Covid Energy Support

Macdudley

With people working from home and now on full lockdown with schools closed people are spending most the time indoors and having more energy usage espeically with colder weather we are having. Are energy companies offering any discounts or refunds etc for customers.

[Deleted User]

I wouldn’t of thought so, you pay for what you use. 

There are grants and schemes but depends if you meet the eligibility. 

paddyandstumpy

Macdudley said:

With people working from home and now on full lockdown with schools closed people are spending most the time indoors and having more energy usage espeically with colder weather we are having. Are energy companies offering any discounts or refunds etc for customers.

If you find a company that lets you increase consumption and pays you rather than charges you, let me know. I'll have some of that too. 

Diamandis

If you're on a low income you can apply for the warm home discount. 

Most people are making savings in other areas right now and not spending money on travelling, work clothes or socialising etc.

mattyprice4004

People aren’t commuting, aren’t driving kids to school, aren’t paying for the £3 coffee on the way to work etc so there’s savings in other areas. 

Why should energy companies pick up the tab?
You use it, you pay for it. My gas bill is enormous but that’s my problem.

[Deleted User]

My energy company was pretty good. After 5 months paying increased nearly £100 per month for 5 months, this month I was able to pay £25 and set up a repayment plan for £75 with an an appointment for a smart meter finally granted. They said the damage was done during 2020 home working and 'expensive' months cited by them were indeed I absolutely recognise when I was home working and working over time. Home working is ok if you were/are on a fanciful/big enough wage to begin with it what I was told.

diggingdude

surely most people who can work from home were normally travelling to work?  The saving to that would offset energy increase i would have thought. 

strawb_shortcake

My Electric bill based on actuals has been £13 a month extra, we now have 5 at home all day rather than 1. We have oil central heating which we haven't altered our usage, and we layer up with clothing and a blanket if it's too cold.
We did have additional Christmas lights up which would have been included in our last bill and inclusive of the extra £13.

What are people doing to significantly increase their energy bills? 

Grumpy_chap

annabanana82 said:

My Electric bill based on actuals has been £13 a month extra, we now have 5 at home all day rather than 1. We have oil central heating which we haven't altered our usage, and we layer up with clothing and a blanket if it's too cold.
We did have additional Christmas lights up which would have been included in our last bill and inclusive of the extra £13.

What are people doing to significantly increase their energy bills? 

Heating is the big area where energy for WFH is higher.  As you say, the electricity does not include this for space heating in your home.
Lighting could be an area where costs mount up - do you have LED bulbs?
How is your hot water heated?
How many times is the kettle boiled?  What about extra use of the electric oven?  These are both big loads and eat energy.
Washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer?  All items that have a large heating component in operation.  Can you use lower temperature loads?  Always full loads?
Running laptops etc. is unlikely to be the contribution that really makes a difference.

Another possibility is I think many people have been logging their energy use this year far more than may have been the case in the past.  Is the £13 per month extra comparing actual meter-read for, say December 2020 versus December 2019?  Or is it comparing December 2020 meter reads against a past average, that may have contained error?

Aylesbury_Duck

In addition to reduced travel costs for many, there's also the tax relief available for homeworking.

strawb_shortcake

Grumpy_chap said:

annabanana82 said:

My Electric bill based on actuals has been £13 a month extra, we now have 5 at home all day rather than 1. We have oil central heating which we haven't altered our usage, and we layer up with clothing and a blanket if it's too cold.
We did have additional Christmas lights up which would have been included in our last bill and inclusive of the extra £13.

What are people doing to significantly increase their energy bills? 

Heating is the big area where energy for WFH is higher.  As you say, the electricity does not include this for space heating in your home.
Lighting could be an area where costs mount up - do you have LED bulbs?
How is your hot water heated?
How many times is the kettle boiled?  What about extra use of the electric oven?  These are both big loads and eat energy.
Washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer?  All items that have a large heating component in operation.  Can you use lower temperature loads?  Always full loads?
Running laptops etc. is unlikely to be the contribution that really makes a difference.

Another possibility is I think many people have been logging their energy use this year far more than may have been the case in the past.  Is the £13 per month extra comparing actual meter-read for, say December 2020 versus December 2019?  Or is it comparing December 2020 meter reads against a past average, that may have contained error?

I don't have a problem with the extra £13 a month, this increase was compared to the same period last year, what I didn't check was what the tariff details were from last year.
We don't have LED bulbs, we don't have a dishwasher or microwave.
The kettle has always been used a lot when my Husband was home on his own, it now boils an extra cup or two each time. Our hot water comes from the CH. 
I have been cooking far more

I just feel when people say their energy bill has gone up so much that it might be a bit of an exaggeration maybe? My extra £13 a month has only been during the last quarter too, prior to that it was much less, the main difference for us was the Christmas lights and that wasn't excessive.
I know lots of people wfh may not have saved on commuter costs, but that's not the only work expenses, no work shoes, whip rounds, birthday cards etc. I think after fuel costs my biggest saving are the not popping in the shop for milk and spending £15 type costs.
I did think my grocery shopping seemed expensive to start with until I realised all the extra I was saving. My children usually get £15 a month for drinks and snacks at school, but not paying this Jan/Feb saved me £90. 
Their youth group not meeting is another £48 saved over 2 months.
So even taking commuting out of the equation I'm still saving far more than any additional costs