EDF have upped our monthly DD to £860, equivalent to £10,300 per year for our 3 bedroom semi

mroshaw

Spoonie_Turtle said:

mroshaw said:

k_man said:

You may need to turn the heating up in the office (or possibly the room above) now though, as that constant 550W may be missed!

I jest you not - my missus and I have donned our Xmas jumpers early, and bought some furry slippers! 

No judgement, just curious - did you not wear jumpers/slippers already?  What was your usual attire?  (Genuinely curious, I've never been able to go around in just a T-shirt or long-sleeved top except in the height of summer.)

I do generally dress warm, though this will be the first winter without our halogen bulb heater! 😂

Which actually leads me to admit an, unintentional, ommision from my investigations. I hadn't even thought about it, but we actually have AC in our downstairs office (the one with the bulbs). It's a fitted Fujitsu header / converter pair of units, and we had it on maybe 3 or 4 times over the Summer, when it got unbearably hot, for maybe 3 or 4 hours at a time. That must have accounted for at least some of that electricity estimate!

victor2

mroshaw said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

mroshaw said:

k_man said:

You may need to turn the heating up in the office (or possibly the room above) now though, as that constant 550W may be missed!

I jest you not - my missus and I have donned our Xmas jumpers early, and bought some furry slippers! 

No judgement, just curious - did you not wear jumpers/slippers already?  What was your usual attire?  (Genuinely curious, I've never been able to go around in just a T-shirt or long-sleeved top except in the height of summer.)

I do generally dress warm, though this will be the first winter without our halogen bulb heater! 😂

Which actually leads me to admit an, unintentional, ommision from my investigations. I hadn't even thought about it, but we actually have AC in our downstairs office (the one with the bulbs). It's a fitted Fujitsu header / converter pair of units, and we had it on maybe 3 or 4 times over the Summer, when it got unbearably hot, for maybe 3 or 4 hours at a time. That must have accounted for at least some of that electricity estimate!

It's things like that that your smart meter with its IHD will help you spot!

Spoonie_Turtle

mroshaw said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

mroshaw said:

k_man said:

You may need to turn the heating up in the office (or possibly the room above) now though, as that constant 550W may be missed!

I jest you not - my missus and I have donned our Xmas jumpers early, and bought some furry slippers! 

No judgement, just curious - did you not wear jumpers/slippers already?  What was your usual attire?  (Genuinely curious, I've never been able to go around in just a T-shirt or long-sleeved top except in the height of summer.)

I do generally dress warm, though this will be the first winter without our halogen bulb heater! 😂

Which actually leads me to admit an, unintentional, ommision from my investigations. I hadn't even thought about it, but we actually have AC in our downstairs office (the one with the bulbs). It's a fitted Fujitsu header / converter pair of units, and we had it on maybe 3 or 4 times over the Summer, when it got unbearably hot, for maybe 3 or 4 hours at a time. That must have accounted for at least some of that electricity estimate!

At least you found it long before next summer, so plenty of time to plan energy-saving ways of keeping cool!

Miser1964

>That must have accounted for at least some of that electricity estimate!<

Some yes. But like any heat-pump device it'll have on/off cycles so will likely have averaged in the 750Wh to 1kWh range so under 30p/hour based on the April - September 2022 tariffs. 

Chrysalis

Interesting tweet, "I am not alone".

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1582106925713326080

Spoonie_Turtle

Chrysalis said:

Interesting tweet, "I am not alone".

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1582106925713326080

She has a wood burner, which is a) not an option for a lot of people, b) still really bad for the environment, and c) only not expensive if it's already installed and wood is available cheaply or free.

It's also not at all the same thing as having to turn the central heating off in homes where that is the only space heating.  That whole thread really annoyed me, and the snippets of the article I've seen were no better.

Chrysalis

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Chrysalis said:

Interesting tweet, "I am not alone".

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1582106925713326080

She has a wood burner, which is a) not an option for a lot of people, b) still really bad for the environment, and c) only not expensive if it's already installed and wood is available cheaply or free.

It's also not at all the same thing as having to turn the central heating off in homes where that is the only space heating.  That whole thread really annoyed me, and the snippets of the article I've seen were no better.

Fair points, but how come the thread annoyed you?

Spoonie_Turtle

Chrysalis said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Chrysalis said:

Interesting tweet, "I am not alone".

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1582106925713326080

She has a wood burner, which is a) not an option for a lot of people, b) still really bad for the environment, and c) only not expensive if it's already installed and wood is available cheaply or free.

It's also not at all the same thing as having to turn the central heating off in homes where that is the only space heating.  That whole thread really annoyed me, and the snippets of the article I've seen were no better.

Fair points, but how come the thread annoyed you?

The thread that summarised the article, because it's the same tone disconnected from reality.  The 'if I can do it so can everyone else' mentality that refuses to consider maybe different people have different circumstances and needs and <gasp> preferences.  Part of the article someone screenshotted said that central heating encourages laziness, which is a bit of a trigger word for me, belonging to a demographic routinely characterised as lazy entitled scroungers by both the media and the government.

ariarnia

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Chrysalis said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Chrysalis said:

Interesting tweet, "I am not alone".

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1582106925713326080

She has a wood burner, which is a) not an option for a lot of people, b) still really bad for the environment, and c) only not expensive if it's already installed and wood is available cheaply or free.

It's also not at all the same thing as having to turn the central heating off in homes where that is the only space heating.  That whole thread really annoyed me, and the snippets of the article I've seen were no better.

Fair points, but how come the thread annoyed you?

The thread that summarised the article, because it's the same tone disconnected from reality.  The 'if I can do it so can everyone else' mentality that refuses to consider maybe different people have different circumstances and needs and <gasp> preferences.  Part of the article someone screenshotted said that central heating encourages laziness, which is a bit of a trigger word for me, belonging to a demographic routinely characterised as lazy entitled scroungers by both the media and the government.

don';t tell me your a GASP millenial!!

Bacman

On the original theme of this topic, you can see the readings on your meter and compare them to what EDF are saying they are; you can easily work out what your bill should have been and what the real "estimate" is; also calculate what they owe you or you owe them.

Simply phone EDF and tell them your average cost per month (units, standing day charges, VAT) and insist they amend your direct debit down to that level. You always have the option to tell them you will pay each bill when received and thereby not use direct debit.

The point of a direct debit is to average out what you owe over a year not to make the supplier cash rich with your money in credit when it should be gaining interest in your account.

I have these fights with Eon most months, they recently tried to put our direct debit to nearly 3x what we actually use, which I disputed and got it amended back to where it should be.

You MUST be on top of this, work out your meter readings and what the costs are from that, then you know when EDF are taking the mickey and you can factually get things resolved. Remember it is YOUR money, not theirs and it is not in your interest to have a large surplus in your account...