Fuel prices and advice?

mummytofour

Sorry if this is the wrong bored.
I was wondering if anybody can explain to me if it would be cheaper to use electric over gas? I understand that the electric and gas prices have gone up ( Im going to be in the fuel poverty band soon) But I need to know if it would be cheaper to run electric plug in heaters over gas central heating?
Also would it be cheaper for me to use one of those camping stoves instead of an electric hob?
These are all random questions I am sorry, but like many I think I am worried about the cost of things and am very worried about how the world is going to change in the next few yrs with the shortage of oil ( I sound like a re-born hippy):D

Thanks in advance!

vivaladiva

AFAIK electric heaters gobble electricity, as do electric hobs and kettles. I would imagine that a camping stove would work out quite expensive. Are you tied to an electric hob (as in having a freestanding cooker)? It might be better to switch to a gas hob/dual fuel cooker - I can't get on with a gas oven, but that's personal preference. Our electricity consumption dropped considerably when we gave up the electric kettle in favour of a boil on the hob one, but obviously you need the hob to boil it on.

Magentasue

When I was trying to reduce our bills, I found a useful table making these comparisons but can't find it now. This might be a start though:

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/energyconsumption.html

lil_me

Every appliance uses a different amount of electric/gas so unless you know the usage for each individual appliance it's difficult to comment.

shewhoguards

Best way to go is to ask before you buy your heaters how many units of gas/electric per hour you should expect them to use, then check with your utilities company what you're paying per unit. In general though, gas is usually cheaper than electric.

ceridwen

At the moment - gas is cheaper than electric I gather. BUT....there is an artificial link between the price of gas and the price of oil.....need I say more? I dont understand why this darn artificial "link" is there....perhaps someone might enlighten us....but we all know the price of oil is shooting into the stratosphere...so, to me, it doesnt make sense to have anything gas-powered at all in your home if you can possibly help it (goes off into a little depressed heap - as my central heating/most of my waterheating/my sitting room fire are gas-powered):eek:

Sits there hoping the powers-that-be will get rid of this artificial "link" - so gas can be its "real" price.

shewhoguards

ceridwen wrote: »

At the moment - gas is cheaper than electric I gather. BUT....there is an artificial link between the price of gas and the price of oil.....need I say more? I dont understand why this darn artificial "link" is there....perhaps someone might enlighten us....but we all know the price of oil is shooting into the stratosphere...so, to me, it doesnt make sense to have anything gas-powered at all in your home if you can possibly help it (goes off into a little depressed heap - as my central heating/most of my waterheating/my sitting room fire are gas-powered):eek:

Sits there hoping the powers-that-be will get rid of this artificial "link" - so gas can be its "real" price.

Hey, hey now there's two GOOD reasons to have gas-powered at present;-) First, it is usually cheaper at the minute to heat with gas - that may change, but at present, on average, it's less. Second, you'll feel a whole lot like a depressed little heap about that gas fire if you have a powercut! I had one last winter and believe me, getting to sit in front of a nice warm fire while I waited in the dark to get power back on was wonderful. My mum does even better in powercuts - her oven is gas so she can even make tea!

Pink.

Hi mummytofour,

Now that your thread has dropped off the front page of Old Style I'll move it over to the Gas and Electric board to see if you can get any more advice.

Pink

Penelope_Penguin

ceridwen wrote: »

At the moment - gas is cheaper than electric I gather. BUT....there is an artificial link between the price of gas and the price of oil.....need I say more? I dont understand why this darn artificial "link" is there....perhaps someone might enlighten us....but we all know the price of oil is shooting into the stratosphere...so, to me, it doesnt make sense to have anything gas-powered at all in your home if you can possibly help it (goes off into a little depressed heap - as my central heating/most of my waterheating/my sitting room fire are gas-powered):eek:

Sits there hoping the powers-that-be will get rid of this artificial "link" - so gas can be its "real" price.

Is it "artificial" Seeing as gas and oil both come from the same place (they're both fossil fuels) I'd think there was a link between them.

Additionally, until we embrace alternative methods of energy generation (wave, wind, biomass, etc) and have Government leadership to encourage us to have them, we'll continue to rely on fossil fuels for most of our energy needs.