Energy tariffs/price rises. What are you doing to lessen the impact?

[AlternativelyWired]

Shamelessly posting here for traffic.

I currently pay £140 a month which includes some arrears otherwise it would be £110 a month. If I go on a fixed tariff it would increase by £50 on a 1 year fixed tariff and £80 on a 2 year fixed tariff.

I'm trying to figure out what to do for the best regarding the tariff. I've already stopped using the tumble drier and use a clothes maiden instead (no chance of drying in my garden unless it's summer). The shower isn't electric and just uses the hot water from the tank that gets heated twice a day for an hour. The heating is on minimally with an hour in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon/early evening. It's set at 18 degrees. There are 3 of us with another dc visiting regularly for a few nights. It's a modern house with double glazing and I have thermal curtains on the front door and patio doors. Curtains are always closed once dark. I'm on UC and I can't see it being increased to allow for the energy increases.

Fucking fed up of this country.

I've worked throughout the pandemic and while I'm grateful to have had a job, I resent the idea that I'm now having to pay more because they decided to close everything down and pay people 80% of their wage to sit on their arse all day and bake cakes.

We can afford the rises, we won't take extra measures.

I may donate £200 to the foodbank though. It's outrageous we get a reduction we don't need.

I'm just waiting for everything to go up in price as a result too...and we're talking essentials, food, petrol, cars but also nursery fees, for example - I have a 6mo due to start in May/June and I'm dreading this, it's extortionately expensive as it is 😔 Thin years are coming, that's for sure 😔 And no one should ever vote Cons again, it's their shambolic mismanagement that made the inevitable to some extent increases much, much worse.

We are also having to pay for the additional energy that the remaining energy companies had to purchase when they took on people whose energy companies had gone bust. Think its about 2.4bn ?

We're lucky as, until recently we were on £60 a month for about 5 years, both gas and electric with Eon (2 adults,2 kids, 3 bed semi, smart meter) but recently went up to £99 a month because of Winter uses. I honestly don't know how we are paying so much less than most other people as I'm not overly frugal. Based on today's announcement, we still shouldn't be paying more than £148 a month, a huge leap but still manageable. I'm always shocked reading these forums how much people pay! Why does it vary so much? We have hot water heated twice a day for an hour, heating on (thermostat at 18) for an hour in the morning and maybe an hour at night at the moment. We don't have a tumble dryer so use clothes horses/washing line which maybe helps, and no-one is in the house most of the day. Having a smart meter really helps as I know that our 'normal' is £2.50 a day in Summer and £3.80 in Winter so I feel like I have the power to say, ice spent this much today so tomorrow I'll be more careful about turning off lights etc

Blanket under the mattress is really good, and then one on top of the mattress under a fitted sheet

@QueeniesCroft

Where I live, it will be at least May before I don't need to heat the house at all. I'm already only eating on alternate days and telling the kids I ate earlier. I have nothing left to sell. I expect there is a solution somewhere, but I've honestly tried everything I can actually do and all that's left is despair.

Please have a look at a food bank or olio or a local food pantry If you're in Lancashire I am happy to help/point you in the right direction

@Isis1981uk

We're lucky as, until recently we were on £60 a month for about 5 years, both gas and electric with Eon (2 adults,2 kids, 3 bed semi, smart meter) but recently went up to £99 a month because of Winter uses. I honestly don't know how we are paying so much less than most other people as I'm not overly frugal. Based on today's announcement, we still shouldn't be paying more than £148 a month, a huge leap but still manageable. I'm always shocked reading these forums how much people pay! Why does it vary so much? We have hot water heated twice a day for an hour, heating on (thermostat at 18) for an hour in the morning and maybe an hour at night at the moment. We don't have a tumble dryer so use clothes horses/washing line which maybe helps, and no-one is in the house most of the day. Having a smart meter really helps as I know that our 'normal' is £2.50 a day in Summer and £3.80 in Winter so I feel like I have the power to say, ice spent this much today so tomorrow I'll be more careful about turning off lights etc

I know what you mean. 2 adults and 1 child in a warm new build terrace - we paid £60 a month until this year when it went to £85. Dishwasher on every other day, washer dryer going maybe 4 times a week, 1 WFH with a laptop on all day. Thermostat at 18 or 19. It does mean that I feel we have nowhere to reduce our usage to help combat the rises unfortunately. Maybe things like shorter showers.

Oodies for us I think. My youngest got one for Xmas and loves it. Says it’s soo warm. Our heating broke the other day and the Oodie wearer was cosy. Think the rest of us will prob get one. Got warm slippers each for Xmas. If we have to chose between hearing and eating it will need to be eating so need plans to keep warm!

Based on today's announcement, we still shouldn't be paying more than £148 a month, a huge leap but still manageable. I'm always shocked reading these forums how much people pay! Why does it vary so much?

I'm in a 4 bed detached, two teens, one child and an electric car. We use heaps. We used a lot less in a three bed mid terrace with a petrol car, when the kids were tiny and they didn't take showers each morning or fire the oven up for a solitary waffle when I turned my back.

My DS has a brushed cotton sheet in the winter, and a teddy bear mattress cover. It makes a difference for him.

The issue with reducing your heating too much and drying clothes inside without a dehumidifier is that you can end up with serious mould problems and health issues.

Never use the central heating.

I was just thinking how to digest this news for my own personal useage, However all I can think of is whats to come.So in my mind I can save money to pay for the fuel,however to do this I will not be tripping off to the cinema,going out fo ra meal,random clothes shopiing or hairdressers.I will also cut down on using very expensive public transport to take the kids out,I will cut down on my car use to save money and not nip into the pub or starbucks,Now this is all ok if one person does this but if millions do this too then I sincerely hope the chancellor is ploughing millions into the benefit system because people will loose their jobs and businessess will close, shops will shut,cinemas will close,pubs and entertainment,hospitlity is hanging on by a knife edge anyway,I forsee the DWP being very busy and the courts seeing bankruptsies raise, That lot will cost the chancellor way more than this meagre offering,

Yes you’re right. People will stop spending on non-essentials which will plunge us into a recession (when we desperately need economic growth post-Covid). Recessions mean job losses. Job losses and insolvencies mean lower tax revenues. Job losses also mean people needing unemployment benefits.

What's actually being done to address the longer term issue?

This isn't going away. China and India are not going to stop wanting gas.

We need to be able to supply ourselves with energy.
Is nuclear the way forward?
We need to take massive steps to ensure a secure energy supply that's affordable.

I'm mostly just being cold more. Wearing layers or having a hot water bottle don't really help much when the air you're breathing in is cold.

I'm quite shocked about how quickly everything has gone up. A few years ago I still felt ok-ish financially but in the past 6 months have really started worrying about the future in the long term as well. I live alone and have no one helping with bills so everything affects me even more than it would a couple with two incomes coming in. Along with house prices going up I'm not optimistic about the next decade at all.

Also worried about my job because I work for a company that provides what is basically a luxury, and a lot of people needing to cut costs will mean the survival of the business is in danger. Have been looking at other jobs already although I love where I work so it's sad.

Is it cheaper to buy a fruit cake or make one, these days...

@mumda

What's actually being done to address the longer term issue?

This isn't going away. China and India are not going to stop wanting gas.

We need to be able to supply ourselves with energy.
Is nuclear the way forward?
We need to take massive steps to ensure a secure energy supply that's affordable.

Nuclear is definitely the way forward. If it's good enough for the French, it's good enough for us.

I bought an air fryer last year. We have a smart meter so I know that it costs less than half the electricity that my oven uses.

The previous poster is right. We won’t have the money to go out anymore. No new clothes. No dinners. No cinema. It will all have a chain reaction. But at least these tools in government get £3500 for their heating bills. Wouldn’t want them to be cold would we

I'm trying to figure out what to do for the best regarding the tariff.

Check out what Martin Lewis has been saying about this. He has been warning people against moving tariffs especially to a fixed one. He was doing an update after the announcement today so go to the moneysavingexpert website before you do anything.

We can afford the rises, we won't take extra measures.

We can easily afford it too - but it does sting when I think of paying over £200 a month for electricity so we'll still look in to how to cut back.

I may donate £200 to the foodbank though. It's outrageous we get a reduction we don't need.

This is the problem with universal help. More should go to those who need it, but I guess this is the easiest way to help everyone without it becoming a bureaucratic nightmare and leaving the "squeezed middle" struggling.

@DdraigGoch
Nuclear is definitely the way forward. If it's good enough for the French, it's good enough for us

Electricity is v. expensive in France because we pay a high percentage on top for the pension scheme and goodness knows what else.
Our retired ndn used to work for EDF and gets cheap electricity as a perk.

I fixed my energy in June for two years so my fixed tariff is until June 2023. I'm hoping it's sorted by then, or at least the impact isn't as bad. Especially as two months later I need to remortgage and the way interest rates are going...FFS it never ends. 2 years of COVID shit, now this.

If you supply your meter readings to your energy supplier (ie not smart meters or prepay):

1. Supply a reading on 31st March. If you don't, then your energy supplier will estimate what the readings were on that date in your next statement. If they do this using a straight-line basis then they will underestimate what you used up to March and overestimate what you used from April onwards and you will overpay.

2. Supply a higher reading than the meter actually says. ie. Add a bit to the meter reading at the end of February, and add a bit more at the end of March. then go back to correct readings in April. You will pay for this "added" energy at the lower, pre-April price rather than the higher post-April rates. Obviously you can't take the piss and add massive amounts or your energy supplier will suspect something is wrong.

These will not save massive amounts, but the money is better in your pocket than in theirs.