To be so frustrated

[christologymum]

And obsessing about how much gas and electric I'm using?
Last year by some fluke I ended up on a cheap fixed rate with BG so the COL increases didn't impact me but this year it's gone up with a bang. I'm constantly stressing and looking at my smart meter. It's been £10 for the last few days. I work from home which doesn't help, trying not to put the heating on in the day, don't use dryer etc but still so much.
Today I used a small electric fan to heat the room I work in rather than having heating on and still over £10. So literally heating on 7-8am, 3-6. And it's only ever set to 18 max so even when on it's not exactly warm, just manageable.

I'm wrapping up, wear gloves, lots of layers but still struggling. Go to bed at 7 with a hot water bottle rather than have heating on.

I'm in credit quite a bit and can afford to pay a higher bill it's just frustrates me so much paying £300 a month just to be vaguely warm.

Hi OP,

have you done all the energy saving tips they are recommending?

• turned your boiler down? I think 60 degrees is fine for a combi but a lot of people have it on max!
• Check you don’t have any draughts coming in. Feel around the windows etc and see if you can feel a breeze.
• Have you bled your radiators?
• Getting some of that £15 reflective foil for behind your radiators also a big one!

I wonder if you might be better off going in the office occasionally or is that not an option?

You can also submit a tax return to get some tax back if you are working from home.

Other than that people seem to love air fryers for cooking 🤣

How about a heated blanket. This would help when sitting all day.

Thanks for the ideas.
Added a heated throw to my Xmas list 🤣
I did turn the temp down on my boiler last year but then it seemed to take ages to warm up so thought it defeated the objective but I'll have another look at it.

I don't have the option to go to an office unfortunately, although my role does involve travelling every couple of weeks
I've been in Birmingham today and despite not having heating on it's still on £6.50 now 🙈
I've got an air fryer which I use quite a bit.

I've been avoiding using the dryer and using a heated airer but that sometimes takes 24 hours to dry a full load so I do a load a day to keep on top of it so it's on pretty much constantly, however on the odd occasion I use the dryer it seems to cost a lot but then it will dry a load in an hour so prob costs same 🤣

I have a small room that I use to work from home. I warm up the small room by using a small heater which keeps me warm for a while.

I have ordered heated throws for us all here in the black Friday sales...they are arriving v soon 😀

I'd invest in proper warm hi tech clothing the sort they sell in camping stores such as North Face, yes initial outlay ( may find 2nd hand on ebay etc) but I've found they really do work to trap heat around the body. I have a Rab cirrus gilet and it's brilliant.

How many people in your household? If its just you why are you doing so much washing?
How long are your showers, electric showers use a lot of energy, so take as short a shower as you can do.
How old are your appliances? Are they old and use more energy?

What type of clothes are you using? I ask because I find the only thing that keeps me warm is wool, if I have a wool sweater/cardigan on then a fleece blanket on my legs /bed helps.

For the dryer when you use it add a large dry towel, it reduces the amount of time needed to dry a load.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm going to invest in some decent under garments.

Only 4 of us but still need to do a load a day to keep on top of it, plus sometimes odd extra on a weekend for bedding/towels etc.

Used the electric heater yesterday to heat the room I sit in and didn't have heating on and seems to have helped. Worked from communal space today 10-3

Heating was set to only come on if drops below 15 but noticed it clicking on so dropped it to 13 and it still came on last njght but it was really cold, had spent £1.50 before id even got up. After being on 6.30-8am was still only 16 🥶

Have changed boiler temp to 60

7 washes a week? Do you only own one set of clothes each?

£300 a month is high. We are a family of 6, and although two children are now at uni, even last year with high prices and 5 of us, the most we paid was £260 a month. Are you on the best possible tariff?

I have the washer and dryer on every day, and often bake or have the oven. The heating isn't on in the day and the house is chilly because it's poorly insulated (4 bed Edwardian), but we can get the sitting room to a reasonable temp and DH and I wear lots of layers when we are WFH!

This sounds miserable. You say that you’re in credit and you can afford the bills. I think you need to stop looking at the smart meter and accept that you’re no longer on the cheap fix rate and that it will cost more to be warm this year.

There's only 4 of us me and 3 kids, but there does seem to be a lot of washing, prob 10 loads a week including towels and bedding for 4 double beds.

I think you're right I need to just stop obsessing about the cost. Some minor adjustments have made a bit of difference.

I also have someone coming out in the new year to do the cavity walls and loft as when I spoke to them I was eligible to have it re done due to how long ago it was done so hopefully that will help and I know I've done what I can so just suck up the cost and accept it.

I changed tariff fairly recently and got the best I could and I'm fixed for a year now.

Thanks for the suggestions