Is our usage crazy?!

sarahdh

Ohfiddles said:

We are a family of 5 in a 3 bed semi detached , and our usage is around 8500kwh a year electric. But we have a dryer and are charging a hybrid car . I spoke with Scottish power yesterday and they went through a list with me of what we were running and it came out about normal . I'm trying to cut down though as our electric alone is going to jump from £130 a month at present to roughly £256.80 a month. Probably not worth me using the hybrid car anymore.

I'm shocked at the increase to be honest. I knew it would be going up, but I thought it would be after April. Goodness knows what it will go up to then 

sarahdh

double_dutchy said:

Just had an email and it says the new direct debit will be £289 per month! Online account says £276. I think this will go up in April again surely, when the price cap is lifted, not just October?

For the annual figures you quoted you should pay between approx £250 and £265 per month as of April 1st 2022 based on SVR set at the level of the price cap (assuming you are not paying any extra for previous underpayment). That depends on region, which one are you in?

We're in the North East. It does include extra from last bill, as it was estimated readings and they had underestimated. Won't be letting that happen again! 

So am I reading right that if we didn't have the underpayment to catch up on, even AFTER the price cap rise in April we should be paying £250 and £265? I was worried it might be another massive hike in the direct debit.

sarahdh

Gerry1 said:

The electric heater in the shed and the fishtank are probably the two main culprits.

Goodbye husband and fish! 

sarahdh

Sea_Shell said:

I'd missed the bit about the fish!!

How big is their tank and how warm do you have to keep them?

It's a 3ft tank. Has a 200w heater but it only kicks in when the water temperature drops (it's set to 25c). Also has a filter which I think is 15w and is on 24/7.

sarahdh

MrsBrush said:

Well, that is thread is hugely interesting for me, as I have just had a massive row with Bulb who decided that we need to be paying £286 a month (was £153 when we moved in to the house in October 21, which has been increased 4 times already) to "increase our credit balance", that we have not built up because of us only being here 4 months! They have been arguing that we need to insulate ourselves against the cap going up, as if we haven't noticed an almost 100% overnight hike!  More like they are in administration and are still losing money because of the wholesale prices going up and the price cap limiting what they can charge, so they seem to be trying to bully customers into paying as much as they can by any means possible! 

I have moved us over to the 'pay for what you use' option, which they eventually and very reluctantly agreed to. Lets see, because switching away remains a no-go at the moment.

I think this will dramatically drop our payments in the short term because our actual winter usage has been in the region of 752kwh for electricity and 1199.5kwh for gas - although fully aware that the price will hike up dramatically anyway.

We have a 3 bed semi, just 2 of us. I work at home full time, so PC and 2 monitors on all day every day, and I am guilty of not always switching them off. We have 2 TV's, which are also on standby. We have 2 (full) freezers, 2 fridges, a washing machine that is only used 3-4 times a week and the usual array of chargers etc. We have just replaced the electric shower, as the old one was useless - but we both only shower once a day, both pretty quick, and I have a couple of slightly longer showers in a week when it takes forever to wash the soap out of my very long and thick hair! My dishwasher has yet to be plumbed in, as the plumbing hasn't been sorted yet.

Our main usage issue seems to come from the ancient hot air gas boiler, which is highly inefficient and no doubt expensive to run. It is basically only on between 5pm - 10pm, and possibly an hour in the morning if it is very cold. It has an underpowered fan, which has to work overtime to get any heat through the place, so just as well the windows and insulation seems to be okay! The antique 1970s original gas hot water system attached to the prehistoric boiler looks as though it broke about 20 years ago, so hot water comes via the 3.5KW immersion heater - which is also expensive to run (and I think is the biggest power wasting culprit) and it doesn't heat up enough hot water to even half fill the bath, so also pretty useless as well. We have given up and turned it off completely, so we are now using the kettle for washing up and for general use. We have a gas cooker, that is used for around an hour or so a day generally.

I know that our energy use is a bit higher than most, but we have been struggling to figure out where we can make cuts, apart from the obvious. Glad it isn't just us, I thought it was just me getting annoyed, worried and fed up.

It's definitely not just you! As naive as it may be, I didn't think the actual cost of energy had really increased recently, I just kept hearing April and thinking it was jumping up then. 

£289 per month is just shocking to me. Our rent is only £550!

QrizB

Sea_Shell said:

sarahdh said:

Sea_Shell said:

What is the rating of that "little heater" and how many hours per day does he have it on?

It is thermostatically controlled (oil filled radiator) or just "on" all the time, like an electric fan heater?

I'm not 100% sure (and he's away for work tonight so I can't check), but I *think* it's a convection heater, and I think from looking at Argos it's a 2000w one that has switches for 750w and 1250w, so goodness knows what level he has it on.

Would he be better with a lower rated oil-filled heater? Any other heater suggestions welcome!

AIUI, it doesn't matter what type it is, if it's using 2kw per hour at full power, it's using 2kw per hour if constantly "on".
So it's more about how the power is controlled (thermostat) and for how long it's "on" for.... actually heating.
A heater that clicks on/off, will use less than one that is continuously on, assuming it ever gets the room up to temperature!

Yes, as Sea_Shell says, the heater will have a thermostat that will cause it to cycle on and off to maintain the temperature. A smaller heater won't save anything unless it's too small, in which case DH will be cold and complain.

Make sure the thermostat is set to a sensible number (not just set to MAX and trusting DH to control it himself) and that he turns it off before leaving the shed. Ideally 30 minutes before leaving!

Gerry1

Put the fishtank in the shed and the convector on ebay...

eastcorkram

Work in the shed, only in warmer weather. Otherwise, work somewhere else within the house. 

double_dutchy

So am I reading right that if we didn't have the underpayment to catch up on, even AFTER the price cap rise in April we should be paying £250 and £265? I was worried it might be another massive hike in the direct debit.

Yes, in the Northern region, for 6,844 kwh Electric and 11,942 kwh gas annually you should be paying £2,994,82, based on the April price cap, if paying by monthly DD and with a standard electric meter.

Obviously that's a shade under £250 per month on average

otb666

You can adjust your SP DD online i shaved a bit off mine after doing the sums but will monitor it closely Dont look at the 2 year fixes that will really shock you Our usage gas 11094 elect 4625 3 adults 2 at home all day 3 bed semi £4091 per year