thinking about those who will now be forced to choose between heating or eating.

@BoPeeple

Price rises or not, I can’t believe the waste of energy on some of these posts

Heating on all night
Not drying washing outside
Computers on day and night

Am I the only one?

I'm not being goady here - I am GENUINELY asking. I keep my heating on all night for my baby and toddler. Toddler never keeps duvet on and baby I don't like to wrap up warm due to fears of cot death. I just try to keep the room a steady temperature. Which means heating on all night.

Is there a better way to do this with very small children? I have the heating off in my room as I just dress warmer and keep duvet over me etc.

If there is a more sensible approach I would like to know so I can do it. I just worry about my children getting really cold. Last year my toddler woke me up saying 'cold' and it made me feel awful and back then she was in a sleeping bag!

How much is it going to go up, my current bill is around £50 electric, £35 gas per month. Am I looking at double?

I turned off my heating an hour earlier at night and it really does not make a massive difference to how comfortable I feel. More layers - especially on my core, and tights under trousers when I am sitting working at home. Adjusted my boiler output after a tip from the energy company. Heated throws if I am cold. Only cooking when I have an oven full, and then reheating in the microwave. Washing machine run overnight.

@Ashleighz88

How much is it going to go up, my current bill is around £50 electric, £35 gas per month. Am I looking at double?

About 50% on top of what you are paying currently.

Our front door lets in an icy blast so we need to sort that.

So from about £85 to around £125.

@Ashleighz88

How much is it going to go up, my current bill is around £50 electric, £35 gas per month. Am I looking at double?

50% I think.

For us that would take us up to £160 ish total.

Our bills gone up to £210 from £109. No change really in usage.

The 200 odd scared the shit out of me tbh, we can't afford that. My disability is made worse by being cold, this is it though, I'll need to not function as a normal parent or human just to save pennies. I won't be able to get dressed in something with buttons or zips, I won't be able to cook without burning myself. What's the fucking point!?

@Passthecake30

Our front door lets in an icy blast so we need to sort that.

I just bought a fairly cheap door curtain from amazon, made a MASSIVE difference.

I might start having to cuddle my husband for warmth!

Will start hanging washing out soon.

We are on a two year fix so we are lucky.

My PIL said the door curtain was a game changer.

My house is modern with extremely good insulation and small windows so we have low bills for a house of our size.

I can't see that there is an easy answer. Even if you get a price freeze now, in a years time the step up will be huge.

Hot water bottles!

We got hammered with our quarterly bill - had fixed before the prices rose and still hammered. We’re struggling already and we’re not poor (not wealthy but not in poverty)

My retired neighbour spends all day in bed and only comes out for food. I can tell cos of his loud noisy floorboards since I've being wfh. Also noticed on days where its freezing he goes out somewhere and won't be back until 10pm and straight to bed. Being terraced it means if I heat my house I lose more heat cos he isn't heating his house and its really noticeable.

I'll just be going to the office everyday now to keep costs down.

@driftcompatible - how warm are you keeping the house/their rooms? A room that is too warm is just as likely to cause overheating (and therefore cot death) as too many layers. I personally prefer a cooler room for my toddler (2yo) - although he still wears a sleeping bag so does stay in that, we are planning to buy one of the ones with feet from slumbersac when he outgrows the one he has now to keep him warm as I can't imagine him keeping a duvet on (for now he doesn't mind the bag). His room this evening when we put him to bed at 7.30pm was 16.5c, but it will drop overnight to 14ish in there or sometimes as low as 12 and if he wakes up cold (rare) he just comes into bed with us. He wears merino wool vest, cotton PJs (or wool ones - but we only have 1 pair) and a 2.5tog sleeping bag. We also have a 3.5tog sleeping bag for really cold nights.

We have our heating on 7.30am-9.30am, then 3.30-5.30pm. When it is really cold (as in, sticking around 0c or below all day) then I'll have the heating on all day, but that has only happened once where we live so far this year. We wear wool thermals under our clothes during the day if needed (toddler always wears a wool base layer as we are outside a lot).

As for keeping us adults warm; wool blanket under duvet at night, hot water bottles, PILs bought us Ooodies for christmas (a very large hoodie made of fleecy blanket material) which we wear in the evening - I find it warmer than my dressing gown as it is more enclosed. I also try to keep moving during the evening before I'm ready to go to bed; I do quite a bit of my cooking/cleaning/organising from 7.30pm-9.30pm ish, then head up to bed with my hot water bottles to watch TV until I want to read/sleep (which is usually within the hour haha).