Oct price cap increase likely to push energy bill to over £10k... for a family of 4...

MariaAH

markin said:

On the current cap you bill could be around £5k, Elec 8000kwh  £3600, Gas 20,000  £1400

£8K if it was to hit 65p Elec and 14p for gas???? Still far of the £10K.

 

BG estimated annual cost for 12 months, based on current usage, is £5885, and we are paying just over £500 a month direct debit, so that looks about right. Based on the rumour of an 82% price cap increase, I crudely multiplied £5885 by an 82% increase to get £10,710...is my rough calculation that far out? (I hope so?!)

MariaAH

macman said:

markin said:

On the current cap you bill could be around £5k, Elec 8000kwh  £3600, Gas 20,000  £1400

£8K if it was to hit 65p Elec and 14p for gas???? Still far of the £10K.

 

I don't think the OP will be celebrating much if it's 'only' £8k pa...
If the leccy usage did not fall when the son was away, then that blows the gaming PC/aircon theory out the window.
I would now bite the bullet and request tests on both meters. The cost incurred if they're within tolerance is relatively trivial compared to the potential rebate if they're not.

The Gas reading has not moved since we all had showers this morning, and based on the readings, our daily Gas usage appears to have halved in the last 3 days since I read them all the riot act about how long they spend in the shower...so that is some progress and does suggest not a gas meter issue. 

MariaAH

QrizB said:

MariaAH said:

... it has a watercooling system (which he tells me is economical)...BUT my Tapo energy monitoring plugs have arrived today...so I will find out for sure.

I'm almost certain that you will shortly discover there is no such thing as an economical water-cooled PC!

Yep...it all appears to be pointing in that direction...I have the Tapo energy monitoring plug and his PC will not be switched on until that is plugged in. I am still baffled by March though, as he and his sister were away for 3 week and that was our highest electricity usage month?!

MariaAH

Vincero said:

MariaAH said:

Just pulled off some consumption stats from my Zoe; since 28 May 22, 1622.9 miles with average electric consumption of 3.9 miles/kWh which is much better than would be suggested from the Hypervolt app of how much energy has been used in the last 9/10 months vs the mileage done. 

Don't forget that the conversion of energy from the grid to the car is not 100% efficient - hell, even the charging units themselves will likely have ~90% efficiency. The act of charging the battery is not quite 100% efficient - some energy is lost in the process which is why they need cooling for fast charging as that inefficiency manifests as heat - that cooling is another thing that uses energy itself which if course the car will not be counting.

When all is said and done, that 3.9m/kWh is just the car energy usage from the battery. The hypervolt app may be showing the bigger picture.

Thank you for your very enlightening post! This does explain WHY there is a difference between the Hypervolt app data and the car consumption data...In which case, the amount of energy 'lost' is truly shocking...

Vincero

MariaAH said:

Vincero said:

MariaAH said:

Just pulled off some consumption stats from my Zoe; since 28 May 22, 1622.9 miles with average electric consumption of 3.9 miles/kWh which is much better than would be suggested from the Hypervolt app of how much energy has been used in the last 9/10 months vs the mileage done. 

Don't forget that the conversion of energy from the grid to the car is not 100% efficient - hell, even the charging units themselves will likely have ~90% efficiency. The act of charging the battery is not quite 100% efficient - some energy is lost in the process which is why they need cooling for fast charging as that inefficiency manifests as heat - that cooling is another thing that uses energy itself which if course the car will not be counting.

When all is said and done, that 3.9m/kWh is just the car energy usage from the battery. The hypervolt app may be showing the bigger picture.

Thank you for your very enlightening post! This does explain WHY there is a difference between the Hypervolt app data and the car consumption data...In which case, the amount of energy 'lost' is truly shocking...

What is the difference? On a pure charging scenario I'd be surprised if it was greater than say 30% difference between them (I.e. if car is charged up by 10kWh, its unlikely to have used more than 13kWh from the grid - ideally should be lower, but faster charging is more wasteful). Also other things like pre-heating/cooling the car (if the option's available) will use up power from the charger - much like having the son's room Aircon running.

(Edited to correct maths)

chris_n

MariaAH said:

QrizB said:

MariaAH said:

... it has a watercooling system (which he tells me is economical)...BUT my Tapo energy monitoring plugs have arrived today...so I will find out for sure.

I'm almost certain that you will shortly discover there is no such thing as an economical water-cooled PC!

Yep...it all appears to be pointing in that direction...I have the Tapo energy monitoring plug and his PC will not be switched on until that is plugged in. I am still baffled by March though, as he and his sister were away for 3 week and that was our highest electricity usage month?!

I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out, if it isn't the huge user we all suspect it is you can have endless joy ribbing him about his massively over speced PC.

macman

MariaAH said:

macman said:

markin said:

On the current cap you bill could be around £5k, Elec 8000kwh  £3600, Gas 20,000  £1400

£8K if it was to hit 65p Elec and 14p for gas???? Still far of the £10K.

 

I don't think the OP will be celebrating much if it's 'only' £8k pa...
If the leccy usage did not fall when the son was away, then that blows the gaming PC/aircon theory out the window.
I would now bite the bullet and request tests on both meters. The cost incurred if they're within tolerance is relatively trivial compared to the potential rebate if they're not.

The Gas reading has not moved since we all had showers this morning, and based on the readings, our daily Gas usage appears to have halved in the last 3 days since I read them all the riot act about how long they spend in the shower...so that is some progress and does suggest not a gas meter issue. 

Sorry to rain on your parade, but even if the meter is over-reading, then it'll still halve the displayed usage if you actually halve the consumption. The gas should be the easier one to crack here, as it can only be excessive use of DHW and/or heating, or a faulty meter.
You've just ruled out a gas leak, as it would still increase with all gas appliances off. You won't really be able to do the same exercise on the heating until you start using it in the autumn.
How old is the boiler, and is it serviced annually?

MariaAH

Vincero said:

MariaAH said:

Vincero said:

MariaAH said:

Just pulled off some consumption stats from my Zoe; since 28 May 22, 1622.9 miles with average electric consumption of 3.9 miles/kWh which is much better than would be suggested from the Hypervolt app of how much energy has been used in the last 9/10 months vs the mileage done. 

Don't forget that the conversion of energy from the grid to the car is not 100% efficient - hell, even the charging units themselves will likely have ~90% efficiency. The act of charging the battery is not quite 100% efficient - some energy is lost in the process which is why they need cooling for fast charging as that inefficiency manifests as heat - that cooling is another thing that uses energy itself which if course the car will not be counting.

When all is said and done, that 3.9m/kWh is just the car energy usage from the battery. The hypervolt app may be showing the bigger picture.

Thank you for your very enlightening post! This does explain WHY there is a difference between the Hypervolt app data and the car consumption data...In which case, the amount of energy 'lost' is truly shocking...

What is the difference? On a pure charging scenario I'd be surprised if it was greater than say 30% difference between them (I.e. if car is charged up by 10kWh, its unlikely to have used more than 13kWh from the grid - ideally should be lower, but faster charging is more wasteful). Also other things like pre-heating/cooling the car (if the option's available) will use up power from the charger - much like having the son's room Aircon running.

(Edited to correct maths)

OK...if my maths is correct...
Hypervolt app says 3340 kWh used charging cars...
Car data says 3.9 mile/kWh for 8900 miles which suggests 2282 kWh
The 'loss' is 3340-2282 = 1058
1058/3340 = 30% loss?

MariaAH

macman said:

MariaAH said:

macman said:

markin said:

On the current cap you bill could be around £5k, Elec 8000kwh  £3600, Gas 20,000  £1400

£8K if it was to hit 65p Elec and 14p for gas???? Still far of the £10K.

 

I don't think the OP will be celebrating much if it's 'only' £8k pa...
If the leccy usage did not fall when the son was away, then that blows the gaming PC/aircon theory out the window.
I would now bite the bullet and request tests on both meters. The cost incurred if they're within tolerance is relatively trivial compared to the potential rebate if they're not.

The Gas reading has not moved since we all had showers this morning, and based on the readings, our daily Gas usage appears to have halved in the last 3 days since I read them all the riot act about how long they spend in the shower...so that is some progress and does suggest not a gas meter issue. 

Sorry to rain on your parade, but even if the meter is over-reading, then it'll still halve the displayed usage if you actually halve the consumption. The gas should be the easier one to crack here, as it can only be excessive use of DHW and/or heating, or a faulty meter.
You've just ruled out a gas leak, as it would still increase with all gas appliances off. You won't really be able to do the same exercise on the heating until you start using it in the autumn.
How old is the boiler, and is it serviced annually?

Boiler is 9 years old (combi boiler) installed when we moved in and services annually. Did you have some thoughts on its age?

macman

Nothing wrong with a 9 year old combi if in good order. It''ll be a condenser, so reasonably efficient. I don't think that's your problem.