The 9 year plan...hold onto your hats and here we go!

EssexHebridean

Hmmmm...that bill sounds too high for the size of property LT - we're also ground floor, 2 bed, good sized rooms. We have a big (3kW) storage heater in the front room - that was replaced at the start of the winter so is brand new and up to date. The heater in the hallway is the best of the other three - they are all elderly ones - and I'm guessing that those three are all either 1kW or 2kW size. Our immersion heater is a 3kW and an hour is enough to give us a tank of hot water. At the peak of the winter when it was really cold our use went up to 33 units a day at the night rate, and a little over 8 units on the day rate. We also rarely use the TD although the new one seems to be very power efficient so we may use it more this winter. WM probably does 4 loads a week on average, and the DW goes on three times. Breadmaker runs twice a week. All the appliances above are run mostly at night, and we also make sure that in the wsummer months the Immersion is switched on routinely each morning - that was we get the benefit of hot water all week at the cheapest possible cost. It might be worth you getting your meter checked to make sure there's not any issues there - if that all checks out OK then it's down to analysing power use for individual items I guess.

Are we all going to bite the bullet and order OWL meters then? I was speaking with Mum earlier about hers - she says that it's been interesting watching it to see how the use changes as things come on and go off. I really do quite fancy the idea of getting one, my only concern is that I have already made the majority of the savings that are available to me, so it will not actually pay for itself.....

boredofbeingathome

Yep, is the short answer EH! I have been looking for the cheapest one.

yukkibear

When I get into electric savings mode, I will definitely be looking around for the cheapet owl.

EssexHebridean

Sock Status: Blue, grey & silver stripey trainer-socks
(I realised yesterday at work that not only was I wearing stripey socks, I had stripey knickers on as well! )

Morning all!! (Err...nope, afternoon actually!) Hope we're all having a good weekend? Sun is out and shining here and I have a peat-smoked salmon salad for lunch - we bring the salmon back from the Hebrides and its glorious stuff so looking forward to that. OH is at rugby practice and as per usual on a Sat morning I SHOULD be getting through some flylady stuf but I'm being a bit half-hearted.....listening to Fairground Attraction via Spotify and browsing/posting on here. Ho Hum.

So far this morning: Paid in two cheques at the Building Soc, and enquired about my Polish money transfer....seems that the hotel haven't given me the full details so grrr to them. Will have to email back and ask very clearly and specifically for the details required. :mad: I KNEW this was going to turn into an epic - watch this space for next installment - LOL! Also bought bird seed from the stall whilst in town - £1.10 for a BIG bag so bought two as it was cheap (cheep?!) and dropped OH at the club. S&S'd kitchen, and stood on loo seat to get shower curtain down - that is now in the wash with a towel, bathmat and flannel. New WM is fabby - SOOO quiet although that might just be in comparison with the horrific noises emitted by the old one as it neared death. Checked the freebie board and rung Virgin Media to get a quote for TV/BB/Phone...they are just a little more expensive than I was hoping and refuse point-blank to drop the price....also now don't do their "standard" V+ box any more and cvharge £99 to new customers for the HD V+ box - which we don't need as our TV isn't HD! TBH wll probably just stick with Sky....got to ring them too to see if I can "encourage" then to do anything for us price-wise......OK - on a mission now - bathroom requires a S&S / floor clean etc...I WILL get one more star yet!

boredofbeingathome

Sky have always been good to me on the offer front and often i get them without asking. Although i have had two free Sky + boxes and whatnot. Always worth an ask.

Good luck with Bathroom, i was just looking at mine before, think i will leave it for today.

Lemon_Tree

unfortuntately we have a large old storage heater (probably 10 years old plus) and two smallers useless old heaters. Can i ask if you've recently changed yours was it horendously expensive? I've wondered about them but don't have a scooby where to start.

EssexHebridean

We had a reliable local firm come in to do ours LT - we had the new heater (Dimplex, 3kw, nice and compact) on a supply & fit basis, also a new light put up in our kitchen including some rerouting of wiring, and a new thermostat fitted to our immersion heater (to reduce the risk of us forgetting to switch it off overnight and thus it managing to keep heating until it BOILED the water as happened once before!) - the total bill inc VAT was about £550 I think - and it would have to be said that the storage heater part was probably about £450 of this. On the other hand, the heater is marvellous, it should last a good many years, and I didn't spend the winter shivering frantically under about 5 layers, so that must be an improvement. We're budgeting to get the bedroom one done this winter. A lot of it with storage heaters I found was actually learning to understand how they work, and you do need to get into the habit of checking the weather forecast the night before too so you know where to set the thing.

Scottishmummy

I haven't a clue with storage heaters. Thankfully we have radiators with individual thermostats so we can change the temp quickly but at the moment the heating is off at the boiler as it is not necessary. I do want an owl though. British Gas keep sending us energy efficient light bulbs. At an estimate of 8 years each we have enough to last us well into retirement - I'm 37! Wish they would send an owl out instead!

EssexHebridean

LOL - I know what you mean about the bulbs SM - we also have probably a lifetime's supply! We still need to stock up on the old style ones ahead of them being withdrawn though as our front room lights are on dimmers so low energy bulbs are no good there!

Re: Owls: Cheapeast I've found so far for the one that works with Economy 7 meters is on Amazon if anyone is interesting. I'm still trying to resist.....!

Sock status: Black, white, pink, purple and green stripes.

Spent today: £17 at the garden centre, but my goodness we got a lot for our cash! We went for mainly cheap colourful perennials including a few bits of the "reduced to clear" stand - very MSE! :money: a BIG Chrysanthemum in a gorgeous pinky orange shade was only £1 and we also got Sunflower seeds (me!) and nasturtium seeds (MrEH).

I have decided that with the likelihood of us gaining a second car into the household in due course we need to get a better grip of the regular expenditure in that area. It would be handy to know that at least to an extent some of the costs like insurance etc were covered rather than having to raid the savings - OK so the money IS there, it's just in the main savings account, but I think you know what I mean! SO - the plan is that I will open another online savings account off our joint account, and the difference between OH's travel costs now, and what he will then be spending, will go straight into that account and gradually build up to cover the costs as they arise. For the first year MrEH's insurance will be paid over 12 months, but the plan is that by the time it's renewed we'll be able to make a one off payment.

Lemon_Tree

thanks for the information about the heaters. I admit the first winter i had them i didn't know how to use them but i got the hang of them smartish but you're right we do sit here with lots of layers on. I don't mind paying for the electric if you actually get a warm room.
Good idea about how you will save for a new car, savings pots is something i've had to get into OH's head so that he's got the money to run his scooter, i've also introduced christmas savings since we got together. we've also got a baby savings account...... mmmmmm to the last one