just given my meter readings

elantan

i fully agree with you there ch27 ... we need to control our usage ...

i have loft insultation ... we did that a couple of years ago now ( would hate to think what our bills would be other wise)

we cant get cavity wall insulation we have tried to get it but have had several people out and apparently due to the type of construction of our house we cant get it done ...

we have all new windows and doors and have no draughts coming in

we do switch everything off ... things like the t.v, mocrowave etc are kept plugged in ... would it help if we unplugged everything?

where we can we use energy saving bulbs ... sometimes we cant do this as we have halogen lights ... but we try to keep usage to a minimum ...

are there other ways i can make a difference?


we have thick curtains , blinds etc on every window except the living room window

macman

Unplugging your microwave is not going to cut your bills. Most of the cost is heating, hot water and cooking. Also big consumption items like washing machines and tumble driers.

CH27

I switch everything off at the wall apart from my fridge freezer.

I drive my son insane by switching everything off in his room:rotfl:

We keep our thermostat set at 16 degrees & wrap up warm in jumpers, thick socks etc.
We use hot water bottles.

Keep doors closed to keep heat in.
Don't use tumble dryers.

elantan

thanks everyone for you help ... i will transfer over as soon as i can get my mprn from scottish power ... i think this is about the best i can do for now ... will look at our consumption more and get that under control as well ... we do use more than alot of people on here and that needs to change ...

am heading out to work just now but will give it more thought over night ... thanks

greenbee

If you're switching to BG consider the online tariff with energy smart rather than websaver, as although it costs a little more there is no fee to get out of the contract. You can also submit monthly readings and pay for what you have used each month rather than playing games with the fixed DD. It does mean that you'll be paying a lot in the winter and very little i the summer, so you'll need to plan for this rather than getting used to the amount you spend I the summer and thinking it will stay like that.

You say your Gas usage looks high, so you need to consider a couple of things. Firstly, why do you have to heat the hot water up for an hour before you use the shower? Is your hot water tank insulated? If so, you should be able to heat it once in the morning and once in the evening which should heat the tank and it should then stay hot unless you are using lots of hot water for other things and draining the tank.

As the house is fairly well insulated and draught proofed the only things I can think of for you to do to bring heating costs down in the winter are to look at the room temperatures. Turning the room thermostat if you have one down will help (mine is around 16-18C but then my friends bring extra layers when they come to stay!) and adjusting the radiator thermostats in different rooms too. We keep the bathroom, study (we work from home) and living room warm, and use hot water bottles rather than heating bedrooms (except when it's very cold).

As you don't have cavity wall insulation, radiator reflectors behind any rads on external walls may also be worth doing. The impact is pretty low, but might be worth the effort.

There are two of us working from home in a 3 bed semi with metal windows and we're using about half what you do, but we do have a cold house...

molerat

10% is a bit more than a little dearer !!

molerat

elantan wrote: »

i just phoned scottish power ... we have an annual usage of 23990 kwh for gas per year and 4145 kwh electricity usage per year .... we apprently use 8.9 units of gas perday with the national average being between 5 and 15 perday ...indicating that we are average users of gas ... we use 14.7 units electricity per day with the national average being between 15 and 20 perday so we are effectively below national average ....

if this is the case then why are we as much as £150 ( now going up to £180) a month ... as far as i am led to believe that is not the average gas and electricity payments

23990 / 365 = 66 kWh = 6 units per day. 4145 / 365 = 11 units per day. The sums don't add up. The annual kWh figures quoted = around £100 - £110 per month on the top 10 plans. Even adding up your quoted daily figures it comes to £120 - £130.

I use around 26000/4000 and was paying £95 until they reduced it to £82 last month !!

greenbee

molerat wrote: »

10% is a bit more than a little dearer !!

Depends how much energy you use... For me the extra is less than the cost of the cancellation fee, which to me makes it a better deal (plus I prefer to pay for what I have used each month rather than playing the fixed DD game)

iphone5_2

we are also with scottish power

in a similar position to OP

could fact we have a boiler about 15 years old mean that we use more gas than we ought to?

SP reckon we are on cheapest tariff in market which is online saver 10

macman

iphone5 wrote: »

we are also with scottish power

in a similar position to OP

could fact we have a boiler about 15 years old mean that we use more gas than we ought to?

SP reckon we are on cheapest tariff in market which is online saver 10

Yes, an older non-condensing boiler will be much less efficient, and a 15 year old boiler probably has a pilot light. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's economic to change it though-it could take you years to recover the outlay.

It might be SP's cheapest tariff, but I wouldn't take their word for it that it's the cheapest on the market. Use a comp site with your annual kWh consumption figs, it takes seconds to check.