Energy bills go up TOMORROW - meter read TODAY!

Sea_Shell

kaMelo said:

@Sea_Shell
Yes I know it seems high, no electric car but all electric cooking which will explain some although that probably makes gas usage look even worse as that's purely for heating/hot water. it's just always been that way, even higher but rather than thinking I'm a high user I've always wondered where they get those typical usage figures from as I've never been anywhere close. Just checking older bills,  electricity usage was 7700 kWh and, prior to having a new boiler, gas was 24000 kWh. That was my biggest ever in 2013.

What's actually worse is that it's never really bothered me up until now, energy costs were around £130/£160 p/m and that's just the way it was but from April it's around £270 p/m and, finally, that's enough to bother me so time to see where I can change a few things so hopefully £400 p/m in October 2022 never happens.

These new prices do tend to focus the mind somewhat!!!!    And from reading around these boards you're definitely not alone!

We're actually fairly low users.   2 People in a 4 bed detached.    1700kwh electric and 13000kwh gas.   (inc gas hob)

We had a new boiler in July, and so that annual gas figure is dropping month on month (year to date) and is currently down to 10,000!

We did drop the hot water to once a day mind, which has made a big difference.   We don't really use any after we've washed up after lunch, so no point re-heating it until the morning.  

moving_forward

We are two people in a two bed semi but added conservatory.
We currently use around 3302 electric and 11000 gas so not far off Mr and Mrs average.
Our boiler is a combi and not that old. We brought the house 4 years ago and it was only a couple of years old from memory.
@Sea_Shell I'd be interested to find out how your electric use is so low as I feel we are fairly frugal. Use combi microwave and instant pot instead of main oven etc. We have gas hob.  No tumble dryer but use heated airer. We do have electric shower so maybe that's it?

Sea_Shell

moving_forward said:

We are two people in a two bed semi but added conservatory.
We currently use around 3302 electric and 11000 gas so not far off Mr and Mrs average.
Our boiler is a combi and not that old. We brought the house 4 years ago and it was only a couple of years old from memory.
@Sea_Shell I'd be interested to find out how your electric use is so low as I feel we are fairly frugal. Use combi microwave and instant pot instead of main oven etc. We have gas hob.  No tumble dryer but use heated airer. We do have electric shower so maybe that's it?

Definitely that electric shower, as we use hot water from gas boiler (not combi).

We don't have much in the way of "gadgets", and no dishwasher either.

Washing is hung out in the spare room (unless out on the line).   No problems with damp or condensation, even in the middle of winter.   W/M has a 1400 spin, which helps.   

We have an electric fan oven, which is 2.5kw, but it does cook stuff pretty quickly and doesn't need pre-heating for most things.

We watch the same TV, mostly, so in the evening we are just in the 1 room with 1 TV on.   

Sea_Shell

When you're already only using 1700kwh per year, there's not much left to cut!!

Especially when I've worked out that our background usage accounts for about 600kwh of that!

moving_forward

We only have one TV.
Washing goes in conservatory so the heated airer isn't on all the time. Summer not all at obviously.
We do have a dishwasher and quite a few gadgets but again not used all the time. Even Mr M_F's faithful lawn mower is a manual one as he hates messing with power cords and the like. Maybe it is the shower and dishwasher. As we buy new white goods we do go for more power friendly ones. I will have to do an electric audit and find out what's costing. 

RosaBernicia

EssexHebridean said:

I was once told that unless it was actively wet on the ground, it was worth hanging washing outside a it would dry - even if it took a couple of days. it must be said experience since tells me that there is some truth to that. 

I also find some truth to this.  Unfortunately in the British climate, the difficulty is in remembering to rescue the washing during the tiny interval in those couple of days that it gets dry before being rained on again

TheAble

Never used a tumble dryer in my life. Whatever the season, clothes horse and radiators seem to work perfectly.

EssexHebridean

TheAble said:

Never used a tumble dryer in my life. Whatever the season, clothes horse and radiators seem to work perfectly.

Having radiators as an option definitely makes things easier! In real terms, for many folk in flats without central heating or gardens though, a TD is sometimes the only way of making things manageable. 

Northern_Wanderer

EssexHebridean said:

TheAble said:

Never used a tumble dryer in my life. Whatever the season, clothes horse and radiators seem to work perfectly.

Having radiators as an option definitely makes things easier! In real terms, for many folk in flats without central heating or gardens though, a TD is sometimes the only way of making things manageable. 

I never use a tumble drier but do find that if I'm unable to dry washing outside in summer, it takes forever to dry inside when the heating is off! I use a dehumidifier to help dry clothes in summer if required, although I suppose I will have to think how much that's going to cost moving forward!

RosaBernicia

Layout of the house is part of it too, and size of the household.  I have used banisters to dry sheets when that worked, but without them it's a large clothes horse and that isn't always practical if you've got multiple sets each week, especially if you don't want to leave things on overnight.