Gas and elec cost forecast for the year ahead

[Lifeomars]

I am with Octopus and have just had a smart meter fitted. Today I had an email from them saying that based on my current consumption I am looking as gas of approx £1606 for gas and £606 for electricity. For context I have only been running the heating for 2 hours a day (had a couple of day where I had it on for 3 hours as the cold was unbearable even with thermals, a hat, fingerless gloves and thick socks and slippers. The water is on twice a day for a bath, cleaning and washing up (no dishwasher, all done in a washing-up bowl) I m mainly cook in my slow cooker and the microwave, do three machine washes a week, limit the use of the kettle to 3 hot drinks a day and measure the water, switch everything off at the mains , only have the radiators on in bedroom, front room and back kitchen diner. I live alone and retired last year. I have the state pension and a small occupational pension and until the cost of living crisis hit I had a reasonable life. Now I am at my wits end and cannot see how I am going to cope when all the other bills go up too in the new financial year. I cannot cut back on my energy use any further other than having no heating on at all but I felt ill last week, my house went down to 9 degrees and only got up up to 14 degrees after my "extravagant" use of 3 hours heating. It is making me feel so depressed and sometimes I wonder what has been the point of working for 45 years. I know I have had govt help and I have used the £500 pounds to put credit on my account and have also increased my DD by 40% so am able to cover this winter if I am very careful. I feel very bleak today, and fearful of the future, Hunt has already said that help stops in Spring and then of course we face another price hike. I feel so for young families, it must be so tough. I have some savings and had planned to use them to do some decorating and go on holiday but at this rate they will all go on bills. I was a single mum who got no money (despite going through the courts and the then CSA ) so I am no stranger to tough times, I just feel that all my resilience has been used up.

I was just about to start a similar thread. My bill for this month is £311 for gas and electric! We have a small 3 bed semi and are at work/school all day in the week. We have been sitting in the dark. I can't remember the last time we used the oven, only had the slow cooker and air fryer on. Heating is on for 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours at night. Water heated when we needed as have a combo boiler. DH and I aren't even watching tv in the lounge anymore, we are getting in bed so we are warmer and watching Netflix on the iPad. I feel like such a Scrooge but I have even limited the time our Christmas tree lights are switched on for! I honestly not sure how long we can go on like this, goodness knows what my bill would have been if we had used the gas and electricity as normal. Such a worry.

I agree its very depressing, last winter (and the couple before) my monthly gas bill averaged between £50 & £65 a month without really having to worry about how much the heating was on (which was a lot coz I’m nesh & hate being cold). I’m currently putting the heating on for 3 hours a day on average (30 mins before we get up to try take the chill off, 2 hours in the afternoon so its warmish when my son gets in from school and me home from work and 30 mins in the evening). Whilst its been extra cold (in the minus figures) I’ve stretched to maybe 2 hours in the evening, my thermostat is only set to 15 or 16 degrees and often doesn’t get up to that when its really cold in the allotted time I have it on for and its averaging out at just shy of £50 a week, thats a three fold + increase! And thats before I even factor in the electricity, which I’m only just managing to cover thanks to the government scheme. My full-time wage is around £400 short of my outgoings so I work as much overtime as I can get and work bank staff for two other jobs just to be able to break even most months, there is nothing left over to save. Inflation is at an average of 11% my pay rise in October was 3% which in real terms was just under £50 a month then my rent went up soon after that by quite a bit more than what my wage rose by. All I do is work, I literally just seem to come home to eat and sleep before starting again. Its bloody depressing, and knackering and the future is worrying. Yet I appreciate I am still in a more fortunate position than some.

I totally understand. I feel unbelievably bleak about it all too

@LouLou198

New lightbulbs are literally pennies. Light is the one thing we should not need to worry about.

I thought wholesale gas prices had come down?

Yes I am a single pensioner living on a state pension and tiny private pension. I am getting £15 per year too much to get pension credit. Its such struggle. I normally go out walking morning and afternoon to help stay warm but currently have a slipped disc so can not do so. The cold makes the pain much worse. I have almost used up my small savings now to stay warm as much as possible.
Roll on Summer

It has....but it's never passed on to the consumer!

@LouLou198 sitting in the dark isn't going to save you much money - a modern LED lightbulb will be about 2-3p an hour.

In the UK perhaps but across Europe it is being passed on, energy prices are falling because consumers demand it, here we just pay with a shrug.

If you want proof of that, look at fuel prices, UK has some of the most expensive Petrol/Diesel in Europe.

@helford
I totally believe that - we are so passive here! I just despair

And the government could legislate for this with windfall taxes, making it compulsory to pass on reductions, price caps, etc but they won't because they/their mates have stakes in these companies and because they simply don't give a shit.

Nor even that.

An LED lightbulb is about 5 watts.

1000 watts is 34 p an hour
100 watts is 3p an hour
10 watts is 0.3p an hour

@Happygirl79 have you got an electric blanket? Are you able to get one?

I have. Thank you. It's advised for someone of my age (72) to have the heating on at a minimum of 18 degrees throughout the day and night so you are not breathing in cold air but I couldn't afford that. I do have an electric throw to use also. I have my heating on for a couple of hours morning and the same in the evenings for
now

To below the current cap price?

I didn t know that, presumably then we won't be having the increase the experts were forecasting for April. Has that happened recently, the last time heard a forecast, the BBC I think, they were saying the way they calculate would mean quite a big increase in April

I got the impression that it was mathematically impossible for it to go down so soon.

Happy at least you have that!
I have one and it's been amazing but as you say it doesn't make the actual air warm.

@Beecham maybe I need to look at getting new light bulbs then. The ones I currently have are not LED, they are the old style energy saving ones that last for years.
I honestly don't know how to cut back on what we are using then.

YANBU and we shouldn't be having to have discussions like this in the 21st Century in one of the richer countries in the world, but, on a practical basis, have you had a look in to the Warm Spaces near you ?

There are many, many places (mostly Churches, but some Community Centres, and also places like Football Clubs) that are opening their doors for people just to go and spend a few hours. Overwhelmingly free - some suggest a donation of £1 for hot drinks. Some even include a meal. There are usually quiet spaces where people won't bother you (if you want to work or read) but also other people there to chat with if you would like to and some have things to do.

Are you able to apply to your local council's household support fund?

Octopus also run an assistance fund - it's worth applying to them too.

Have a look at how many kwh you used for each fuel last year as well to see if their estimate is accurate (their forecast should shown in kwh as well as £).

Old style energy saving bulbs are more expensive to run than LED bulbs - switching could save you about 10% on your lighting costs.
Your xmas lights cost is likely about 0.17p an hour.

Old style energy saving bulbs are more expensive to run than LED bulbs - switching could save you about 10% on your lighting costs.
Your xmas lights cost is likely about 0.17p an hour

Old style energy saving bulbs are still very good for energy compared to the incandescent bulbs - we used to have 100 watt bulbs - most of those wasted about 90% of their energy as heat. The energy saving bulbs were about 10 watts. So way better.

It is totally outrageous and we all need to be lobbying our mp's to do something proactive.

You need to know the breakdown between gas and electric - and get that in kWh.

Look at the difference in readings between summer and winter months- that will give you an idea of the heating costs

Do you have a Smart Meter? If not, then get something that plugs into devices which allows you to see the power of devices - so you can see the power devices draw.

Regular readings really help you understand what is being used.

Electricity - it's things that heat up water and use powerful motors for a long time that use a lot of energy. Same for heating air.

Gas - look at your boiler set up, radiators, glazing etc.

Rubbish for you and I sympathise.ideas can you do the hot water once so all washing up in one go. Flask for hot drinks once kettle boiled

That won't make any difference.

You need more energy to boil a lot of water compared to a small amount. So you are better off just boiling what you need.