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

sevenhills

liddyloo said:

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. 

The FIT payment will go to the government installer.

liddyloo

[Deleted User] said:

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.

Ohhh yes we have the ones on the left. Thank you for the image explanation.

Robin9

liddyloo said:

Thank you.

Looking at the most recent bill the annual consumption for gas, based on estimates is 17,192 kwh and electric is, again based on estimates, is 2773 kwh. We have a smart meter. The most recent bill says it doesn't have figured to compare to last year. I think we finally got away from SSE in November last year (long story, not our fault) 

It's possible that the Smart meters are not sending readings back.  Please have a look at your bills - what letter or words is there after the meter readings -   A, C, E , S , our read, your read .......      It needs to be S or our read.

Go back and find the bill  from where you changed supplier (who are you with?)  and let us know those reads please. Now read the meters.

sevenhills

Robin9 said:

liddyloo said:

Thank you.

Looking at the most recent bill the annual consumption for gas, based on estimates is 17,192 kwh and electric is, again based on estimates, is 2773 kwh. We have a smart meter. The most recent bill says it doesn't have figured to compare to last year. I think we finally got away from SSE in November last year (long story, not our fault) 

It's possible that the Smart meters are not sending readings back.  Please have a look at your bills - what letter or words is there after the meter readings -   A, C, E , S , our read, your read .......      It needs to be S or our read.

Go back and find the bill  from where you changed supplier (who are you with?)  and let us know those reads please. Now read the meters.

I only generate a bill if I submit a reading myself, even though the smart meter shows the correct readings.

k_man

liddyloo said:

[Deleted User] said:

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.

Ohhh yes we have the ones on the left. Thank you for the image explanation.

Just for clarity, the numbers on the TRV are not (usually) the actual temperature where the radiator turns off, e.g. in the image posted by @[Deleted User] the radiator won't turn off at 3C !
3 is normally around 16C, but varies by manufacturer (and by room/radiator), so a little manual tweaking may be required to get the right setting for you.

[Deleted User]

k_man said:

liddyloo said:

[Deleted User] said:

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.

Ohhh yes we have the ones on the left. Thank you for the image explanation.

Just for clarity, the numbers on the TRV are not (usually) the actual temperature where the radiator turns off, e.g. in the image posted by @[Deleted User] the radiator won't turn off at 3C !
3 is normally around 16C, but varies by manufacturer (and by room/radiator), so a little manual tweaking may be required to get the right setting for you.

Good clarification - I should have said “represents” the temperature.

I think there was a thread on here about a month ago where we collected different manufacturers’ guides to translating the numbers into rough temperatures, I’ll try to find it when I’m not posting from my phone.

k_man

[Deleted User] said:

k_man said:

liddyloo said:

[Deleted User] said:

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.

Ohhh yes we have the ones on the left. Thank you for the image explanation.

Just for clarity, the numbers on the TRV are not (usually) the actual temperature where the radiator turns off, e.g. in the image posted by @[Deleted User] the radiator won't turn off at 3C !
3 is normally around 16C, but varies by manufacturer (and by room/radiator), so a little manual tweaking may be required to get the right setting for you.

Good clarification - I should have said “represents” the temperature.

I think there was a thread on here about a month ago where we collected different manufacturers’ guides to translating the numbers into rough temperatures, I’ll try to find it when I’m not posting from my phone.

I thought about that other thread too, should have bookmarked it!

[Deleted User]

The FIT payment will go to the government installer.

The FIT benefit may well go to the HA. The occupant gets the benefit of free electricity when the sun shines. Any excess of solar above the house demand will go to the Grid.

wild666

liddyloo said:

Hello,

I'm trying to get my head around our energy bills and just getting no where fast. 

In 2020 we moved to a mid terrace 2 bed bungalow from a 3 bedroom mid terrace house. Energy bills have been a nightmare since we moved in but the thing I really can't understand is that it costs more in the bungalow that it ever did at the house - that's before all these increases (from 2020 it's been more) AND running a food business from the house where I used a hell of a lot of appliances most days. 

The gas boiler has been checked to make sure it's not consuming to much gas and is apparently fine.

Our DD is currently £134 for gas and electric, the bill for 76 days between sept and now has just come in and were £22 in credit yet being told the DD is going up to £363 from December. 

I'm slightly at a loss. It's two adults in the home, one on UC, the other pension (in the process of applying for attendance allowance). One with Raynaud's so turning off the heating completely isn't really an option. 

It just seems a lot. A family member is in a 1 bed flat and only paying £24 a month as the £66 is covering most of their bill. I know our place is bigger but it seems such a jump, especially when more than our previous 3 bed house. We've had extra insulation added in the roof and walls as well this year! 

Have people found that paying for what you've actually used is better than paying a set amount? 

I'm so confused.

It all depends on what you use, how many appliances are left in standby mode, what temperatures you have on a combi-boiler and thermostat! 
If you turn off everything left in standby mode, except the fridge, freezer and router then you'll save more than if you left them in standby mode. I reduced my monthly usage by 35% by turning off everything but the above when not in use. I also got an air fryer that cut my food cooking usage down from 0.8kWh per day to 0.4kWh per day, roughly 13p per day. 

I lowered the boiler temperatures to 55 degrees for heating and 50 for hot water, but since I reduced it to 40 degrees as I don't use the hot water preferring to boil the kettle when I need hot water, I reduced the thermostat to 17 degrees. I have a water meter so I save a few litres that I would have being waiting for the water to get hot by boiling the kettle. 

QrizB

The gas meter didn't have anything on the display.

With smart gas meters you need to press a button (it often doesn't matter which one) to make them show the reading.