Energy - Totally confused

Sea_Shell

A word about variables...

Look at your consumption for January and February this year, and then once the October cap is announced calculate what you bill is likely to be using the new rates.

It will be massively higher than what you paid last year.

Also last year was a mild winter, plus the Jan 23 cap is likely to increase again.

Tigsmom

Evan3020 said:

I am currently £400 in credit and i hope they don't cut my payments as i like being in credit.
I will be £550 in credit by October when the rises kick in.
Currently using £40 a month inc standing charge and paying £132.

Is that just for gas or both? I never questioned how much our bills were because it’s not generally something you throw into a conversation with friends 🙈 I just assumed they were about average as I thought we were being fairly cautious. I’m quite surprised to hear that people on here think they’re high. We do have the problem of living in a very old house with no provision for cavity wall insulation although we do have under floor and roof insulation heat just goes through the walls. 

Evan3020

At this time of the year i only use gas for the hob so about 1 unit a month or less than a pound and thats using it every day including making steamed puddings at 95 minutes each time.
I have solar panels and at this time of the year they are making 500 kwh plus a month so i only take just under 2 kwh from the grid each day, made 18 kwh so far today and still kicking out 2.63kw right now.
£22 of that £40 is standing charges.

Robin9

@Tigsmom May I suggest 1)you keep a dairy - read your meters at the same time every day - make a note of what you did, who's at home, showers , weather.  and  2)  go through every room, inc attic, garden shed, garage and see what equipment you have and 3)   involve the whole family 4) put graphs on the fridge door 

As other's have said there are savings in electricity to be made, gas is more difficult. Switch off those lights, eat at the same time ...........

k_man

@Tigsmom, do you have a few recent meter readings?

That will give an idea of current usage, while there is no heating (so no significant extra costs due to old house).

And (apologies if I have missed this), how long/frequent are typical showers?

Alnat1

Variable DD = you give meter reading each month (or auto if smart meter) then your bill is generated, around 14 days later the amount of that months bill is taken by DD. No more, no less, the exact amount of that months bill.

Tigsmom

Robin9 said:

@Tigsmom May I suggest 1)you keep a dairy - read your meters at the same time every day - make a note of what you did, who's at home, showers , weather.  and  2)  go through every room, inc attic, garden shed, garage and see what equipment you have and 3)   involve the whole family 4) put graphs on the fridge door 

As other's have said there are savings in electricity to be made, gas is more difficult. Switch off those lights, eat at the same time ...........

 I’ve told the family that we need to have a meeting to see where we can save (although I already tell them to reuse towels/ wear clothes more than once/ turn off lights and computers when not in use to no avail 😢) I’ve bought some power towers with individual switches in the hope that switching one socket off on a night will be easier than individual plugs. I’ve contemplated solar powered lamps and phone chargers 🤔 Have told my daughter that showers are no longer than 10 minutes from now on! Eating at the same time is impossible as we’re ships that pass in the night term time but will probably stick with either microwave or air fryer meals on those days. I’m also thinking about getting personal towels so that I can find which culprit puts them in the wash several times a day! 😆

Robin9

Bribery/incentivise/reward  your children   - share the savings with them - use  a carrot rather than a stick

Evan3020

Or beat them with the stick.

chris_n

Your highest use is clearly the oven, solar chargers etc will probably never pay for themselves. Use a slow cooker or something for meals during the week so you only cook once, you can leave the slow cooker on for 5 hours for less than the cost of heating your oven.