AIBU to be worried about our rising energy bills?

[caseyhunt]

Our energy bills have gone up a lot recently, even though we haven’t really changed how we live day to day.
I’ve started paying more attention to electricity usage and trying small things like turning appliances off properly, using less heating, and being more careful overall.
Some people around me think I’m overthinking it and say “everyone’s bills are high right now, just accept it”.
AIBU to want to track usage more closely and try to reduce costs where possible, or is this just normal and I should stop stressing about it?

I'm quite a low energy user compared to a lot of people.
But that's because I live by myself, use the central heating sparingly, don't cook very much or bake at all. And I turn off lights meticulously when I don't need them. So my standing charge is sometimes higher than my usage, which is very annoying.
I would like to reduce my bills if I could but I don't really see how I can.

I think you are very sensible to keep track on your usage and identify small things you can do to cut down costs if you can. It must be very difficult though if you have a family.

It depends on if you’re able to afford an increase or not.
I have absolutely no idea how much my gas & electric costs, the bill just gets paid every month without me noticing it leaving my bank, our electric alone could be £500 a month for all I know, but I can afford it to be so I don’t pay attention or try to reduce usage.

I'm aware I’m very fortunate and I’m also with one of the cheapest providers and get a month free each year.

If you can afford your bill to increase, I wouldn’t worry about it. If you are already struggling with bills, it’s worth looking around at other providers, monitoring usage and seeing if you are eligible for any discounts.

It depends - can you afford to pay more or do you need to cut back?

Our bills have gone up but we can afford it, and I refuse to sit in a dark, damp and cold house when I don't need to, just to save a few pounds.

I have smart meters and track my usage, and I'm a low rate user. You have to experiment a bit but you can usually find ways to cut your bill without making your life miserable.
I've found the cheapest way to cook is using the gas oven and hob, and the cheapest way to heat the house is using the combi boiler always on low.
I have a newish electric blanket that costs pennies per day (I don't leave it on when I'm out the house) and the bed is warm and dry. I have a thermal blanket on the mattress that reflects heat.
When it gets really cold there's a duvet on the sofa and we sit on that, underneath a blanket.
The main thing is to keep the house dry, and I have an electric dehumidifier which I use regularly. It does a better job of keeping the house dry than central heating.

If your living arrangements haven’t changed (ie new use of a tumble dryer, extra person etc) I’d absolutely want to know why energy bills are higher. I’m in a fix so costs aren’t increasing unless I use more.

If you do things to save electricity, the company just puts your standing charge up. They feel as though they're entitled to our money regardless. Increasing costs are to maintain infrastructure, which is deteriorating. Don't forget those precious, badly done to shareholders either.

We keep track of ours - as much for environmental reasons as cost. The less fossil fuels we use the less emissions we produce. We do have solar panels which will start kicking in from now until late October (if it ever gets sunny again)!

Yes please to any tips!

Some things that really helped me: I recently checked my energy tariffs and was shocked at how high they were! Switching to a fixed tariff with a better provider now saves me quite a bit each month.
Other small wins: using a heat pump dryer, using my Air fryer for cooking rather than the conventional oven, turning appliances off fully instead of standby, and being mindful with heating.
Best of luck!

We have made efforts to bring ours down by replacing old appliances - the 26 year old washing machine broke and rather than attempt repair we replaced with a lower energy one.
We also have replaced all our outside lights by PIR operated low voltage LED and in some instances are modern solar powered and no longer connected to the mains. The latter were not cheap (£80 each I think?) but completely free to run.
We also keep the lights off more, and turn a lot off.
I noted we have saved about 150 units of electricity this Jan vs last Jan.