British Gas price increase

TheGardener

double_dutchy said:

TheGardener said:

 I was paying 2.8p per kWh last winter. In April '22 it went up to 7p and on the 1st Oct it will go up to 33p

I think you've got your fuels mixed up there. Gas is currently approx 7p. Under the government's EPG it will go up to approx 10.4p in October (depending on payment method and region), electricity will be approx 34p

yep - I did. Thanks - have amended in my OP

TheGardener

[Deleted User] said:

TheGardener said:

energy is sold in kWh units - like petrol is sold in litres. 

Did you not notice the kicking I got on here a couple of weeks ago trying to use exactly that comparison?

Nope - why? Seems perfectly reasonable to me as an illustration of something most of us know the price of petrol - but few of us (until recently) knew the price of a kWh of gas or leccy? No point making it more complicated - the problem is it so complicated most folk (myself included) took a while to get their heads round it. 

[Deleted User]

TheGardener said:

Deleted_User said:

TheGardener said:

energy is sold in kWh units - like petrol is sold in litres. 

Did you not notice the kicking I got on here a couple of weeks ago trying to use exactly that comparison?

Nope - why? Seems perfectly reasonable to me as an illustration of something most of us know the price of petrol - but few of us (until recently) knew the price of a kWh of gas or leccy? No point making it more complicated - the problem is it so complicated most folk (myself included) took a while to get their heads round it. 

I thought exactly the same thing, I originally brought it up in a discussion where someone said the whole thing is too complicated because nobody understands what a unit is and nobody understands how much they use.  Cue ten posts explaining why it's a ridiculous comparison because you don't pay for petrol by direct debit or on estimated readings, and people talk about their petrol tank being £70 rather than 40L.

TheGardener

Dackroyd said:

macman said:

OP, any energy saving measures you may have taken recently will not begin to cancel out the near doubling in energy prices in the last year-and now we have a further 27% hike coming on 1/10, even under the EPG.
Your usage patterns are odd though-about 50% higher leccy than average, but 50% lower for gas. Do you have gas CH and DHW, maybe a gas cooker?
Why is your electricity usage so high, assuming you have gas CH and DHW?

We use an electric cooker and our central heating is a combi boiler so it’s ran on gas 

We cant think of anything that could be using more electricity other than what was stated with the hybrid at the start of the year and works being done for renovation but the usage is still less than last year 🤦‍♂️ We are only a family of 5 two of which are teenagers 

As a newbie on this board, I have learned a great deal and most posters are way more knowledgable about energy than me but I have learned that:
1. Switching off chargers and TV standbys makes virtually no difference (unless you have multiple TV's and digiboxes)
2. Gaming PCs are the devil's own work for leccy usage
3. That the 'devil's sister' is the old-style halogen G10 bulbs that were liberally sprinkled across the ceilings of homes during the '90s and 00's  - switch to LED's at the earliest opportunity. 
4. Electric showers are expensive so the shorter the better (doesn't apply to those with combi boiler fed showers)
5. Turning down the hot water temp (55C) and flow temps on a combi boiler (60c) make a dramatic difference 
6. Washing hands and rinsing cups under a cold tap saved us about 4kWh of gas over the month (the water was only just running warm by the time we'd finished anyway)
7. Don't underestimate: Expelair fans, Ponds with pumps, American Fridge freezers or chest freezers in garages, outdoor security lights (ours were on most of the night due to wildlife and cats) 
8. ...and finally, insulate, insulate, insulate...

macman

Dackroyd said:

Cheers @[Deleted User], yeah we have been really digging into what we use and don’t use, turning off everything that is not being used, limiting the kids charging devices (constantly) Next on our list is the cooker and thinking of moving to a gas cooker as we cook alot and electricity being higher than gas and with gas being under used in the household it could balance it out maybe 🤷‍♂️

You didn't mention the second biggest usage of energy in the home: hot water. It's assumed that this is from your gas boiler?
After that, think hot and cold: tumble drier, washing machine, fridge freezers (especially ones that live in a cold garage, or older large American style ones: these can really guzzle power. Get a couple of Tapo smart plugs and start measuring the consumption.
Failing that, teens mining bitcoins maybe?

TheGardener

[Deleted User] said:

TheGardener said:

Deleted_User said:

TheGardener said:

energy is sold in kWh units - like petrol is sold in litres. 

Did you not notice the kicking I got on here a couple of weeks ago trying to use exactly that comparison?

Nope - why? Seems perfectly reasonable to me as an illustration of something most of us know the price of petrol - but few of us (until recently) knew the price of a kWh of gas or leccy? No point making it more complicated - the problem is it so complicated most folk (myself included) took a while to get their heads round it. 

I thought exactly the same thing, I originally brought it up in a discussion where someone said the whole thing is too complicated because nobody understands what a unit is and nobody understands how much they use.  Cue ten posts explaining why it's a ridiculous comparison because you don't pay for petrol by direct debit or on estimated readings, and people talk about their petrol tank being £70 rather than 40L.

They were missing the point then...it was an illustration of knowing the price of a unit of something  - simples...