It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

CKhalvashi

linz said:

Hope everyone on here had a lovely Easter weekend. I went down to Devon to see a relative. Lovely weather but back home now to rain. At least the plants will be grateful. Have just got back from YS shopping. Glad I went as I managed to get a bulging carrier bag full of meat, veg, bread & milk. 

I recently switched energy provider to Octopus. My brother referred me so we both got £50. I must say I am really impressed with them. I love that they are so focussed on renewable energy and were the pioneers of the energy saving sessions over the winter. I've just switched my electricity to one of their smart tariffs called Octopus Agile. This tracks the wholesale price of electricity in 30 minute blocks and they give the following day's prices for each block 24 hours in advance. I noticed that the overnight rates between 01.00 and 05.00 tomorrow are actually in minus figures meaning Octopus will pay me to use electricity. I think it benefits electric vehicle owners more, but I thought i'd give it a go too. So i've prepped a load of food and am going to put both slow cookers, the washing machine and the heated airer on before I go to bed.

Yes, mine is charging at the moment while waiting for OH to get home.

I'm currently being paid about 20p/hour to charge it, with a washing machine load on and getting e-mails for tomorrow (I tend to get stuff to send from about 10am but actually send these at ridiculous hours normally) sorted to boot. It should be fully charged before then but I need to un-plug it before 5am.

FWIW I've got about 70 miles to do in the morning for which I'll be able to claim 45p/mile on electricity I'll have balanced out at about £1 (and still have probably 65% of the battery left). Not too bad.

YoungBlueEyes

It isn't environmentally friendly, but there's no smell like peats on your fire 

greyteam1959

@Longwalker
What exactly do you mean 'we don't even get smart meters' ?

Longwalker

greyteam1959 said:

@Longwalker
What exactly do you mean 'we don't even get smart meters' ?

We dont have smart meters in Northern Ireland 

Floss

Longwalker said:

greyteam1959 said:

@Longwalker
What exactly do you mean 'we don't even get smart meters' ?

We dont have smart meters in Northern Ireland 

But you do have mainly renewable energy, which we in England don't. Not much benefit to the pocket for you but better for your personal carbon footprint?

YoungBlueEyes

Floss said:

But you do have mainly renewable energy, which we in England don't. Not much benefit to the pocket for you but better for your personal carbon footprint?

You needn't feel so guilty about cutting them peats now ha haa!  

greyteam1959

Longwalker said:

greyteam1959 said:

@Longwalker
What exactly do you mean 'we don't even get smart meters' ?

We dont have smart meters in Northern Ireland 

Ah right.

Longwalker

Floss said:

Longwalker said:

greyteam1959 said:

@Longwalker
What exactly do you mean 'we don't even get smart meters' ?

We dont have smart meters in Northern Ireland 

But you do have mainly renewable energy, which we in England don't. Not much benefit to the pocket for you but better for your personal carbon footprint?

If its so bloomin renewable - why is it so bloomin expensive then? LOL

I live in an Aonbs and all you can see are wind turbines, yet you wont get planing for a wee one of your own. Cant put solar panels on the front of the house either. Cant have anything that can be seen from the road, but we can have these huge turbines towering above us 

Dont get me wrong, I actually like the turbines but our rules and decisions over here make no sense for the man in the street. Why cant I have a smart meter to manage my electricity usage? Why am I paying top dollar for renewable?

pumpkin89

Longwalker said:

Dont get me wrong, I actually like the turbines but our rules and decisions over here make no sense for the man in the street. Why cant I have a smart meter to manage my electricity usage? Why am I paying top dollar for renewable?

If renewable was cheaper it would have been brought in throughout the country years ago.  The reality is it costs more (financially) to build turbines than it does to extract oil & gas.  But as a society we are beginning to understand that cheap solutions can have very expensive long-term consequences!

euronorris

I need to catch up as had a busy, and long weekend.

But my gosh British Gas have got under my skin today. Bill issued, and enough in account to pay for it. Perfect. All as expected and in line with meter readings. Estimation for coming year totals £2,265, which works out at £188.79 pm. What is the minimum it would allow me to reduce it to online? £204.18! Insisted I would get into 'debt' otherwise. Based on their own estimations I wouldn't! I've called and managed to get it reduced to £190. In reality, it should be less than that as the price is predicted to drop come July (fingers crossed).