Forget Smart Meters, here are my practical top tips for saving energy and using less water,

Ultrasonic

Keu said:

Ultrasonic said:

If you post details of your actual energy usage it would be possible for people here to give you a better idea of what you'll be paying.

I know what I will be paying, Uswitch told me when I looked for new suppliers

I also have a spreadsheet, the variance is my usage may increase slightly.

If you truly think your bills are going up by £1000 then you have made a significant mistake somewhere. I'm saying this to hopefully stop you worrying more than you need to about energy price rises.

Do you know your typical annual electricity and gas usage in kWh?

LippyDoodle

Keu said:

LippyDoodle said:

Wow I couldn't be that regimental   

Do you mind me asking, how much do you save by doing all the above compared to when you didn't do it? 

Sadly it comes from necessity, I am at place where literally every penny counts.

I was in military so used to being regimental, I have not always been, just more focused now, it is the challenge.

I was paying under £40 a month on energy (dual fuel), on tariff cap I am looking at £66 to £70 

All I can say is it adds up.

I do not do credit I have a £1500 overdraft but I don't use it because of 39.9% obscene rate.

In my past it was just to easy to not bother because I spent it as fast as I earned it. 

Now that all paying Russian Tax on our energy bills I thought you might want to take action now so that you don't have an eye watering bill or debt over the next year.  Even at my low usage I am facing over £1k extra on energy so those with bigger bills will be facing much more.

I get you have to watch every penny, a lot of us do, me included. I use a credit card from time to time but always pay it off in full so there is no interest charged. I don't have an overdraft. I did but didn't use it so I got rid of it. I would rather put it on my credit card if/when needed. 

If you are paying £70 a month your yearly bill will be under £1000. Maybe you need to get your boiler checked to see how energy efficient it is. 

I appreciate you are thinking of helping others but I don't if many people could restrict themselves to the same level you do, 

LippyDoodle

Are you sure you are not entitled to any help? Have a chat with citizens advice. Do you qualify for warm home discount?

Keu

Ultrasonic said:

Keu said:
Even at my low usage I am facing over £1k extra on energy so those with bigger bills will be facing much more.

Are you talking about bills based on the Shell tariff you'll be moving to? If so there is no way a low energy user will have an (annual) bill increasing by anythng like as much as £1,000. If you are genuinely stressing because of this then you really don't need to. 

The move to Shell at capped Tarriff is only part of it.

Gov said last week they are adding £190 to gas bills according to radio news. There may be a reduction in Electricity but I will not benefit from it.

OFGEM predicts 30% increase in Tarriff Cap in April because it is based on what wholesalers are paying and spot rates, we are already well into the assessment period and things are not getting better, I think it could be higher than 30% but that is the amount I used.

This site says that customers of Green go from £810 to £1,277 at Shell at average will face increase of £467

moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/09/energy-firm-gone-bust--how-your-new-firm-and-tariff-stacks-up

add 30% at £383 is £850 increase taking annual to £1660

Add the £190 takes it to £1850, so over £1000 more.

So work out your own figures because the cap is not on the amount paid it is on the tariff.

OFGEM said it would be £138 increase in Tariff cap well straight off I got hit with more than 3x that, not because I am a high energy user but because I did what we were told to do, I got a good deal.

What really pisses me off is that even if I use zero energy I still have to pay those standing charges.

OFGEM should make every supplier have to provide a zero standing charge tariff with no pre-conditions and the rate no higher than the average of all their tariffs.  At least then we could batten down the hatches and reduce our costs.

The energy companies must be laughing they got us to pay £13bn for their smart meter programme when they are the on beneficiaries, even when they botched it up with meters that turned dumb it was obvious the programme should have been scrapped or the cost simply passed back to the energy companies with a zero standing for all tariffs and the cap we had before.

If the Energy companies has to use their own money they would never have done it because it was obvious it was a failure.

Keu

BigSpenderLittleSpender said:

Which is better a hot water bottle or an electric blanket?

Hot Water bottle, I use one if it is really really cold, under -10 outside.

Keu

Swipe said:

BigSpenderLittleSpender said:

Which is better a hot water bottle or an electric blanket?

Electric blanket wins hands down, covers the whole bed and doesn't go cold overnight

Mine is still warm in morning but I get up and so not fussed.  

Our bodies are best way to keep warm, getting down to underwear will warm the bed right through, I do add winter duvet when it gets cold (usually mid December or January 

Keu

Ultrasonic said:

BigSpenderLittleSpender said:

Which is better a hot water bottle or an electric blanket?

On a practical level an electric blanket since it heats a larger area rather than just the bit by the hot water bottle. If you're purely talking about cost then I bet the electric blanket is cheaper to use too (but more expensive to buy).

I seriously doubt that, maybe if you follow instructions that say you pre-heat bed and then turn it off or else you risk damaging thin wires that are vulnerable when heated and this can create a fire risk.

theguardian.com/environment/2009/jan/08/ethicalliving

Keu

LippyDoodle said:

Are you sure you are not entitled to any help? Have a chat with citizens advice. Do you qualify for warm home discount?

I am not entitled, I have tried over the years, sometimes it is was "we have fulfilled our quota" other times it was "we don't operate that scheme it is only run by the big companies"  I tried to get some help in January when I was very ill with Covid for 7 weeks and then had 5 months of getting back to where I was.  I was signposted left and right, some very nice guy did call me back but in the end said the best they could do was buy a new coat.  Same thing with food, for all the volunteers and we are all in this together, they told me to call Aldi, I did and they told me they don't deliver but they charge to click and collect.  I lost 18lbs in two weeks.  

LippyDoodle

Keu said:

LippyDoodle said:

Are you sure you are not entitled to any help? Have a chat with citizens advice. Do you qualify for warm home discount?

I am not entitled, I have tried over the years, sometimes it is was "we have fulfilled our quota" other times it was "we don't operate that scheme it is only run by the big companies"  I tried to get some help in January when I was very ill with Covid for 7 weeks and then had 5 months of getting back to where I was.  I was signposted left and right, some very nice guy did call me back but in the end said the best they could do was buy a new coat.  Same thing with food, for all the volunteers and we are all in this together, they told me to call Aldi, I did and they told me they don't deliver but they charge to click and collect.  I lost 18lbs in two weeks.  

If you are with a company that does the warm home scheme then you have to apply in time unless you are in the core group and that is done automatically (as far as I'm aware). 

You have to pay for all shopping deliveries. 

You can try these. They are good. https://nhsvolunteerresponders.org.uk/services

It's unusual for citizens advice to not help. 

You are aware you could get help at a food bank? 

If you are suffering with your health there must be more avenues to go down. 

Ultrasonic

Keu said:

Ultrasonic said:

Keu said:
Even at my low usage I am facing over £1k extra on energy so those with bigger bills will be facing much more.

Are you talking about bills based on the Shell tariff you'll be moving to? If so there is no way a low energy user will have an (annual) bill increasing by anythng like as much as £1,000. If you are genuinely stressing because of this then you really don't need to. 

The move to Shell at capped Tarriff is only part of it.

Gov said last week they are adding £190 to gas bills according to radio news. There may be a reduction in Electricity but I will not benefit from it.

OFGEM predicts 30% increase in Tarriff Cap in April because it is based on what wholesalers are paying and spot rates, we are already well into the assessment period and things are not getting better, I think it could be higher than 30% but that is the amount I used.

This site says that customers of Green go from £810 to £1,277 at Shell at average will face increase of £467

moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/09/energy-firm-gone-bust--how-your-new-firm-and-tariff-stacks-up

add 30% at £383 is £850 increase taking annual to £1660

Add the £190 takes it to £1850, so over £1000 more.

So work out your own figures because the cap is not on the amount paid it is on the tariff.

OFGEM said it would be £138 increase in Tariff cap well straight off I got hit with more than 3x that, not because I am a high energy user but because I did what we were told to do, I got a good deal.

What really pisses me off is that even if I use zero energy I still have to pay those standing charges.

OFGEM should make every supplier have to provide a zero standing charge tariff with no pre-conditions and the rate no higher than the average of all their tariffs.  At least then we could batten down the hatches and reduce our costs.

The energy companies must be laughing they got us to pay £13bn for their smart meter programme when they are the on beneficiaries, even when they botched it up with meters that turned dumb it was obvious the programme should have been scrapped or the cost simply passed back to the energy companies with a zero standing for all tariffs and the cap we had before.

If the Energy companies has to use their own money they would never have done it because it was obvious it was a failure.

The most relevant figure in all of that is the £1277 cap figure you quoted. Your own costs for this winter will be significantly below this and so nowhere near a £1000 increase on what you have you have been paying. Thoughts on what longer term increases may be are speculation at this point, and in your particular situation you need to be very mindful of not thinking increases quoted in terms of typical bills apply to yourself. 

I asked above if you know your own energy use in kWh per year? I did so as looking at you will actually be paying is what to focus on. Right now I am genuinely concerned that you are putting your health at risk because of flawed assumptions that make you think the situation is far worse than it actually is.