What should an "average" 2 bed bungalow DD be?

Spoonie_Turtle

macman said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

macman said:

And the £150 Warm Home Discount since one of you is on UC?

Only if the property is old enough and large enough.

it's based on the energy cost of the property, not age or size. 

Yes, and they calculate the energy costs based on age/type/floor area.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/warm-home-discount-eligibility-statement-england-and-wales

markin

Are you getting paid for solar export? How old is the Solar?

macman

OP: far too many assumptions being made here. Please get your actual meter readings updated if the smart meters are not doing so. Then, go back by a year (or as near as you can get to 365 days) on your bills and get the comparative meter readings a year apart. That gives us your actual kWh usage annually, not estimated.
Once we know that, it's easy to work out your annual cost based on the EPG cap rates. Your DD should then be one-twelfth of that.

liddyloo

knightstyle said:

Just remember you only pay for heat that escapes from the dwelling so a poorly insulated one will use much more energy to keep warm.
How much insulation is there in the loft and walls?

It was all redone in the summer as it was below the regulation amount apparently. Walls full of new filling and loft topped up. 

liddyloo

Alnat1 said:

Do you have TRVs? Keeping the bedrooms cooler during the day (doors closed) will help you use less gas.

Heated throws are great, warm you up almost instantly, no need to turn the thermostat up if you're a bit chilly, just go for a higher setting on the blanket.

What is a TRV please?

[Deleted User]

liddyloo said:

Alnat1 said:

Do you have TRVs? Keeping the bedrooms cooler during the day (doors closed) will help you use less gas.

Heated throws are great, warm you up almost instantly, no need to turn the thermostat up if you're a bit chilly, just go for a higher setting on the blanket.

What is a TRV please?

The automatic radiator valves that shut off the water to a radiator when the room reaches the right temperature.  It's a bit like having a thermostat for each radiator rather than just one for the house.

liddyloo

macman said:

Double glazing installed?
One thing that puzzles me is why you would turn the 'stat up to 22C from 20C 'if its particularly cold'? That makes no sense. Regardless of the ambient temp, setting it to 20C will maintain a room temp of 20C. Increasing the 'stat to 22C does not heat the house up any faster, it just burns more gas. It is estimated that each 1C increase can put 10% on your gas bill-so that 2C tweak could add 20%.
When you say you 'can't afford it', are you allowing for all the govt support  already available this winter? You should have had £150 C Tax discount already, if in bands A-D, and now be getting £66/67 monthly electricity bill credit or rebate for the next 6 months: so that's £400.
We don't know your exact ages, but you may also get the Winter Fuel Payment including the Pensioner CLA (£300-£600) since at least one of you is a pensioner?
And the £150 Warm Home Discount since one of you is on UC?
That's a minimum of £1,000 towards your annual bill.
Finally, why are your annual usage figures only estimates if you have smart meters? Have you checked that the meters are actually sending readings back to the supplier? 
If the last bill was estimated, send manual reads immediately and query the error with the supplier, as they may well be overestimating your consumption.

Yes to double glazing. It has always been an incredibly cold place. It's a running joke amongst the neighbours that it's often warmer outside than it is in. Overnight and through most of the day the thermostat will be around the 15c mark, we turn it up in the evening so depending on how cold it is depends on what we turn it up to. 

Yes we have been getting the £66, that is included in the £134. I know the £500 for retirement age is coming but we don't know when but that's not even two months covered based on the new DD. Not sure about the £150. 

I don't know why they are estimates, I am doing my best to find out whats going on but the account is not in my name so I have to wait for the other person to be able to talk to EDF. I took a photo of the electric meter at the end of September which I will check and compare to see if that is correct. The gas meter didn't have anything on the display. I looked at the smart meter today and that was not much more than was on the bill for our last 76 days so I assume it's currently correct. 

Our rent is jumping up too as the family member has reached retirement age so flipped from ESA to pension. They've got more income each month so the housing benefit has reduced meaning they aren't much better off. In total £1000 sounds a great deal towards the bills but when it comes in tiny snippets it doesn't help monthly. We simply don't have £363 after all the other household bills. We already live quite frugally, don't drink, don't smoke, only one car etc. 

liddyloo

markin said:

Are you getting paid for solar export? How old is the Solar?

Nope. I had to do a lot of calling around in the summer to find someone who knew how or IF they worked! They were added years ago (before we moved in) through one of those government schemes where the housing association got something out of it. There is no battery to charge and seemingly nothing goes to the grid. They literally only seem to make a difference if they get strong enough sunshine, so summer months only. 

liddyloo

[Deleted User] said:

liddyloo said:

Alnat1 said:

Do you have TRVs? Keeping the bedrooms cooler during the day (doors closed) will help you use less gas.

Heated throws are great, warm you up almost instantly, no need to turn the thermostat up if you're a bit chilly, just go for a higher setting on the blanket.

What is a TRV please?

The automatic radiator valves that shut off the water to a radiator when the room reaches the right temperature.  It's a bit like having a thermostat for each radiator rather than just one for the house.

Ah, I'm not sure. 

[Deleted User]

Take a look at the two ends of a radiator.  If they both look like the right-hand type, you don't have any controls on the radiators.  If you have one that looks like the left-hand type (anything with numbers that you can twist, there are lots of styles), then you have a TRV.  The number on the dial is the room temperature where the radiator turns off.