Insane costs to run our home. Is there help on the way?

[SoupaDoupa]

We are in the fortunate enough position to own our own 3 bed Victorian property. Over the years we have modernised it by adding on an extension (with lots of glass - so not great for keeping heat in (or out in the summer). We have also added in as much insulation as possible to the walls in the bedrooms and ceilings, the windows are all new wooden sash windows, we have wooden shutters I try and keep closed (no fabric curtains).

I have just checked our smart metre and we have already spend £6.28 this morning alone! I kept turning the heating off over night because our bedrooms luckily weren't absurdly cold, but our front room (north facing and always the coldest) got down to 13C!! I did have the tumble dryer on last night to dry a load of blankets I washed (son was ill) that I'll be using during the day to keep me warm while I WFH. DH and Son are upstairs in bed so it's just been my daughter and I up and about so far today. I've had a shower as well. Not used the stove or oven or anything. The heat was on this morning for maybe an hour.

I checked the smart metre and yesterday it tallied up at £19.88 for the day!!! 😳

The cost to heat and run the electrics for our home will cost us close to £600+ this month!?! This is crazy and unaffordable. As I said, I understand that we are in a fortunate position with our home, and there are many others struggling far worse than us. Will there be more help from the government? Is there an end in sight for these sky rocketing costs? (I know it won't be instant, but will they go down close to where they were within the next couple years?). Will there be help from the government?

What can we do to lower the costs? Husband says that all our bulbs are energy efficient. Right now I've got all the lights and heating off. We do have some things plugged in that's not in use like the main computer, the TV, sky box, play station etc. but there's not loads. The only things I'm actually using right now is my laptop for work that's plugged in and my Amazon Alexa to listen to some music.

That seems very high! We are using £5-6 of electricity per day. That is for three adults and one child in a 150 year old detached house. We are wfh so devices are plugged in all day.

I'm not sure how much the heating is costing as we are in oil so have to buy £500 or £1000 batches so you can't really monitor it.

Similar here, kept heating on all night and the house is sitting at about 17°. While it's dropping below -3 at night (went to -7 last night) the heating is staying on. I'm just so glad I overpaid so much over the summer and have a massive credit sat on my account allowing me to relax and not worry about finding the money now. As long as my Dec/Jan/Feb bills average less than £500 each I should be ok

What we need is for the government to tackle the profiteering from the energy companies
they refuse
They stand by as energy giants who are making money hand over fist profiteering from the poorest and most vulnerable in our society
We elect the government in the expectation that they will work for the good of the people, instead they protect the profits of those who are already wealthy at the expense of the people

So a few other things that have come to mind - yesterday was one of the highest days I'd seen our bill. It's been averaging £16-£17 a day, but I've rounded up a bit to factor in for all of us being home during Xmas holidays and cooking more at home and for Xmas dinner.

I wasn't home for most of the day yesterday, so I can't say for certain what went on, but my husband and children were home. I had a shower and left for work: Husband was very ill so had the children sitting in front of the TV or playing on the computer until I got home about 4:30 from work. I know he did my son's bed sheets as he was sick on them and put them in the dryer. I'm not sure what he made them to eat, but it would have been quick and simple because he's not much of a cook. I cooked my daughter a quick pasta dish that took about 3 mins to cook because the pasta was the kind that cooked quickly. She went to bed at 6. Husband was in bed ill from 5pm for the rest of the night. My son played on the computer until it was dinnertime. I cooked us chicken breast in a pan on the stove and made him some pasta to go with it. I didn't use the oven or anything. He went and had a shower and then we watched a TV show and he went to bed. After tidying up I made use of the peace and quiet and binge watched 3 (hr long) episodes of my show while I washed the blankets on econ mode. I put them in the tumble dryer past midnight so that cost has factored into today's £6+ spend so far.

The children are usually at school during the day, but husband and I generally work from home. He works downstairs sat in front of the TV most of the day. I sit working upstairs listening to music on the Alexa (only sometimes).

I'm wondering if aside from the washer and dryer, if the TV and sky box could be eating up much of the costs? It's quite large. It's His pride and joy because he's a real techy guy and loves electronics. He's got it on literally all day long. Then the children come home and watch while I make dinner. Then him and I watch in the evenings after the children are in bed.

I've got it off while I'm working downstairs now and he's upstairs ill in bed. I will see if that makes a difference. The Nest thermostat in the front room was previously set to come on at 15 (which is why I kept cranking it down even more last night because the bedrooms did hold more heat than that), and our main room one didn't come on last night as far as I know. I've turned the front room down to 13 which controls the bedrooms as well. Both husband and son are in bed so they'll be warm (I hope) so will keep an eye on it and see if we can get away with not having it on all day. The same for our main kitchen / living room heating. I'm under the blanket with a hood on and a few layers on, and my laptop on my lap. Only thing I've got on is the Alexa for music. Surely that can't use much energy??

We're in a 1950's 3 bed detached - on Friday our bill was £17 gas and £12 electric. No tumble drier usage that day.

We panicked and then investigated the figures. In August our bill was £200, so that's the lowest we can expect it to be. We've averaged out the costs and it's excruciating - 3x as high as last year, with lower usage.

It’s the heating. It’s nothing to do with your Alexa/lightbulbs/led on your microwave.

Seriously though - you own a Victorian house and you built a glass extension and now you want public funds to keep it warm… ?

everyone is either

1.freezing their tits off in cold and damp

2 cancelling their 4th Seychelles trip for 2023

3 a barrister married to a barrister telling you they don’t know how your bills are so high (when they’re using a different fuel system)

4 throwing caution to the wind and sticking their fingers in their ears

And yes, I do fully appreciate this. And thank Christ it will get warmer in March and we don't live anywhere colder.

It's just really caught us off guard. Makes me wonder how the hell businesses like restaurants etc are going to be able to continue running and still have food & service be affordable for their customers.

I feel like we've got back a hundred years.

Also it's my husband who keeps getting cross with the bills and pointing out the smart metre to me. So I'm trying to do as much as I can to reduce the costs, but if it's him who's using the majority of it by keeping his fancy massive TV running all day then I bloody well want him to know!!

And on a completely different note - we're quite glad now we didn't get an electric car!! How much are they costing to charge at home these days!?!?

The £6 spend is that both gas and electric? Just checked my smart meter display and with the heating on round the clock our combined is sitting at £8.10 for today

"Seriously though - you own a Victorian house and you built a glass extension and now you want public funds to keep it warm… ?"

agree. I don't even think utilties should have been privatised - but this is cheeky.

It's a disgrace that the energy companies have been allowed to raise their standing charge🤬 they should be made to abolish it completely 🤬

We are hugely lucky as still on low tariff but I am paying waaay over the odds to build up a big credit for next winter. DH had a stroke and is on blood thinners, and is fairly immobile. He feels the cold dreadfully and if the air is cold he gets dreadful coughs. At the moment I have the heating on all day at 19 and turn it down to 17 for the night, but I know that this will cost more than we can afford next winter. I do hope the situation eases for all our sakes.

They are not a charity 😂 why should you get free energy supply?

Yes that's with gas and electric.

@Hooverphobe the entire extension isn't glass, but the whole back wall is with doors, and a couple velux. When we build it it was quite a common design, so we're hardly the only ones who've done it. It's our first home. Not lived in a Victorian property prior to this (won't be again after this!!!) so didn't know what to expect.

And as I mentioned before, I appreciate we're in a more fortunate position than many with our home. But that doesn't mean we're not struggling and feeling the pinch. Im not asking the government specifically to pay for our house, as I understand that most of the country are struggling and people with less than us are struggling even more. The query about government help was in general for everyone as I can't fathom how some are making do this winter.

The thing is any help given financially is clawed back through tax rises & public spending cuts.

Working class & those on zero hour contracts have been feeling the pinch for a while. Now the middle classes are affected there seems to be more outrage. I assume you can afford it, but it just means less spending more for fun stuff.

However it is ridiculous how expensive things have become. Food costs a fortune too.

I'm currently sitting in a totally unheated house, wearing a heated hoodie and have a heated throw on my knees...absolutely toasty warm! Heated throws cost something like 4p an hour to run and our perfect for WFH or if you want to save on heating.

I never sleep with the heating on. Once I'm in bed with a good duvet, it's not needed. If you do feel the cold, an electric blanket will sort you out. As they say, heat the human not the house 😊

This is why I go to the office. It's not sustainable to heat a whole house all day all winter!

You say you turned the heating off overnight, do you normally have it on during the day?! We wouldn't have the heating on all day pre energy crisis let alone now! We are in an edwardian semi and have heat on 2 hours in morning ans an hour in everning since friday wjen the real cold snap started. Before that we hadnt had it on this year. Our rooms rest around 9 degrees during the day, briefly rise to 15 when heating is on and for a hour afterwards. living room which has an open fire is about 16 up to 19 depending how long its been on and bedroom above living room is 13. I would say you need to live without heating on all day

Like a PP, I’ve had a Victorian flat (rented) in the past - so never, ever would I… we tend to learn lessons the hard way. 😔

I missed that bit

But I've got to agree...

The heating isn't throughout the night. We have a Nest thermostat so it's set to come on a bit before we get up in the morning and for an hour perhaps when we're up getting ready. Then it may come on if it gets really cold again, but we have separate thermostats for our main living room / kitchen area and the rest of the house. So don't need to heat if we aren't upstairs.

We put it on again to warm the rooms for 30 mins when the children get ready for bed and go to bed. Then for another 30 mins or so while we get into bed. Then it's off for the night.

I think I just need to crank to way down, because I think sometimes what happens is it's turned off, but set to say 15C. And when the room hits that temp it comes on. It's so cold now that the rooms are hitting that temp more often and faster than they have before. I will turn them way down today and see what it is at the end of the day.

** I have just heard the boiler flick on, so something has triggered the heating. I will go investigate. It's either my husband turning it on or one of the Nests has gotten cold enough to switch on. I shall go turn it off!

To be honest with the tumble dryer and heating on £6 isn't so bad, don't forget the first £1 will be the standing charges for the day. Vulnerable people are going to struggle and hopefully there will be more targeted support for them. Overall I'm hoping that people will make more effort to insulate, I can highly recommend thermal blinds and curtains at every window or door and keep them closed unless the sun is shining directly on them.

It's not particularly attractive but we have placed a foil insulation material over our glass extension roof, I'm prepared to do anything to help keep heat in the house.

An hour here and there, 30 min here and there

Adds up... and does heating on for 30 min actually make any difference?

Your costs sounds right OP.
Sorry. That's the way it is at the moment.
Hopefully you've got some money aside for such expenses.
I am regarding the next couple of years of energy costs as I would an unexpected car bill, or the boiler packing up i.e. something I'd rather not fork out for, stings somewhat, means less of the nice stuff but feel thankful that I am in a position to pay.

I am always cold. I struggle with it but wear lots of layers and use blankets.

Can you tell me where you got your heated hoodie from please? That sounds ideal! As does a heated blanket. I've got a weighted (not heated) one which kept me nice and toasty last night.

Same. It's a roasty toasty 23 degrees in my office. And my heating is therefore off at home and will be until 6.30 this evening.
I have been back in the office since June 2020 and have been wondering how all these people WFH are managing.
It cost me a fortune in coffee alone, when I briefly WFH!