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

lindatoo

This has been an interesting thread and I've actually learned a lot from it, such as the plug in air fresheners (not that I use them)

 The only thing I have on 24/7 apart from my fridge freezer is my little digital alarm clock, which I only have so that I can  see the time easily if I wake up before my alarm goes off. I use the alarm on my mobile to actually wake me up. I'm wondering now how much power it actually uses and if I should just unplug it although I suspect it doesn't use enough to be worth it.

Vincero

xeny said:

Are the cooling coils on the back of the fridge freezer clean?

Or have you just tried moving the fridge freezer a few inches further form the wall. The extra ventilation can make a big difference to how long it runs the compressor for and that directly impacts power use.
Some come with plastic brackets / guides which maintain a gap to the wall from the back of the fridge/freezer but, even then, in hot weather better ventilation never hurts.
God help integrated fridge/freezers which have almost no ventilation at all.

I can't see a 9 year old unit being that out of shape already.

MariaAH

Vincero said:

Or have you just tried moving the fridge freezer a few inches further form the wall. The extra ventilation can make a big difference to how long it runs the compressor for and that directly impacts power use.

With the location of the fridge freezer in the kitchen, in the narrower galley-style utility end, sadly moving it further away from the wall is not a practical option.

xeny

TheGardener said:

@MariaAH - this has been a great thread with some brilliant contributions. As someone who tolerates a water-cooled gaming computer in the house, I'm not surprised at the costs - it isn't the biggest single culprit on your household's electricity bill but it will be one of the biggest on ours   

Water cooled doesn't necessarily mean high energy consumption - it can be there for quietness, or just because it is "fashionable". Important thing is to check that all the CPU power management settings are appropriate - so that the processor slows itself down when the machine isn't that busy. Defeating those (sometimes to get an extra few % more performance by "overclocking" can start making a 100W difference to idle power consumption, and most computers spend the vast majority of their time idle.

I'm responsible for many pretty high end scientific research PCs. They typically idle at around 50W so it is possible to get acceptable power consumption figures out of a high end PC.

Alnat1

@lindatoo My husband does the same as you, clock radio/alarm on to see the time easily but uses phone to wake him.

I used my Tapo on the clock and it was somewhere around £2.50 a year (at my 35p tariff) so I told him I'd allow it 

Edit - He jokingly calls me the Energy Police

deano2099

Unless it's in a really poorly ventilated room with the door closed, a gaming PC shouldn't be affecting the heat in the room so much that you need aircon all the time (when you don't have it on in the rest of the house). Especially during the day when it's being used for work and not for gaming. Can appreciate during the heat wave it may have been needed but at this point opening a window should do?
I do wonder if he's maybe using it to keep the surrounding air cool in order to improve cooling to get a little bit of extra performance out of it, in which case maybe buy him a new graphics card for Christmas?

Slinky

As a side note about the air fresheners consuming £126 in electricity, how much are they spending on consumables for 6 air fresheners across a year?

london21

All you can do is try to cut down usage.

caveman38

This post has been compulsive reading. Although I don't suffer the expense you do Maria, it's still high enough. All the various contributors have given plenty of people (I assume) a lot to consider. Especially the fridge freezer and the EV's - which I'm sure there'll be many who will think twice. And, who'd have even considered the expense involved in air fresheners. 
Thanks for the good read - even though it wasn't your initial intention. 

MariaAH

UPDATE: With the announcement today confirming the price cap increases, I have had an emotional and upsetting morning coming to terms with the reality of what will be from 1st Oct (I am confident that I am not alone here...)
I think it is fair to say that my husband and I had generally considered ourselves to be fairly 'comfortable', until last year when the energy companies first got into trouble. I knew we were really feeling the pinch...but one thing I did not realise was that were are actually already in fuel poverty, even before the Oct increase, as definition is more than 10% of net salary spent on energy (cost of EV charging removed for calculation). WOW, I'm shocked. 

• We can (and will) reduce gas use with shorter showers, minimal heating etc, but the bulk or our energy bill is electricity. 
• Our son will reimburse for all energy he uses (TP monitors will stay in place to monitor). 
• EVs will only be used for essential purposes - no unnecessary day trips, think twice before going anywhere
• We 'may' consider replacing fridge freezer...as things stand, could reduce energy consumption by 2/3, although savings are small in overall scheme of things
• TP monitor is plugged in with TV/SkyBox/Playstation at the moment, nothing overly scary there at the moment.

In summary, struggling to see where savings can be made, other than spend autumn/winter evenings sat in the darkness huddled under a blanket eating bread and dripping with just candle light for warmth. As I am writing that, I can see that this may be the reality for the many, many people who are much worse off than us. Beggars belief really, doesn't it!

Original title of my post was that "Oct price cap increase could push my energy bill over £10K"...well, here is the estimate using MSE calculator (with gas kWh adjusted down to reflect savings from shorter showers/lower heating)...I feel sick...don't know where the money is coming from...and if Jan increase is 51%...then that will be more like £15K a year!