Advice needed to stop gas and electric monthly dd increasing.

lauhen

I have been with Scottish power since June, my monthly DD was £118, I am now heading into the next quarter and my bill has increased to £151 a month. I really don't want this to increase anymore, what can I do.

I have stopped using the kettle as often, I hardly use the tumble dryer, I use clothes horse instead, I reduce how many washes I do, what else.

I tried turning sky off at the wall and each time my sky had to be reset by ringing sky. Now that sky box has to be replaced if we want to use the features of sky plus. I'm stuck.

James123_2

A Sky box probably only uses about 11w on standby - possibly less for a new version. So it hardly seems worth worrying about this for about £8 a year. I leave my Sky box on but turn off all other standby items - TV, stereo, computer etc as, together, they can consume a modest amount if left on together.
Kettle will cost you 20p an hour - less if you can better a tariff of 10p a unit.
You need to look at heavy-duty items such as tumble driers, immersion heater, electric fires, electric oven etc. However, your monthly payment is huge! Even a fridge or freezer shouldn't cost more than about £30 a year to run.
For cooking I use a slow-cooker for meals - about 15p. Hm, if possible, I'd consider turning everything off for 24 hours to make sure that you're not paying for the electricity of a neighbour.

lauhen

The bill is for gas and electric, but it does seem high I agree, I can't think what gas I use apart from hob, I do use electric oven every teatime, and for about an hour afterwards it seems to make noises as if it's still on.

James123_2

Even for both gas and electric it does seem to be very high. If your oven is a fan oven then it will probably whir for a time after you have finished cooking. There's a good reason for this - only I'm not sure what it is! Best thing would be to isolate which of the two utility bills seems to be the culprit in sending your bills sky-high.
Cooking with your oven shouldn't cost more than 25p for about an hour - unless you prepare a full roast with all the trimmings each day. In which case, can I come and join you all one day?

aelitaman

Make sure your energy supplier is using upto date actual readings on your last bill not thier estimates.

lauhen

The condition of being able to have an online discount with them is that we give meter readings every 3 months.

bosseyed

I'd say £118 a month seems pretty high, even for both utilities!

I was paying £25 a month DD with nPower for electricity only and they sent a letter trying to increase the price to £56 a month. One grumpy phonecall later and they simply lowered it to £30 instead.

So try ringing, often these prices seem to be plucked completely at random from the ether and they'll happily revise them down if you suggest you'll leave.

Failing that, take a look at the bill breakdowns which have the actual kwh price in pence, then take a peek on uSwitch for a cheaper option.

penrhyn

Do you owe them money, as this may be the reason they are increasing your DD?
The heating season will start in a month or so they may be increasing the DD to ensure you are not in arrears next May.
Do you know how much energy in Kilowatt Hours you use in a year?

Whwn switching stuff of or limiting use go for the major energy guzzlers first, Immersion Heater, electric cooker,dish washer, washing machine, any electric heating appliances.
Low energy lamps will save a a bit more, taking stuff off standby will save very little.

Turn down the thermostat on the central heating to 20c or less, only run it when you need it.

PS Take weekly meter reading for a while.