Living on your own? How much energy do you use? Am I using too much?

MillicentBystander

I think a big priority at the moment is making sure you are on the cheapest available tariff for your usage. On high consumption there can be a big difference between tariffs and it's a measure that costs nothing to initiate/complete. If you say which area you live in, I'm sure we will be only too happy to have a look at the comparison sites and see what savings can be made easily.

To give you some idea, in my Yorkshire region the difference between the cheapest and most expensive tariff on your usage is approx £500!

TomsMom

MillicentBystander wrote: »

I think a big priority at the moment is making sure you are on the cheapest available tariff for your usage. On high consumption there can be a big difference between tariffs and it's a measure that costs nothing to initiate/complete. If you say which area you live in, I'm sure we will be only too happy to have a look at the comparison sites and see what savings can be made easily.

Thank you MillicentB.

Sorry, someone asked about tariff and I forgot to answer.

I am on British Gas Online Energy, changed in June 2012 after their Websaver 11 came to an end. I did a comparison at the time and with their £50 cashback after 5 months there was no real difference between that and the best buy.

I've joined the MSE Cheap Energy Club and had a look at their comparisons. The cheapest one had the most dire reviews and a warning from MSE. I did look at the others but haven't got around to working out whether an exit fee from BG would make the change worthwhile at the moment.

I have to say that I've had no problems with BG personally and having read reviews of some of the other providers, plus some of them wanting payment in advance, it would have to be a good deal with little risk of problems to persuade me to change.

DUTR

TomsMom wrote: »

Thank you MillicentB.

Sorry, someone asked about tariff and I forgot to answer.

I am on British Gas Online Energy, changed in June 2012 after their Websaver 11 came to an end. I did a comparison at the time and with their £50 cashback after 5 months there was no real difference between that and the best buy.

I've joined the MSE Cheap Energy Club and had a look at their comparisons. The cheapest one had the most dire reviews and a warning from MSE. I did look at the others but haven't got around to working out whether an exit fee from BG would make the change worthwhile at the moment.

I have to say that I've had no problems with BG personally and having read reviews of some of the other providers, plus some of them wanting payment in advance, it would have to be a good deal with little risk of problems to persuade me to change.

I was on Websaver 11, after switching to SP (which was not the lowest priced for my data) basically the usage worked out that in effect I was getting 'free' electric compared to when I was on npower for leccy and BG for gas, and it shows this time around as I paid over £400 gas this time last year and both fuels combined was under £400 :cool:

TomsMom

MillicentBystander wrote: »

I think a big priority at the moment is making sure you are on the cheapest available tariff for your usage. On high consumption there can be a big difference between tariffs and it's a measure that costs nothing to initiate/complete. If you say which area you live in, I'm sure we will be only too happy to have a look at the comparison sites and see what savings can be made easily.

To give you some idea, in my Yorkshire region the difference between the cheapest and most expensive tariff on your usage is approx £500!

I've just done the comparison again with the Cheap Energy Club and if I go with the best deal - Spark - I could save £275 but this is the provider that comes with the warning "Warning! We've had a disproportionate amount of bad feedback on Spark. It didn't announce price hikes in the last round - it may do soon (not an issue if you're going for a fix" and after looking at the feedback I would give them a wide berth.

The next cheapest - Swalec - would save me £87 a year, can't be managed online (BG you can). I would have to check feedback as I don't know anything about Swalec and think hard if it's worth it for £87.

victor2

TomsMom wrote: »

I've mentioned the loft insulation in my reply above. I can't get in to see exactly what is under the eaves but as the property was reroofed when the renovation was done four years ago I believe it it will be to the correct standard.

For the months of June-September inclusive I used approx 4566 KwH.

No electric shower, shower is from the boiler and I average 3 a week, never have a bath.



As mentioned in previous reply, sun room was a conservatory but when the property was renovated four years ago the builders replaced the old poly roof with a pitched slate roof and knocked through to the kitchen to make an L shape. It already had two rads in there.

I don't have a medical condition which requires constant warmth but as I am hypothyroid I do seem to feel the cold more than some people but not to the extent that I need to have the heating very high, as mentioned the living room is 68F.

You used about double the gas we used in June to September. We have gas heating and hot water (not a combi), but an electric shower. Our annual usage of gas is about 22,000kWh, so not that far off your annual usage.
For a number of years, I have stuck with fixed rate tariffs for my gas and electric. I like the reassurance that I know what my rates will be for the duration of the tariff. Don't blame you for steering clear of the one you mentioned. I'd do the same!
If there's not a decent saving to be had by switching, then just making sure BG have you on their best tariff for your usage might be suitable.

TomsMom

victor2 wrote: »

You used about double the gas we used in June to September. We have gas heating and hot water (not a combi), but an electric shower. Our annual usage of gas is about 22,000kWh, so not that far off your annual usage.
For a number of years, I have stuck with fixed rate tariffs for my gas and electric. I like the reassurance that I know what my rates will be for the duration of the tariff. Don't blame you for steering clear of the one you mentioned. I'd do the same!
If there's not a decent saving to be had by switching, then just making sure BG have you on their best tariff for your usage might be suitable.

I've just done a Tariff Check on BG's website and I appear to be on their best for me and they have just introduced a service whereby they check every 6 months and email you if there's a better price. I think I might pursue the idea of maybe having the water temp increased, I'll do another thread later and hopefully get some advice from a heating engineer.

Fire_Fox

Whilst it is not excessively warm, that in combination with the amount of hours you use the heating is a huge amount. 18C is considered completely safe for most people and I believe every degree can make quite a difference to bills.

Could you turn the heating off for a few hours during the day when you are sitting in the sun room? Could you wear another layer of clothing, say some super lightweight silk or microfibre long johns and long sleeve vest?

Assuming you don't have any health problems that mean this would be unsafe, could you have an electric underblanket on your bed or electric overblanket on your sofa? These cost pennies to run and the new ones have 'overnight' settings so you can just take the chill off rather than roasting yourself!

In winter I use a fleece blanket on my legs much of the day in the living area and rarely heat my bedroom at all because I spend so little time in there (aside from bed with the electric blanket!). Could you turn your bedroom thermostat up only for a couple of hours morning or evening, whenever you bathe or shower so are in the bedroom?

If your conservatory/ sun room is getting so much benefit from the sun why do you need two rads on so many hours and so high? I wonder if in winter as much heat is coming in as going out if not more, especially afternoon and evening. Are you turning the thermostats right down and leaving the room as soon as the sun starts to set?

What temperature is are the two living areas through a cold day if you don't use the heating at all? You might test one every couple of hours one day, and the other every couple of hours another day, for those couple of days spend all your time in the room you are still heating instead of sharing your time between as you usually do.

penrhyn

For what its worth i'm retired in a 3 bed mid terrace, ancient Ideal gas boiler. Heating on all day during the winter 17c during the day from about 7 am. and 19 in the evening, switching off at around 9:45 pm.
Last winter I used 8000 Kwh of gas.
I don't have TRVs, but use a programmable room stat.
OP seems to be running the boiler at far to low a temeprature to be efficient, I would of thought a minimum of 60c would be better.

TomsMom

penrhyn wrote: »

For what its worth i'm retired in a 3 bed mid terrace, ancient Ideal gas boiler. Heating on all day during the winter 17c during the day from about 7 am. and 19 in the evening, switching off at around 9:45 pm.
Last winter I used 8000 Kwh of gas.
I don't have TRVs, but use a programmable room stat.
OP seems to be running the boiler at far to low a temeprature to be efficient, I would of thought a minimum of 60c would be better.

I'm really surprised. We're led to believe that the new boilers are more efficient but your usage seems a lot lower than mine. The length of time your heating is on isn't that much different, just 15 mins. I don't have a room stat so can't set it to a certain temp and only know the temp in my living room because of a thermometer and I seem to need a temp of 20 degrees to be comfortable when I'm sitting relaxing.

I've just put a thread up on In My Home in the hope that an engineer can advise whether increasing the temp of the water might be more cost efficient.

TomsMom

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Whilst it is not excessively warm, that in combination with the amount of hours you use the heating is a huge amount. 18C is considered completely safe for most people and I believe every degree can make quite a difference to bills.

I've tried varying the temp but find that 20C is just comfortable for me, any lower isn't warm enough.

Could you turn the heating off for a few hours during the day when you are sitting in the sun room? Could you wear another layer of clothing, say some super lightweight silk or microfibre long johns and long sleeve vest?

I'm in and out doing things, the only time I sit for any length of time is when I'm on the computer. I do layer up but don't have the items you mention.

Assuming you don't have any health problems that mean this would be unsafe, could you have an electric underblanket on your bed or electric overblanket on your sofa? These cost pennies to run and the new ones have 'overnight' settings so you can just take the chill off rather than roasting yourself!

I have one of those all night electric underblankets on my bed plus flannelette sheets, I just can't sleep in a cold bed. The room isn't a problem at night, I don't leave the heating on overnight so the electric blanket is enough to keep me comfortable whilst sleeping.

In winter I use a fleece blanket on my legs much of the day in the living area and rarely heat my bedroom at all because I spend so little time in there (aside from bed with the electric blanket!). Could you turn your bedroom thermostat up only for a couple of hours morning or evening, whenever you bathe or shower so are in the bedroom?

I've turned the bedroom TRV down a bit so I'll see what it's like when I go up tonight and again in the morning, but I don't hang about in there, up - bathroom - downstairs or upstairs - bathroom -bed - lights out :rotfl:.

If your conservatory/ sun room is getting so much benefit from the sun why do you need two rads on so many hours and so high? I wonder if in winter as much heat is coming in as going out if not more, especially afternoon and evening. Are you turning the thermostats right down and leaving the room as soon as the sun starts to set?

There's not a lot of warmth in the sun at the moment, it's been bitterly cold here today but it does warm the room up somewhat. My living room has french doors to the sun room/kitchen so that's the most used doorway for me (and the dog). Evenings aren't spent in there but it's in constant use as access to the kitchen area, plus the dog sleeps in there overnight.

What temperature is are the two living areas through a cold day if you don't use the heating at all? You might test one every couple of hours one day, and the other every couple of hours another day, for those couple of days spend all your time in the room you are still heating instead of sharing your time between as you usually do.

I can give that a try, it will be interesting to find out.

Sorry for the lazy way of answering FireFox, just seemed a bit easier .