Bulb offering no help or care.

Happy_Sloth

brewerdave said:

I thought I ad pinpointed several power heavy devices such as gaming PC that on 1st test I recorded just 125w, but I retested it last night and during actual "gaming" it draws nearly 300. Perhaps I've not been as thourough or factual as I had thought when I checked the bulk of the house some weeks back. We packed up the tun pre April, and don't have anything i'd consider heavy on energy. 

Gas yes, Is card only and it's barely used, so just throwing 10 pounds a week at that, or less. 

Thanks for all the help, I'm going back to the drawing board to recheck everything

Some gaming PCs have graphics cards which draw ~ 300w on their own - someone posted measuring 600w on a gaming rig recently whilst playing.

I can confirm gaming PC's will be the death of me! The Gaming PC's in my house are to blame for a huge portion of my energy bill! 

if you can buy a electric meter and move it around your sockets i found that a big help in tracking down where my electric was going.  

EssexHebridean

Is the low gas use just a current thing because of the time of year? (Ie - are you expecting - and prepared for - higher spending there in a few months when your heating gets put back on?) Actually - thinking about it you're not THAT low a gas user either at £10 per week currently, particularly if we assume that is "summer figures". 

You'll find the link in my signature below for the SOA that will be needed for DFW help, by the way! 

pochase

QrizB said:

Welcome to the forum.

Prepayment is only a few pence a day more expensive than a credit account paid by DD, so your high bills aren't due to that.

Is the £50 a week you're spending on electricity due to current energy use or do you have debts on the meter that you are paying off?

If it's all due to energy use, you're a huge user. Something like 20-25 kWh a day, compared to the usual 6-10 that most people on this forum report. Do you know where it's all going? Do you have a hot tub, tropical fish, anything else that's always warm?

You say you have prepayment meters, so do you also have gas? How much are you spending on that?

 It's more of a convenience thing, I have not to plan to bounce or DD or not pay, but knowing I could call and ask for a day twos breathing room, open up myself to possible more help, and flexibility just gives me more confidence than seeing a meter on 50p and just waiting for power to drop

Prepaid will be better for this. You should get automatic emergency credit when needed and "friendly credit" outside of shopping hours.

My experience is that the direct debits are already scheduled days before they are taken from the bank and support agents cannot change the amounts once they are scheduled. So your 2 day idea would not work.

murphyslaw2020

I read your post and just noticed that 2 children have higher needs and that you are a full time carer for both parents. Have you checked whether you are claiming all the benefits you can. Eg Disability Living Allowance for children with higher needs, and carers allowance for one of your parents. 

macman

'Don't use much gas'? If you can use a gas appliance instead of an electric one (heating, hot water, cooking), then you should do so, as it's about 350% cheaper at present.

Xsensed

Thanks for all the replies, seems is time to replace the fridge freezer as its eating up to way more than average, 've also found some zombies devices damaged cables or charger heads, and dropped usage by 2 pounds per day so far. jeez!! Gaming PC has been turned off and I'm researching more about making it more effect, but must confess I'm baffled its early days will keep monitoring this as much as possible 

jj_43

The scale of the increase in energy prices means doing small things isn’t going to change your situation I am afraid. But your doing the right things in understanding your energy use and reducing it and your bill will be less high.

If your planning on changing your fridge anyway then yes go ahead. But purchasing a new fridge to save on energy costs won’t help with your immediate financial situation. You might need that lump sum for your top ups.

As you are in prepayment you will be the first to experience the increases in October. It’s very different feeling having a meter swallow all your cash on a daily basis than having a Fixed DD payment come out monthly.

You can’t get into debt so you wont have those worries. You have choices about your budget so review that if you have one.