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?

My heating doesn't go above 16, keeps at maximum £2 a day. When it goes up be 15 max more than likely.
But we have winter duvets, hot water bottles, blankets and invested in those snoodle hoodies. Absolute life saver.

We are always pretty mindful of usage anyway, but will be getting better insulation in the roof this summer in prep for winter. I have also asked to go back into the office full time instead of wfh some days to save paying during the day for stuff to be on (DH works out of the house anyway and DS is in nursery).

@Readingtoaster and @Player20868 do you mind naming the brand of these "magic plugs"? I have heard of something similar before but never seen one and would be really interested in getting one! TIA

@CluckingFunts

Ffs….recently moved into a flat from a house…costs us more to live here….thanks brexiteers and all who voted for the shit show that is Fucking Boris…🤬🤬🤬

Nothing to do with Brexit. EU have the exact same problems with their energy bills.

@JigglyPiggly

Nothing

I'm not too fussed about it tbh

Helpful brag here

I think insulated houses are key.

We live where it’s currently around -10/-14 degrees overnight. Our heating goes off at 8pm and on again 6am, so off all night.

Our rooms are around 20-22 degrees daytime, and drop maximum 2-3 degrees overnight. Ie 1 year old bedroom usually 22 when he goes to bed at 8.30pm, and 19/20 degrees in the morning.

12-14 degrees is freezing imo in a bedroom

@Readingtoaster where can I buy the magical device that tells you how much electricity you’re using?

I’m really worried as we are on prepayment meters, after all bills and essentials my leftover is very very low anyway. I won’t be able to afford anything that comes up like new school shoes/clothes etc at this rate!

Keep an eye out for government backed energy saving grants and initiatives. I've moved into a house with no insulation and managed to get it upgraded completely for free. The schemes change all the time but there are some good ones out there.

@driftcompatible

I can see why you’d be worried about small children. My middle dc was born in the 2009/2010 winter (look it up - it was cooooold) and we only occasionally would have the heating set to come on around 5am as that’s the coldest part of the night. They were dressed in a vest, fleece babygrow, swaddled and then tucked in with a brushed cotton blanket and was generally fine.

If your baby is well, you don’t smoke and it is swaddled and tucked in you shouldn’t have to worry about cot death. It’s pretty unlikely they’re going to overheat!

Also, my toddler at the time had a really thick baby sleeping bag or onesie instead of a duvet.

they told you that you were on a smart meter,? You would know if you had one you can see them

I fixed mine in September til 2023 when it became apparent there was a problem looming. I fixed to a higher rate but have since done a compare and all the other deals offered now are at least 1k more expensive than the fix I got in September.

I have tiles throughout my downstairs, it's always freezing even with the heating on at 18/20. I tried to have my heating off but unfortunately my asthma kicks up and I quite like to be able to breathe. I fixed in sept/Oct on the lowest I could get but that was scary enough as my payments doubled overnight. Hoping to go back into the office more so I use less for kettle, computer, heating, everything. Single parent to teens, it's worrying.

Not really, think you get to a stage when you begin to realise that you cannot do anymore as THEY always win, so the point of worrying about it is absolutely pointless, you nor I will ever change the outcome

[quote AThroneOfLies]@Readingtoaster where can I buy the magical device that tells you how much electricity you’re using?

I’m really worried as we are on prepayment meters, after all bills and essentials my leftover is very very low anyway. I won’t be able to afford anything that comes up like new school shoes/clothes etc at this rate![/quote]
This is my one. The big surprise was the wee fan heaters we use to take the chill off the room were costing 42p an hour! The freezers were about 9p every 24 hours and the slow cooker and electric blanket was v cheap indeed.

I am with Utility Warehouse which claims it won't go up!

[quote AThroneOfLies]@Readingtoaster where can I buy the magical device that tells you how much electricity you’re using?

I’m really worried as we are on prepayment meters, after all bills and essentials my leftover is very very low anyway. I won’t be able to afford anything that comes up like new school shoes/clothes etc at this rate![/quote]
From your supplier I would guess, there is nothing magical about them, it’s a meter like the one under the stairs, just gives you a constant readout,more to get worried about. Unfortunately we can’t change the obvious outcome, price rises are here to stay & that’s a fact

I’m absolutely dreading it but there’s nothing we can do. We’re with octopus and are on a fixed rate till April. We are a low income family and already get the £140 warm front discount payment - Ds and I are disabled. I think it won’t really bite until next winter as obviously usage goes down in the summer. We literally can’t afford to pay more. We will end up in even more debt. That’s all there is to it.

I’m dreading it. I grew up in a house we were too poor to heat. Didn’t really want that for my kids. I’m not skint either! I earn enough to survive but there’s no room for more spending.

Price fixed so at least we know how much it will be.
Tried to save money since September (difficult but cut down on some things, switched supermarkets etc...)
Made sure home is as insulated as possible.
Bought skins to go under clothes when working from home on really cold days so only have to have heating on a bit.
Thinking of buying a heated rail clothres dryer instead of using tumble dryer but not sure as big outlay in one go.

Adding thermostatic controls to radiators, draught excluders, thicker curtains and contemplating double glazing

The government have had years to sort this situation out but as usual it’s always been on the back burner, It should be mandatory for all new builds to have solar panels & water panels on roofs to help, it’s not magic, it works, I first saw these things well over 30 yrs ago. We have 500 houses going up not far from my home. It’s almost complete, not one has anything on the roof,absolute madness, our plumber has just built his own house, it’s got28 solars on it, I rest my case

For anyone with lots of windows I would recommend pinning up cheap fleece blankets in the window alcove (I just used some of the DCs!)
I had a faulty window last year that let in a terrible draught, did that and it made such a difference

This is a useful thread.
We don’t have a tumble dryer.
We only have the heating on for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. I would have no heating on at all and wouldn’t mind, but dh and dd complain.
Hot water - this is set to come on twice a day but I’m trying now with just once in the evenings - when we have baths/showers. I’d be tempted to turn it off all the time as I’d just switch it on when needed.
Computer use - we have one each and they are on all the time - we wfh. But we could be better at turning them off after work.
Insulation is the thing that lets us down, I think. Loft insulation could be much better. I’ll look at those chimney sheep too, as we have fireplaces in every room.
We also have exposed floorboards in a few rooms. Carpet would be better. But worried about how to get large wardrobes and beds out in order to fit carpets.

@DonGray

Adding thermostatic controls to radiators, draught excluders, thicker curtains and contemplating double glazing

Radiator controls only work when the doors are closed, & double glazing will take absolute years to recoup your investment, but it’s a start.

We have solar panels. When we bought our house 8 years ago DH decided to fit them and within 6 years they paid for themselves. We sell excess electricity back to the grid.

New triple glazed windows and patio doors and a new composite front door a few years later. We have a big hallway which gets very cold.

Draught excluder

New boiler a couple of years ago

I do use a tumble dryer a couple of times a week but it is a Miele heat pump model so very efficient.

Insulation in loft and cavity walls

Electric hybrid car which I haven't filled up for 9 months, it charges off the solar panels essentially.