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.

I have always been a cynic-every Kevin McCloud 'project' which brings the 'outside in' and 'frames the view' I've thought "that'll take a lot to heat".

On a more helpful note, if you have floorboards downstairs, sticking carpet/Lino over can help reduce drafts. And keep room doors closed.

Crazy times isn't it?

We have all moved to the idea of hard flooring downstairs too. In years gone by that wooden floor would be covered with large woollen rugs with only a small amount of the wood showing around the edges. Again this was for warmth.

Now, everyone seems to have hardwood floors but the rugs are very small and synthetic (if present at all)

OP fleece blankets dry very quickly.

@ciri It is why wall-to-wall carpeting was seen as luxurious in the seventies. It does keep houses warmer.
Wooden floors are brilliant in warmer climates. There they make perfect sense.

@Minimalme Same with open plan living. Houses where the living room, kitchen and dining room are all in one very large room and there is an open staircase to the second floor are a nightmare to heat. A friend has a large living room with high ceilings and an open staircase and she says even just that takes so much to heat it. It looks lovely, but you need the money to pay for lots of heating.

Wooden floors and big windows seem to work fine in Nordic countries. I suspect though its because they are triple glazed and the houses are aggressively insulated.

Problem is the rise in fuel prices has been very dramatic, whereas peoples taste in living space develops over years.

I am pretty sure there are very few people who buy their house based on how much it costs to heat.

More like "look at all those lovely windows" rather than "I bet it's going to be a bugger to heat that".

@GasPanic We have people putting wooden floors and large glass windows into houses built in the 1920s and 30s, with no cavity wall and only a certain amount of retro fitting possible.

I love Victorian houses but now feeling thankful for my ugly 1960’s box. Had cavity wall insulation done when there used to be green grants and it’s made massive difference. Previous occupants built conservatory as their dining room with electric underfloor heating and i never used it after first year as it was hugely expensive. I just close the conservatory off every winter. When I browse Rightmove I see lots of people who have done cheap extensions (in breach building regs) by making the conservatory (not a proper insulated glass extension) part of the house when legally there are supposed to be doors to close off a conservatory. Those houses must be freezing now.
You can get smart plugs where you can check appliances. I now have a small chest freezer which is half the size of upright. Kids constantly charging devices can also be a problem and taking long showers if electric / power showers. Limit them to 3 minutes! Don’t know about nest but I use the loop app and can tell what time my kids have had a shower as it shoots right up. If you have underfloor heating in a large open plan space that could be the culprit. While it’s advertised as cheaper than radiators it is assumed you will have it on for many hours. I thought the selling point of underfloor heating was that it needed a lower boiler temp eg 50 so I would contact the company that fitted it and check if you can turn it down.

This is so true. In central and Eastern Europe people often have exposed wooden flooring too, but the wooden flooring is very different. There are no gaps and draughts and there is lots of insulation, even in old houses, as they were built for a cold climate.

I know there are environmental concerns with them, but are wood burners cost effective? Or an aga?

I have no idea!

Visited family last weekend. Their elec bill was £120 for the week. They have an Aga. It's heating one room very well, the rest of the house still needs heating.
I was .

Yeah, the more efficient agas can cost £70 a week to run.

Agas are crazily expensive to run.

Agas were designed for farmhouses where you cut down your own wood. They make perfect sense in that context. Gas agas are just a crazy idea.

Probably better to heat yourself by burning £5 notes than use an Aga.

Any chance of a log burner?
Mines paid for itself already.

It's a no to an Aga then

Wood burner could be good though if you could afford the upfront costs.

I looked online and a rough quote was £3k to buy and install.

Then just the cost of the wood I guess.

£3k would be very cheap and I suspect only if you live in a bungalow with a clear outside wall.