Lockdown energy bills when homeschooling

[Candiscophonous]

This is going to be such a massive struggle for many families. The government probably need to prepare for the fact that many families with children at home will really struggle with energy bills this year. Bills can easily double, or treble, or worse, when there are twice or thrice the amount of people at home all day. Heating on during the day when many families would usually be saving on this by being at work.
So firstly just a reminder to keep an eye on your usage when the children are home (or face a very nasty shock when the bill comes, as I did!) and secondly I’m wondering what the government are doing to protect families who will find themselves in spiraling energy debt due to the pandemic?
Its going to be a huge added pressure to families over the next few freezing months.

I have been thinking this myself, I work so no one is home Monday to Friday school times but my mom wage job is going to struggle to pay the extra energy bills. Can’t not have the heating on for them all day it will be FREEZING!

It’s worrying and I think a lot of people are in for a huge shock if they have a few children at home as well as wfh.

Annoyingly I can't find the link, but our school sent an email about how to get help if you are struggling to pay energy bills. But I agree, there should be more readily available help for heating bills similar to the warm home payments for the elderly.

There is also a tiny tax saving you can apply for when working from home.

I think it was this www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-winter-grant-scheme

Agree. Wfh my heat has been on all day. Rarely pre Covid would it be on so long for consecutive days on end.
Haven’t quite worked out best timing settings - just yesterday it was tropically hot - now playing around with on/off times.
Fear my gas bill.
Has gas mètre checker who wanted to come in last week even though I’d submitted readings. Couldn’t as was in middle of remote court hearing but now I’m thinking perhaps they couldn’t believe the sudden jump in usage and needed to check

We have been wearing our camping thermals and using duvets on the sofa and dressing gowns when working to avoid having the heating on. It seems to be working and mainly putting heating on low to ensure pipes don't freeze. Also hot water bottles and a warm, big dog who is very toasty when trying to be a lap dog in the evening.

Our gas/leccy has increased by about £1k over the whole year. 😭

Mine too @InterfectoremVulpes
It’s a nightmare.
The worst thing is that the main usage hike was not heating, but appliances/devices usage with teens at home.

Similar here. 2 of us working from home with PCs on all day, DS either on PC, PS or watching TV, boiling kettle more, using electric hob and oven more, lights, chargers and so on all adds up.

We have been just adding extra socks, jumpers and blankets here. I can't have my bills going up.

We've been adding layers like thermals and jumpers, slippers are key. But we are avoiding putting heating on because of environmental reasons.

But slippers and thermals, brilliant as they are, aren’t a solution to the problem of having three/ four/five times as many people at home during the day, all using laptops/chargers/lights/cooking facilities etc. Kids being on devices seems to be pretty non negotiable atm. My heating settings haven’t changed at all.

Doesn't amount to much but it's a case of every little helps for us at the moment!

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

Changing energy supplier regularly can help, we try to change every year. But you're right, energy usage for families WFH and home schooling is going to rocket and potentially be a huge issue for many families. I'm surprised it isn't talked about more.

It's not much, but we are taking advantage of working from home tax relief www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

My water bill has gone up. Extra drinks and toilet trips.
Energy hasn't as I always had the heat on during the day anyway.

We are using a Calor gas cabinet heater to save having the heating on all day. Plus layers.

This is strange? Our heating is always on low all day so the house never gets cold. Our bills are always the same. 3 bed terraced house £85 a month for gas and electric and currently £150 in credit

We’ve just had a letter from our energy supplier saying that our direct debit will be going up by £60 per month from next month.

The heating has been on more because the weather has been extra cold recently and the Dc are home all day every day.
Plus the remote schooling for the school age DC means that computers etc have been on pretty much for the duration of every school day.

So I can definitely see this being a problem for some families.

But slippers and thermals, brilliant as they are, aren’t a solution to the problem of having three/ four/five times as many people at home during the day, all using laptops/chargers/lights/cooking facilities etc. @Candiscophonous
That’s not going to make much difference in your bills at all.

@Candiscophonous a laptop costs 5p a day so a family of four it’s 20p a day or £6 a month. For the majority of families that’s affordable . Also you save on bus fares/petrol even things like no need to iron uniforms or use the washing machine as often.

The DC not being at school doesn’t really make a difference if you are already WFH. Heathing is already on and cooking for 2 or 4 is the same in terms of energy use. More toilet flushes, yes, but that’s it.

Oh and you use the washing machine less as no uniforms and clothes staying clean as most time spent inside.

Not necessarily my friend wfh and wouldn't put heating on for herself but with dcs home she is.

WFH and home schooling is also showing up just how terrible most homes are for energy efficiency. DH really noticed it from March last year when he started WFH.

We haven't changed the heating time settings since lockdown started from normal times. We do occasionally turn on heating during the day when it's really really cold, but normally we carry hot water bottles around and dc doing work on sofa cuddled up in duvet unless it's not practical.